Are people not taught anymore?

[gtk]

Most kids don't carry knives much. Through my youth, up through today, I always have a knife in my pocket. I have weekend knives, and knives I'm "allowed" to carry at work. I learned how to handle a knife by learning first hand what "NOT" to do. Got the scars to prove it. My granddaddy taught me how to sharpen.

We were on a camp out with our Cub Scout troop. A Boy Scout needed a badge, so he was showing the cubs the safe methods of knife handling. He made it about 5 minutes before the younger scouts got a lesson on first aid treatment in the field. The boy cut a nice slice off his finger

 

[nachogrande]

WOMEN AND CAST IRON SKILLETS

YEAH getting a woman to clean a cast skillet without soap, then heating and oiling it, SURE. RIGHT AFTER you get them NOT to use sharp metal knives/forks/spatulas in a Teflon skillet. the cast gets left 1/2 submerged in soapy water to rust and the Teflon has more scratches than finish. the stove has 2 settings, high and off and the smoke detector is also the oven timer. Ahh, felt good to vent.

 

[jkc]

I don't know how people who don't routinely carry some sort of knife get by without one. Hardly a day goes by without my use of my EDC Benchmade Griptilian, and now and again, something larger, or a multi-tool (I just bought a third Leatherman Supertool --- there's one in my truck, one in my camp kitchen box, and another in my general-purpose goes-everywhere Maxpedition shoulder bag.)

I guess most folks don't perceive the need for a knife, either as tool or weapon, certainly don't know to properly and safely handle them, and don't even ask about sharpening... Our local Sportsman's Warehouse has a bench size diamond hone on the countertop at their knife display, and I can't resist taking a few swipes across it whenever I pass by. The "youthful" sales kid on duty watched me draw my edge in several shallow "slicing" strokes across the stone in opposing directions, and said," Wow, you really know how to use that thing," leading me to infer that most customers he sees really don't know how to use it...

 

[bigchuck83]

I've carried a pocketknife of some sort since i was around seven or eight. started out with a swiss army knife. Now i prefer lockblade folders, My knives get used as tools and i'm not afraid to abuse an everyday carry knife. I really need to learn the art of using a sharpening stone though.

 

[wly1942]

When I was a kid, a knife was a prized and necessary possession. I remember at about 10 getting a Tree Brand Bokar for Christmas. I was really proud of it. Went fishing and a friend of mine dropped it in the creek. Too deep to retrieve it but I was tempted to push him in anyway. I have lots of knives but the only one I carry is a small Swiss Army.

 

[redlevel]

Do I have a knife? Yes. Do I have a pry bar, scraper, screwdriver, or metal cutter? No.

I have never had many opportunities to loan a knife out, nor have I needed to borrow one often, because I have been carrying one since I was a small child, and everyone I knew did too. I have, however, used my knife for all the above. I always tried to carry a good, cheap knife, like a Schrade Stockman, Uncle Henry, or Oldtimer. I believe they are/were all made by Schrade, weren't they? I opened the old metal oil cans with them, and did anything else that I needed to do. Scraped dirt off plow points, cleaned corroded battery posts, cut light metal straps, scraped rust off old fittings, etc. I have a drawer full of knives with one or more broken blades.

I was never a knife snob. I figured if a knife was too nice or too expensive for me to use for what I needed to do, then I didn't need it. I use the past tense, because I am talking about when I was farming. With the appearance of the multi-tools, I didn't "mommick up" (my Dad's expression) nearly as many knives.

I never recall cutting myself with a knife, although I saw several other people do it. Had to administer first aid a time or two.

If he wants to cut BX cable or baling wire, then he's sierra oscar lima.

I have been there and done that, too. Especially the baling wire.

I have a few pretty "nice" smaller knives I mostly carry now. Just out of nostalgia, Iguess, I bought a big Uncle Henry Stockman with stainless blades at a yard sale a week or two back. Here it is pictured with a smaller Old Timer that is pretty well worn out. The Old Timer in the peach picture might be the same one shown with the stainless knife, but I don't think it is.

 

[redlevel]

The stainless Uncle Henry and worn Old Timer.

 

[shouldazagged]

One time she used one of my knives to cut pickles and she was banging the edge against a plate.

I have a woman friend and neighbor who is kind of another sister to me. It took me years to convince her that glass cutting "boards" are a really bad idea. She finally got rid of hers, but the edge on any of her knives still will give you a nasty bruise.

 

[Taurus627]

A lot of knife handling is common sense and that is what is not being taught anymore!!

 

[durango]

I've always loved knives but I never received much training as a kid. I had a talent for slicing myself accidentally. When I was about 12, my grandfather gave me a tiny pocket knife and I promptly went out into their yard to show it off to some friends by carving up an orange off the tree. The knife was very sharp and I managed to slice my hand open, along with the orange. It was a good lesson, and the citric acid certainly reinforced it.

