There's nothing more dangerous than a dull knife.
How about a woman with a sharp one?
Long ago, like probably 51 years and it was summer, too, I decided I needed to know how to sharpen a knife. I had grass to cut and things to do on sunny days, but on the rainy ones I kind of dedicated to learning the manly skill. It was probably my father and grand fathers fault. But I'd heard them say not very nice things about men folks who couldn't even sharpen a knife. But I did have a pretty good resource in my fathers collection of old American Rifleman magazines, plus dozens of Outdoor Life and Sports Afield. So I started reading one miserable June day. Then I even continued into the evenings and some weekends, too. Everyone was kind of relieved I was reading and keeping out of trouble.
So then one day I decided I needed hands on practice. So I got out all my mothers kitchen knives. They were all dull because no one ever bothered with them. And I began making each one a work of art. Gawd were they ever sharp, better than I could ever hope for. The best advice from back then was to use a magnifier as I went along. That way I could see what I was doing. In later years I progressed to using a magic marker on the edge to improve what I could see. But I'd sharpened most of them and it was getting late, so I put her entire drawer full of knives back in the cabinet and went out to do something else. Before supper I came home and Mom was out doing woman's work in the kitchen.
All of a sudden we heard the most awful scream. Dad was up running. It seems that some women have a bad habit of cutting against their thumb. It works OK with a dull knife. The sharp one cut right through the veggie and into her thumb. It wasn't a bad cut, but through the skin. And guess who's fault it was? So Dad was mad at me, Mom not so much. He took the drawer full of my handiwork out on the concrete back step and proceeded to unsharpen each on the step. It really only took a few strokes against the cement and any hint of sharp was just a memory.
So much for constructive learning in the summer. I dedicated the rest of the month to setting off fireworks and not getting in trouble. When you're young you can't win no matter how hard you try.
At gunshows there are often tables set up that will sharpen your knife. Some of the vendors are even pretty aggressive. No one else touches my knives, particularly my pocket knife. I have the feeling that the skill level of the guys vary from expert to dangerous. And if you've got a good edge and a jig based sharpener, you can usually put the edge back to really sharp in just a few seconds. If you allow a hack to work on your blade, it may take a week to get it back to where it was. Just using the ultra fine (its about as coarse as glass) I can do what I want.
Of course I never let anyone use my pocket knife, particularly my loving wife. One time she used it to cut a steak against a nice plate. By the end of the meal (picnic) it was so dull and rolled over my mother would have approved! My feeling is a sharp knife doesn't need pounds of pressure to do its job. If you use a plate as a backstop, you'll really mess up the edge. So we have a truce. My wife doesn't ask and I don't lend. She really has a fine collection of pocket knives these days. I keep buying them for her so she isn't even tempted to ask.
Remember, knives are now outlawed by all politically correct fools. On vacation this spring we were in Utah for a Jeep Safari. My son, grandson, son's best friend and his son were all along. We returned to the motel to get un-dirty and then changed clothes and headed out to supper. A group of us. My son's friends son stopped dead. They'd bought them knives (hey, they're 14) and the young one was afraid he'd get in trouble for carrying a knife in town! What has this generation of teachers done to damage our kids? So my son's friend said look, I've got a pocket knife.
And then my abusive son took over the questioning. He asked everyone if they had a pocket knife. And then my wife said "Look, I've got one too!"
If he'd left his behind, the young kid would have been the only one without a knife. Isn't that Gibbs rule #9? Always have a knife.
