Zen and junk knives...

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RH

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I am opening this thread to look at a couple of philosophical questions as relates to low-quality knives that most of us have in our posession.

I am what is known as a “pack rat”, meaning I hate throwing anything out, especially something that might someday be useful. (case in point, I have saved pieces of durable foam packing material, just because they seem like they mightbe useful for…something). My drawer full of “POS” knives would fall into this category. I seem to have one everywhere – drawers, briefcase, toolbox, car, other car, etc. – and I still have ome in the drawer. As much as I know that they are junk, and I have accumulated a number of higher quality pieces, they still cut things, so I can’t bear throwing them out.

So here’s the dilemma – I have a bunch of knockoff (Spyderco, SOG) POS’s and “original” POS’s lying around. I feel bad now about feeding the theft of trademarks when I bought them, but now I have them, so what should I do with them? I have already begun replacing them in key areas (the cars) with affordable, but quality pieces (Buck, CRKT) bought used or on sale, but I still can’t bring myself to throw out a serviceable, but junky knife.

Dilemma #2 – for those of you who suggest I keep them in the toolbox, emergency kit, etc. for “emergency use”, consider this – I don’t face emergencies in my everyday life, but I carry quality knives. If I put the POS in my “emergency kit” , and am forced to use it, that would mean I have exhausted or lost my main, quality blade, and am now falling back on the “emergency” tool. When you really think about it – is that knockoff POS what you want to fall back on when the chips are down? The idea of putting crap knives in out emergency kit is really backwards when you consider when it might be called into use – during an actual emergency! we should probably save the best for the emergency, and use the junk to cut the loose threads and open the mail.

If I had the space, perhaps doing some “stress testing” on them would be good therapy and provide entertainment.
 
Determine first of all if any of these POS knives are dangerous...by that I mean that some aspect of their construction is dangerous....(no lock...cheap plastic handle....bad location of the lock).....destroy them and toss them. Don't put a dangerous knife in a tool box where you might be tempted to use it for something it was never intended for..thats a good way to hurt yourself.

However, some cheap knives may not hold an edge very well...or take one very well but in a pinch aren't so bad to have around. Sometimes its nice to have a knife around you aren't afraid to abuse a little.

Another idea is that you could try taking the whole crummy bunch to a flea market and see if you can trade them in for something at least halfway decent. Don't expect a quality knife dealer to give you anything for them...but if the guy sells used knives you might be able to get a bit of credit with him. I've found that most dealers at flea markets sell crap but if you could turn a drawer full of rubbish knives into one servicable and inexpensive emergency knife you will have done yourself a favor.

 
You could use them for sharpening practice, or give them away to friends who need sharpening practice.
 
<font face="Verdana, Arial" size="2">Originally posted by MAURICE:
chunk em.</font>
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Yea, at a tree
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Shawn
 
Ya could carry one POS knife around in your pocket each day, and just let them "fall-out" and let 'em go, just for fun.
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...Maybe send a couple of 'em to ex-wife/ex-girlfriend or the "in-laws"?.
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Dann Fassnacht
Aberdeen, WA
glockman99@hotmail.com
ICQ# 53675663



[This message has been edited by glockman99 (edited 06-04-2001).]
 
Junk knives? Use them for all those tasks that you NOW know a "good" knife shouldn't be used for: prying open paint can lids, digging weeds out of rocky soil, etc. Anything that wouldn't be unsafe due to their poor construction. As others have stated, my favorite use for a POS also is "sharpening practice".

Just don't be embarassed about still owning a POS knife.
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If it wasn't for that first (OK, first dozen!) POS we've ALL purchased BEFORE we became registered knife knuts, we wouldn't know the difference.

Like the friends of my daughter who get a BMW or a Mercedes as their FIRST car - they'll NEVER truly appreciate what they have because they've never sat by the side of the road on a rainy night re-attaching a torn windshield wiper with duct tape on a POS Chevy that was purchased with money earned digging potatoes for 10 hours a day. Just my humble opinion.

Rant off.

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Holger :c{{{&lt;
AKTI Member No: A001324
CKG-F
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www.cockroachfarm.com
 
Let me know if you figure it out. The "best of the worst", the good quality knockoffs that we occasionally find, I periodically give away to "non'knife"friends, who are always thrilled.Remember, that POS is probably the best knife they own!Of course, I sprinkle in some really good but economical knives (crkt,etc).Over a period of time, I have a bunch of coworkers and friends who have decent knives and fond thoughts of the eccentric "old man". I get the satisfaction of giving, and occasionally getting a newbie involved in the knife culture.

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AKTI Member #A000934
"I don't have to see a sign saying 'DON'T KICK THE BEAR.'"
 
Well I like the idea of giving them to non-knife people. Fortunately I didn't go through the stage of buying POS knives. When i was very young i had very little money and therefore bought the best that I could because that was the way i was raised. But now that i'm a little older not very much though still can't buy the dang things. I buy high quality production knives or not at all. And now i'm actually looking to start my custom collection. But the way to start is with POS knives so give them to some people that would learn from them
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Trevor
 
Well, first off, let me acknowledge that I am evil, and having said that;

Got any kids in your neighborhood you don't like?
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Leave the knife in their driveway sometime after Dad goes to work and before the schoolbus comes...
The kid finds the knife "COOL! I found a knife!" sticks it in his backpack, and goes to SCHOOL!
YOU, a half hour later, call the school anonymously and tip them off that lil'Johnny the possible mad dog killer is carrying a KNIFE!!!!!