Oddly enough, my mother also has a habit of slicing herself with sharp knives, so she prefers (don't laugh) dull knives. I know, a dull knife is supposed to cut you, but she never cuts herself with a dull one, just the sharp ones. Once you get the hang of it, dull knives are surprisingly easy to manipulate. (This is travesty to knife lovers everywhere, I've been lectured on my mother's behalf repeatedly, but I'm just reporting the facts as I've seen them in real life.)

I've learned a few things about cutting with knives since, especially since my sweetheart is a vet and was born with a scalpel in her hand.

One handy (no pun intended) tip I'd like to pass along for posterity is that you should never try to cut a frozen kielbasa with a knife -- especially not a sharp, serrated knife. Bad things happen. Calling it blood sausage doesn't really make it better.

 

[Kanewpadle]

When I was in the Boy Scouts in the 1960s you couldn't carry a knife until your got your Totin' Chip after you showed you understood-and practiced-proper knife and axe handling procedures.

Yup. That;s where I learned.

Had a guy at a gun shop had me a knife blade first a couple weeks ago. I didn't say anything but I did hand it back to him handle first!

 

[Kinman]

My dad never did anything with my brother or I, I could literally count on my hands how many times he actually went out of his way to spend a few moments even throwing a ball. He was good at gifting us with items a boy would treasure and very lenient about allowing me to go afield with my .22 at around 12 years and a shotgun a few years later.
He gave me a beautiful Kabar folding fisherman with hook sharpener in the handle and KABAR in red letters, I cherished that knife and had carried a knife for years and was taught my an elderly uncle how to keep a knife razor sharp. A buddy of mine asked me if I wanted to go fishing with him in the morning, I said "Hell Yeah!" He said "bring your bike, sleeping bag and gear over tonight we leave before sun-up"
Next morning still dark we got on our bikes and took off, I asked him where we were going he said "Its a secret, you gotta swear you won't tell noboby." I swore, scouts honor all that ****. We ended up at this nice pasture that had tall grass and a little crick flowing through it. There were signs all over the place saying "STAY OUT!" PRIVATE PROPERTY. I said "Paul, can't you read them signs?" He says "Hush! Come here let me show you something." We ditched out bikes in the weeds and stumbled through the barbed wire fence, he walked over to one of the signs and pointed to the back side and said "What does this side of the sign say?" I looked at it and said "It don't say nuthin." He looked at me a grinned "This side was made for you and me." "Come on, I want to show you something." He started catchin hoppers and said "just catch the little ones." We each had a handful of hoppers and walked over to the crick, it was only about three feet across and quite deep, grass grew right out over the edges, real pretty, some willow trees within a hundred yards or so. He said "Watch this." He stuck a little hopper on one of the wee hooks we had just sorta flipped it onto the crick where it dapped onto the surface and floated maybe a foot or so, there was a splash and he had a trout thrashin on the grass, I followed suit and in less than 10 minutes we had half dozen trout each gasping on the grass. We needed something to string the fish on so I went over to the willows and cut a forked willow branch, came back and quick gutted and cleaned the fish stuck them on the willow branch to carry out. I stuck the knife into a small log and was washing my hands in the crick when I heard a big dog growl and turned to see a bigassed dog and old man and my buddy Paul, the old man had ahold of Pauls shirt and flung him over towards me and said "Hows fishin son?" I said "Well-sir it was pretty good." He said "This heres my land, you boys leave them fish and get off my property quick before I set this dog on you." We grabbed our gear and ran for our bikes, about halfway back I turned around and yelled "Your a mean ole sumbitch." My buddy Paul who had just lost his grandpa to cancer yelled "You should get cancer and die." We laughed like maniacs, got through the fence and we riding for all we were worth when it hit me MY KNIFE! I jammed on the brakes and turned around, Paul turned around and said "What are doing?" I told him "I left my knife back and I'm goin back" He said "That ole sumbitch will put that dog on us or worse." I told him "I don't care, Dad gave me that knife." We rode back, Paul stayed with the bikes, I ran out into the field, it was full on daylight by now, no dog, no old man and as I was to soon find out no knife, I walked down to the willows bound and determined to get my knife back but could not find the old man nor any sign of him the dog or his house. I learned a valuable lesson that day...and to this day I probably have half dozen of those knives collected, none are the same as the one Dad gave me.

 

[Texas Star]

The stainless Uncle Henry and worn Old Timer.

I have one of those Uncle Henry King Ranch stockman knives like yours. Hang onto it. The new ones look like it but are made in China. I think this may be the best pocketknife that Schrade ever made.

