Loaning your knife...

GC

GC

Well-known member
Be careful if you aren't already when asked if someone can borrow your knife. Last weekend my son and I shot a 3D archery tournament. We had two other guys assigned to our squad to shoot through the course. There was a group of four guys and two girls shooting ahead of us and we often had to wait for them. At one point one of the girls was having trouble with her peep sight on her bow. It was an older type that used surgical tubing that runs from the peep on the string to the upper limb. That tubing needed trimming and she asked the guys in her group if any of them had a knife. Not one of those early twenty something bowhunters had a knife!!! Dang! What sorta outdoorsman doesn't pack a pocketknife? Anyway, she turned and asked me if I had a knife. I asked her what she needed cut, she explained and held her bow out, so I fished my knife out of pocket (small Spyderco Wegner) and trimmed the tubing for her.

Later one of the guys in that squad asked if he could borrow a knife from one of us and one of the other guys in my squad handed over his Case Trapper. I watched as this young dude that borrowed the knife looked it over and opened the blades and then selected the spey blade to use as a screwdriver to tighten a screw on his bow. This guy really cranked down on that screw and broke the thin cutting edge off the bottom of the blade. You could hear the metal cracking and grinding, I cringed and looked at my son and he raised an eyebrow and grinned. The knife owner failed to ask beforehand for what purpose his knife was going to be used for and while he looked in pain he never said a word to the borrower about what he was doing. It was an interesting display of stupidity on both of them. My son was carrying a small Benchmade AFCK and later told me no way would he have loaned any of them his knife for any reason. Smart kid...
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I was at a park down on the Snake River one day when a young fellow (maybe 14) came up to me and asked if I had a pocket knife he could use.

I asked him "what for".

He said he'd just killed a Rattle Snake with rocks and wanted to cut the rattles off.

I said "sure" and walked over with him to see the snake.

Good thing I did because I stopped him just as he was about to preform the surgery using a big ol river rock for a cutting board:)
It was just an old Schrade so it probably wouldn't have hurt much but I suggested we use a piece of driftwood instead.
 
I tend to keep a folding pocket knife that I "like" in my pocket (right now happens to be an el cheapo Kershaw Kuro), and a knife I "don't care about" clipped into the top of my boot (right now happens to be a $17 "Winchester" semi-serated folder). Not hard guessing which one gets loaned out.

But then again, I'm kinda known to be a guy that always has everything if you ever need it, so I don't mind keeping a spare knife on hand in case one needs to be abused, whether it's by someone borrowing it or by myself being retarded.
 
A few years back while deer hunting a buddy of mine had killed a doe and was at the point of cutting the pelvic bone. He asked if he could borrow my beloved Buck Ranger that has been my companion from here to the Arctic Circle and many points in between. I wasn't paying much attention till I heard a loud "whack". When I looked down he was pounding his knife through the pelvic bone with mine...removing a large chunk of the wooden slab handle on my knife. Sad to see it happen for sure.

Moosetrot
 
I loaned my knife out about 6 times last 4 days at work. A Timberline Vallotton, a Schrade Old Timer 89OT, and. Kershaw Random Task. Same group of guys wanting to cut packing material off of machinery/parts and such. It seems all the older guys in the skilled trades at least carry a pocket knife. The younger guys, not so much, in general. I just don't get it, really. I carry at least some kind of knife even when not at work....
 
Sadly pocket knives, belts, and handkerchiefs are not seen as being needed by most these days.

I have a standing rule of not loaning knives or chainsaws.
 
every time i loan out one of my knife it is to a younger guy i tell them it is very sharp and they cut them self on it and don't ask to use it again some people should not have sharp thing in their hands
 
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"Can I use your knife?"
"Where's yours?"
"I don't have one/left it home."
"You better go get it. 'Cause you ain't usin' mine."

Simple.. I DON'T loan my knife. Not even to my son. And he's very careful to not damage a knife.
 
Kind of funny reading this. Every one of you makes a good point
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I'm not a geezer yet, but I'm old school to the core anyway. Always have been.