This way, you're rid of a crappy knife, and one snot nosed kid all at the same time! It's FLAWLESS!!!!!
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Quit looking at me like that, I'm KIDDING!!!!

Seriously though, if you have a few that are well made enough to be safe users, you may, with the permission of applicable parental units, give the knives to any of the more responsible kids you know. With a short lecture on safe knife handling and responsibility, you could be creating all kinds of future knife knuts.
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Tráceme no sin la razón, envoltura mi no sin honor
Usual Suspect
MOLON LABE!
 
If you have ever been interested in customizing your own knives, now you've got lots of things to practice on. Filework, mirror polishing, and scale replacement all take a little practice.
 
Use them to practice sharpening, throwing, customizing. I keep a servicable POS (S&W Spec Ops) around and use it for things I wouldn't want to use a good knife for, like prying staples & cutting sandpaper. I'm glad to have that knife that I don't mind treating like sh!t. I also keep POS knives around to show friends the difference between a $5 knife and a $150 knife. They seem to understand better when I can show them the difference. This works especially well with unsafe junk knives. If you don't need the space for anything else, they can just sit there in the drawer until you do need the space or you think of something to do with them.

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Jason aka medusaoblongata
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"Is not giving a need? Is not receiving mercy?" - Thus Spoke Zarathustra
"Cutting his throat is only a momentary pleasure and is bound to get you talked about." - Lazarus Long
"Knowledge is not made for understanding; it is made for cutting." - Michel Foucault
 
I can empithize with your problem and think I have a posible solution. Many people who frequent this forum don't yet have any knives let alone a quality knife. It seems to take a while to shell out your first $50 for a pocketknife and then maybe another year for your first $300 knife. Put them for sale with a modest price on the knives for sale forum. There are some newbies out there that would be thirilled with your junk.
 
Some good suggestions have been posted already, but please, break at least one! I don't mean just chuck it in a vise and bend it until it breaks, either -- have some fun with it! Pierce some coins, car doors, blocks of wood, cut some wire, do some prying -- see what it'll do before you break it.

If everybody would have themselves some fun breaking one or two cheap knives many of the threads on the Testing & Reviews forum would be a lot shorter. A lot of the advertising we see wouldn't be seen any more. And people would stop being so afraid of "abusing" their knives and get a lot more use out of them.

And everybody else out there -- don't you have at least one knife that's so junky you don't want to give it to anyone you like? If not why not spend $10 and buy one just to break? You'll get $10 worth of fun out of it.
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-Cougar :{)
Use of Weapons
 
I have an idea. Give them to Cliff Stamp. Maybe he can see how durable they are after a beating compared to the originals.
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Ron
 
Give 'em to non-knife knuts and tell them to carry them for one week. After that week, they'll come to you for advice on which QUALITY blade to get, and you'll then have yourself a pack of knife knuts handy! My dad carries a Spyderco Delica, and my girlfriend has a Spiderco Ladybug AND a CrayolaMade knife! Slowly but surely, they'll all be knuts!

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"Come What May..."
 
Sort of along the lines of what flinx said,
grind off the edge of those POS overseas replicas and use them for flicking practice! They are great for setting beside your favorite tv watching seat. You can practice flicking and not hurt any of your better knives. Plus, it drives the spouse crazy
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David

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AKTI# A000150
NC Custom Knifemakers Guild member
NC Knife Knuts member
 
I just came back to the forum after a long absence, but I do remember that a year or two ago someone posted a plea for knives from members for the local Boy Scout troop. They wanted to have some simple knives on hand for kids who didn't have their own, especially kids who might not be able to get one for financial reasons.

If you more than one you want to get rid of but they're safe, you might call the local boy scouts and see if they want them. Then someone gets some use out of them and the kids get their POS experience out of the way before they could afford the good stuff anyway.
 
<font face="Verdana, Arial" size="2">Originally posted by Ken Cook:
Well, first off, let me acknowledge that I am evil, and having said that;

YOU, a half hour later, call the school anonymously and tip them off that lil'Johnny the possible mad dog killer is carrying a KNIFE!!!!!
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First Ken, let me confirm that you are truly evil. We voted on it at the last meeting. Congratulations and your spot in hell is officially reserved. You're overlooking the bubbling sulfur pits - enjoy!

Second, this idea is brilliant. Imagine the publicity over a rash of zero-tolerance suspensions and expulsions. This could serve to bring the futility of such regulation to the forefront of American thought.

It is more than just whimsical hijinx to implement your plan, it is, in fact, the civic duty of every self-respecting knife guy on this forum to plant at least one knife for a kid to find. I suggest taping small pieces of candy to the handles to make sure that they are irresistable to the youngsters.

Remember, every kid we get expelled helps to further our argument that zero-tolerance doesn't work. I'm going out right now to scatter some Frost Cutlery kill-o-matic fantasy pieces around the local playground with Pokemon cards glued to the sheaths!

Let's get to work putting knives into schoolkids' hands people!

(Is there any way to make a
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big enough that no one will believe this is a serious post?)
 
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