Granted, smaller Uncle Henrys have the quality, but I sort of like the size.

 

[kamloops67]

it seems to me many people are not taught proper etiquette about anything.
i was taught but i didnt learn proper without bleedin a bunch . got my first knife at age 6 ,i had to get my dad to open it for me so i could go fishing on the creek that bordered our property, i went fishing alone at age 6! who does that now?
my dad gave me a camilus lock blade when i was 14 or so thats when i learned to put an edge on a knife .with the combination of stone, ceramic rod , leather strop and jewelers rouge it was sharper than a razor . most people who tested the edge on their thumb print ended up bleeding, it got so that i warned anyone who would look at it . it was used only for cutting things a fine blade should cut, whittlin'! ...it was stolen and i have never since owned its equal

 

[jaykellogg]

When I was still married I took the Kitchen knives and sharpened them. What did I know/ Boy did I catch it. I asked "she who must be obeyed" why she prefered dull knives and she said "so I don't cut myself". I mentioned this at hunting camp once and Mike said he did the same thing and had the same result. So he cleaned out a drawer in the kitchen, bought some more knives and sharpened them and told everyone that these were "his" and were sharp. Well, his wife got a knife out of the drawer and cut herself and still gave him grief.

I carry a 4" stiletto. I would describe my knives as "fairly sharp". I know there are folks on this site that can get a knife sharper than the razor I shave with. My brother thinks mine are razor sharp. Most of my knives are old carbon steel knives. A lot of them are older than I am. Recently my daughter bought a ceramic kitchen knife and was very happy with it. I guess in this respect she takes after me more than her mom. I have wood and plastic cutting boards, but I pretty much use the wood (bamboo actually) exclusively.

 

[shouldazagged]

I have one of those Uncle Henry King Ranch stockman knives like yours. Hang onto it. The new ones look like it but are made in China. I think this may be the best pocketknife that Schrade ever made.

My all-time favorite pocketknife is the USA-made Old Timer 8OT four-inch stockman, made before QC started going to hell just before Schrade collapsed. Good old 1095 carbon steel, my choice above all others--takes and holds a great edge, yet is easy to resharpen. Sawn Delrin scales that give a nice grip when hands are wet. A real working knife.

I recently lost my last one. I was dumping bottles and cans into a huge recycling bin and had to cut open a bag in which a neighbor had put hers. Fumbled the knife, it fell to the bottom of the accumulation of bottles and cans, and there was no way I could go in after it. Broke my heart.

I looked on eBay for the same model from old production. The cheapest I saw NIB was $65, for a knife I used to be able to buy for under $20. Couldn't do it on my limited income. It was what Terry Pratchett calls "an embuggerance".

If you have that model in either carbon or stainless steel, Old Timer or Uncle Henry, hang onto it with all your might. It's a great knife, the best value for the buck I ever found.

 

[dave_g]

I started carrying daily in the 7th grade. The shop teacher taught us woodcarving and we were allowed to bring our own knives from home. He kept the knives in his desk when we weren't in class. When the woodcarving section was over he gave them back and told us to take them home. I put mine in my pocket and there's been a knife there ever since.

I find that most of the time when someone wants to borrow it, they really need a screwdriver.

 

[Etemmu]

I carry and use knives regularly. Way back when I had a Totin' Chip card, I had one corner removed by the Scout Master. But only one...Even though I was shown the proper way to use a knife, I still had to bleed a lot to allow some lessons to sink in. Most kids I know now-a-adays are given knives without any lessons, maybe a comment like, "Don't cut your brother", but that is it. Most adults I know don't know how to use a knife either, which I find very strange seeing how much I use a knife on a daily basis. Teach'em when you can, watch'em bleed when you can't

 

[Texas Star]

I started carrying daily in the 7th grade. The shop teacher taught us woodcarving and we were allowed to bring our own knives from home. He kept the knives in his desk when we weren't in class. When the woodcarving section was over he gave them back and told us to take them home. I put mine in my pocket and there's been a knife there ever since.

I find that most of the time when someone wants to borrow it, they really need a screwdriver.

And that's why you find so many used knives with broken blade tips! I dug through a bunch of Swiss Army knives being sold at a gun show. They'd been confiscated at airports, court houses, etc. Although they had screwdriver blades, some had twisted or broken tips on the cutting blades!

Thankfully, some were virtually new and I got them at a whopping good price, about $3-10, dependng on the model. I still need to polish off a few scratches with Simichrome, but the knives were the best bargain that I've found in a long time. Most didn't even need any blade polishing.

If someone wants a screwdriver, they need to use one, not a knife blade! They aren't tempered for that use. That's why I carry SAK's that incorporate screwdrivers.