Your opinions on knife usage

Well , I guess you had to be there . You should reread what I wrote , I never said I forgot my screwdriver , just didn't want to use it (it was big and blunt and I wanted a thin tool) . To call it a stunt is way off base . The only thing that would have been damaged was the knife , I wasn't in any danger of loosing a finger LOL . Now was it worth it , let's see .... breaking a Buck 110 or get fired and loose a $2000 a week paycheck , yeah it was worth it .

FYI , fingers can be reattached if cut off . Doctors do it all the time (or should I say surgeons) .

Just to make it clear , I don't advocate using the wrong tool for the job (in fact it drives me nuts , especially when the right tool is available) . I personally feel that when the job has to be finished it gets done , no excuses .
 
A quick check of profiles I find those most strongly in the "right tool " side tend to be office jockeys and those that want their knives to do more than cut tend to have factory,work with their hands jobs.Heres what I see, guys who don't use tools in their jobs think you should always go get the right tool no matter what and those of us who use tools daily know thats not always possible and always slower and unnessecary for most of these other knife uses were talking about.

The last 14 years I've been a firefighter,prior to that 9 years as a dock worker,before that 2 years construction.all jobs where most carried and used knives.I would say CUTTING with them was the use less than half the time.Probe,scrape,puncture,pry,clean boot bottems,scribe,make starter holes and on and on.... For most working men a knife IS the right tool for these things.In all those years and all the co-workers I saw a total of one knife broken.(tip of a Moki used as a screwdriver)

Sure if your near a better tool you use it,but believe me there are many times thats not possible.

I want a knife that saves me a trip down a ladder and out to the truck,be it working as a ff or side work roofing.When we're doing a roof job we don't stop for lunch or even have a radio playing,time is money we don't stop.But then we're working on our own dime.You stop because we didn't "give" you the right tool,when your knife would do the job don't bother coming back tomorrow.


As far as the right tool for the right job,how come when we have one of these many what do you use your knife for threads and the top 3 answers seem to always be "opening the mail,trimmimg threads and cutting fruit,no one ever tells them "use the right tool".A letter opener,scissors or fruit knife??
 
Lone Hunter - I think you're way off base there. I spent ten years as a blue-collar printing press operator. I ran presses, fixed printing presses, and all manner of the robust manly stuff you seem to pride yourself on. I also spend weeks every year in the wilderness, learning and practicing primitive survival techniques. Call me an office jockey all you want, but it won’t change my life experiences, which have taught me how lousy a good knife works as a screwdriver or prybar.

But if you're right.... How come only the wimps are smart enough to carry a Leatherman or a SAK, if it's the blue collar guys who need a pocket toolchest the most? That seems kind of backwards. For the record, I see very few people carrying overly-robust knives who are not office jockeys. The blue collar types and outdoorsman that I run into always seem to have some sort of multitool or SAK on them, or a thin bladed knife.
 
I have been a mechanic for over 40 years very little of it sitting in an office. I have way over $30,000.00 in tools. I have been a field tech for several companys. That means I went to the customers site and worked on their equipment.Customers don't want to hear you say I don't have the right tool to do this. You suck it up and buy what ever you even think you might need and do the job. Some times this means buying a tool that is used once every ten years but when you need it you have it. Yes I too have worked in a shop environment but even there somebody needs that one special tool to complete the task. Due to foresight and spending money that could have gone to buy fun things bites, but that is my CHOSEN career and its nobodys fault but mine if I don't have the right tool to do the job. And if your company will fire you for not wanting to phuck up your knife to fix some other village idiots screw up thats not a company I would work for.IMO end of rant
 
It seems to me what's going on here is just a difference of mentality and experiences . The experience is , some people have never had the unexpected happen , some have . The mentality is , some will do whatever it takes and some will not . Neither side is right or wrong .
 
Lone Hunter,

Unless you don't count machinists and mechanics as blue collar I'd say you're a little off base. I don't know anyone who does either of those jobs competently that would use the wrong tool for the job if they have the right tool available, even if it's a stretch to go get it. If those guys don't use tools and their hands on a regular basis, I don't know who does.

I do agree that sometimes you simply don't have the right tool for a job that has to be done but that doesn't make it the right thing to do. Knives are meant to cut, if you use them for things other that that, you're probably looking to get cut.

I spent a number of years repairing mainframe computers (when they were refrigerator sized) and believe me, you ALWAYS used the right tool.

Rob
 
I always have my Buck/Mayo and Atwood Prybaby Mini with me, and it's quite a versatile combo. I give up nothing in cutting ability, but I can still pull staples, turn some screws, and open bottles easily. The Prybaby also takes the scraping and stabbing duties that one might hesitate using a knife for. My SOG Pocket Powerpliers Deluxe in my bag completes my EDC arsenal :D .
 
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