What a great tool a knife is. “PICS”

[Bloke]

(to see what’s behind)

[ChrisinHove]

Hah! If only .... a bit more fun than rusty stanchions and rotten sole plates!

[Xander3Zero]

I could never relate to that mentality myself.

I bought my Spydercos to cut stuff with them. I carry them daily on the chance I'll need to do just that.

If I need to cut a hole in a thick plastic sheet, I'll probably pull out one of my knives and reverse grip it straight through. I have an awl on my multitools I could use if I need a more precise hole, but that's slower.

If there's staples in abox I just cut around them. It's not that hard to look at a box and see where there are and aren't staples.

If I accidentally chip an edge it's not the end of the world. I have a Ronin 2 that got chipped pretty good on a camping trip, no idea how...still cuts fine.

My Police 3 has been used far harder than this and it works better than the day I bought it (Ten years ago).

If I wanted to baby a knife I wouldn't spend $200 to buy high performance materials any more than I'd drop $20,000 on a nice motorcycle and never take it on the highway. I could get by with a $20 Byrd and a Leatherman.

I don't think your motorcycle comparison is a good example of what I'm saying. I'm saying that I prefer to avoid using my $200 knives in situations that are almost sure to cause unnecessary wear. It would be more accurate to say that I wouldn't drop $20k on a nice motorcycle and go off-roading with it.

In my opinion, what makes these $200 knives is their high build quality, materials, fit and finish, etc. Not their ability to withstand unnecessary punishment (although they will for the most part, to an extent). You can go buy a $400, $800, $2k knife and it's still kind of stupid to run it through staples in a box and to use it as a "drill" to puncture hundreds of holes through thick plastic with the blade's tip.

Like I said, I expected opinions to vary from my mine significantly. I do tend to baby my nicer knives (and most of my other expensive/nice belongings), but I am certainly not opposed to using my knives to slice and cut in the way they are meant to be used. I guess due to my office work environment, I am just not in a lot of pinch situations where I need to improvise with my own personal expensive property. I am usually one to make sure I have the best tool for the job.

[sal]

Sounds like a difference of opinion, which is certainly OK. Everyone does not have to agree on everything.

sal

[The Meat man]

I'm more the type to push my knives to the limit. I enjoy seeing how much use and abuse my Spydies can take, and I enjoy hearing about other folks' experience using their knives hard.

I'm the kind of guy who would rather use his Spyderco to cut through copper wires than a wire cutter. For me it's just plain more fun.

[knivesandbooks]

I got light use in my gents folders becuase they're not for heavy use and becuase I want ti keep them looking like gents folders. Everything else, I go hard on. I got harder on my $150+ knives than my cheaper ones. I like to test new steels, I like ti experience ergonimcs for what they were meant for, really using the knife. I also like the character I well used knife gets. That said, my Slsyz Bowie only has one scratch and I want to keep it that way.

[Tucson Tom]

There are two kinds of people in the world. Those who think that only what they think is correct, and those who recognize a spectrum of views.

And there is a spectrum of "knife people" from collectors on one extreme to hard users on the other.

I am somewhere on the hard user side of center. I have a hard time with someone who buys something like a Spyderco and keeps it unused in a box, but ultimately it is their money and they can most certainly do as they please. Then there are the true hard user types with cracked G10 held together with duct tape and using their knife daily on the job site. Those are the people who are getting their money's worth.

I use all of my knives, yet try to take good care of them -- but sometimes things happen. My S90V native got dropped 30 feet onto a rock slab (it is doing fine, but gained a couple of deep gouges in the G10). I take care with knife tips and would be reluctant to pry with any force. My tips get used for cutting packing tape and such. But I can see drilling if you take your time and don't jab it in deep then twist. I don't want to find out the hard way what it takes to snap a tip off in different steels.

[vivi]

I could never relate to that mentality myself.

I bought my Spydercos to cut stuff with them. I carry them daily on the chance I'll need to do just that.

If I need to cut a hole in a thick plastic sheet, I'll probably pull out one of my knives and reverse grip it straight through. I have an awl on my multitools I could use if I need a more precise hole, but that's slower.

If there's staples in abox I just cut around them. It's not that hard to look at a box and see where there are and aren't staples.

If I accidentally chip an edge it's not the end of the world. I have a Ronin 2 that got chipped pretty good on a camping trip, no idea how...still cuts fine.

My Police 3 has been used far harder than this and it works better than the day I bought it (Ten years ago).

If I wanted to baby a knife I wouldn't spend $200 to buy high performance materials any more than I'd drop $20,000 on a nice motorcycle and never take it on the highway. I could get by with a $20 Byrd and a Leatherman.

I don't think your motorcycle comparison is a good example of what I'm saying. I'm saying that I prefer to avoid using my $200 knives in situations that are almost sure to cause unnecessary wear. It would be more accurate to say that I wouldn't drop $20k on a nice motorcycle and go off-roading with it.

In my opinion, what makes these $200 knives is their high build quality, materials, fit and finish, etc. Not their ability to withstand unnecessary punishment (although they will for the most part, to an extent). You can go buy a $400, $800, $2k knife and it's still kind of stupid to run it through staples in a box and to use it as a "drill" to puncture hundreds of holes through thick plastic with the blade's tip.

Like I said, I expected opinions to vary from my mine significantly. I do tend to baby my nicer knives (and most of my other expensive/nice belongings), but I am certainly not opposed to using my knives to slice and cut in the way they are meant to be used. I guess due to my office work environment, I am just not in a lot of pinch situations where I need to improvise with my own personal expensive property. I am usually one to make sure I have the best tool for the job.

I'm someone that regularly takes a $3000 road bicycle off-roading and I chop stuff with my $200 folding Spydercos :p

Still wouldn't cut a staple though. I'd just cut around it.

I'm not going to intentionally damage my knives, but I'm not going to be afraid of using them on something that will dull them either. I had to break down a couple of BIG boxes at work last night, and I had just put a hair splitting sharp edge on my Manix. Didn't think twice about using it. I've cut the griptape for over 100 skateboards with my Tasman Salt, etc.

Kind of absurd to call poking a hole in plastic stupid. That's not gonna hurt any well made knife, lol. Poking =/= prying.

[JD Spydo]

Just to fully appreciate knives even more than many of us here actually do>> you all need to know that I've been reading dozens of survival magazines in the past 5 years. Because at one time I really thought I was going to have to go live in the woods here in Missouri> But thank GOD above that's just not the case anymore and I am truly thankful for that :)

But there is one main tool that almost every survival or back woods type magazine always puts in the upper tier of overall importance and that is a knife>> and not just one knife either>> because I've learned if you are in a truly demanding survival type situation you probably are going to need several of them in different sizes, styles and you can included edge types as well. And because of this great forum most of us here truly have a huge advantage over most of the general public. The Knowledge we all obtain here is really very valuable.

If I were to change the title of this thread I would say " What A Most Important Tool A Knife Is". I do thank the good Brother for this thread.

[Tucson Tom]

OK, just for you guys -- and to honor this thread -- I am heading up on the root right now with my S110V Manix to do a skylight repair.
I need to slice through the sealant that holds the aluminum angle on, and instead of using a cheap utility knife with a disposable blade,
I'll use my Spyderco for the sheer joy of it. Should just be aluminum, wood, and rubbery stuff in the blade path. About 12 feet of
slicing and chopping to be done.