I REALLY worry about who I give a knife to, especially at work. They are greatly frowned upon these days, as way too many younger guys have cut themselves. Way too many. I have 25 yrs. in the trades, and have cut myself exactly once, and it wasn't that bad.

I have tons of knives, so I don't worry so much about my knife getting damaged as compared to the guy I'm loaning it to. A few months back I watched a young Pipefitter cut himself real good. I went and got him our first aid kit. He was prying the plastic cap off the end of a new pipe with a razor knife. Brand new blade he just put in. I have come to learn, most hand tool injuries occur when using the tool for something other than which it was designed. Knives are for cutting.

I will NEVER, EVER, loan out another chainsaw. EVER.......
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Generally, I just ask what they want cut, and cut it for them. There aren't but a very few people I will hand my knife too, and I generally ask what they want to cut before handing it to them too.

As for the difference in us old farts and today's youth... Most of us old farts grew up carrying a knife with us everywhere from about 7 - 8 years old. Even to school. And, we didn't go to prison if we got caught carrying it, they took it away, gave back to you at the end of the day, and told you not to bring it back on school property.

Today's youth, their mom's whine and carry on about how they're going to hurt themselves, dad's get tired of listening to it, most of them mom cuts their meat up at the table until they're at least 19 or 25, and God forbid you ever ever ever carry a knife to school, even in the trunk of your car, under the spare tire. Because if they find it, they'll suspend you from school forever + 2 days. Not to mention, we used to do a little sitting in the shade and whittling in our spare time, even if it was just a toothpick. Now kids don't have any spare time, they're either busy on their cell phone, their video game, or their computer, none of which require a good sharp knife.
 
My belief is that if someone does not have a knife of their own, they probably can't be trusted with mine.

As GC stated in a different post on this subject, most people don't understand that a knife is for CUTTING, and not to be used as a screwdriver, pry bar, chisel, or hammer. All three blades on my Buck 307 are sharp, as I have no use for a dull blade, or a "whatever" blade. If I need a screwdriver, pry-bar, etc., I will go get one to use for that purpose.

This same Buck 307 was handed to a co-worker one time for a 30-second CUTTING task. I turned away to pick up a pipe fitting, and when I turned back, this idiot handed me my knife--- blade in one hand, rest of the knife in the other.
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At that point, I had carried this knife for 11 years, so my anger was justified. I had the blade replaced by Buck, and have not let anyone else use it since. It is now approaching the 39 year mark, and is still sharp.

One time at my shop, I was cutting a rubber flap, from a tube-type truck tire, which is about 3/8" thick. A friend watched me cut it and exclaimed, "My Lord, that knife is sharp!!" I replied that a dull knife and an unloaded gun will get somebody hurt.
 
I'm 55 now, and even when I was in school, there was a "rule" against carrying a knife. I did anyway. The teachers knew I had it, always, and would occasionally ask to borrow it for some cutting chore.

These days, I go a lot of places where I have to leave my knife in the truck (jail, courthouse), but otherwise I always have one on me, most often two. Plus a large Leatherman in my "man purse"/satchel that I carry all the time. There's most often a S&W model 60 in there, too.

It's a shame and a mystery to me how most people these days are so unprepared for everyday life, let alone the SHTF scenarios that can and do arise.

Spend some time sharpening a few blades today, after cleaning the 27 bass we caught.
 
Not quite a "loan", but a screw-up on my part. Many years ago, the old man next door offered to sharpen my Puma folder. He had his small stone in hand, and not wanting to hurt his feelings, I gave him my knife. He layed the blade flat on the stone and worked away. I was so shocked, I couldn't say a word. To say I was sick was an understatement. Both sides of the blade were completely ruined, or at least it was to me. I never said a word, but gave the knife away, couldn't stand to look at it. I should have known better!
 
Never does a day go by that I don't use my pocket knife. And it seems about 50% of the time, somebody else uses it also.........
 
The first thing I put in my pocket as soon as I get my britches on is my knife. Would feel naked without it and I keep it sharp. Not much for loaning it but I will cut something for you.
 
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