Home Forums Gear Knives and Blades Loaning a knife...

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...

How a man could make a day without a knife is beyond me.

I know what you mean. In high school I had bought this knife

http://www.schrade-knives.com/OldTimer194OT.html and even had a nice sheath made for it.

While working a gate at that Calgary Stampede, I loaned it to a coworker who promptly used it to pry something and bent the blade tip slightly. He bought that knife from me, but I have never replaced it.

For what it was, it was a nice light duty liner locker folder. Sigh. Still have the sheath 32 years later. Pack rat I guess.

I feel naked without a least my little Gerber folder in my pocket, even in dress pants.

http://www.gerbergear.com/Essentials/Knives/Ultralight-LST-Knife_46050

I usually carry a custom hand made pocket knife,every day. But when I'm going out amongst people,like scouting or the cooking I do for the Scout events,Memorial Day,The Fourth,also the little leagues spring hot dog event,the Scouts annual car show,and another,our Church's Octoberfest...I carry production cutlery. For the exact reason the OP stated.
Now I know a fella who had a Tony Bose swayback jack and handed it off just like the OP says,at a gathering. To do what with it no one knows but when he gave it back the tip of the warncliffe blade was snapped off ! Tony ground & re shaped,but still,holy shute man!

So to the OP this is a great post to alert the knife enthusiasts.

I also take a less quality pocket knife while out on a boat fishing & had a customer drop a nice PJ Tomes stag folder into Lake Washington. It was only a $500. knife.

I made the mistake of lending a Puma skinner to a fellow at Mortat station in Victoria when I was a younger fellow, it turns out that he was going to cut the emeries on the shearers grinder with it.
The fool just could not understand why I went off the deep end, and thought that I was very unreasonable.

I thought he was lucky to be alive.

I was tit deep in a swamp trapping beaver. Another trapper who was very young ask to borrow my knife. I was setting a conibear
turner around he was trying to cut #9 wire with my pocketknife.

When I worked a normal job around other adults I used to keep a folding utility knife on me as my loaner blade. I never sharpened it nor replaced the blade and eventually guys stopped asking to borrow a knife from me.

Having just acquired my first Menefee folder (from Reno) ain't nobody gonna be cutting anything with it other than me. It is absolutely going to get used as an EDC knife and for small game and skinning furbearers so it will get worked out and often. But there is a difference between using a knife and abusing a knife. The shame of it is that in our society too many products are designed to be used and then trashed when they get worn, rather than maintained and/or repaired. Nowadays many people don't understand that difference between use and abuse. BTW, damned fine knife Rick!

Many years ago, I made the mistake of loaning my pocket knife to a guy I worked with. He brought it back later and I just slipped it into my pocket. Later, I discovered he had somehow really abused it and ruined one of the blades. He didn't mention that when he brought it back, and I never brought the issue up. From that day, I don't loan a knife to anyone-period.

I figure that a man that doesn't have sense enough to carry his own knife, isn't likely to have sense enough to use mine properly. YMMV

This is why there are generally at least two pocket knives on me daily. One is mine and doesn't ever get loaned out or abused. The other is the loaner/beater. When loaned out, it quite often opens the door for some education (to put it mildly).

Oh, and always ask what they need the knife for.

If I have pants on, then I have a knife. Been that way since I was old enough to wear long pants.

Was around new friends and one's wife went to open a box and I offered my knife. I opened it and handed it over. She commenced to try cutting with the back of the blade, got the blade to pop off the first stop. Scared me good. Never thought to it was necessary to explain to an adult how to use a knife.

Sometimes tit deep is the same as waist deep.

I could do without that rolling around in my head.

Only time I'm without my Alan Davis liner lock is when I'm in the shower or I'm banging the wife.

showed a employee my puma stag handled folder & he opened it up & took a cheapie from his pocket; then he put the blades together & raked the edges againt each other. i asked him what the hell he was doing ,he replied that way the way to tell which had better steel. cranky72

That SOB would have been punched.

I never carry any of my custom folders. i do carry a Benchmade or ZT in my left pocket and a SAK with 5-6 tools in my right pocket. I never loan any of my knives to anyone, not even my adult children. when I lived in Germany I went to the Wenger factory in Switzerland. I have two factory SAK Officers models which are too nice to carry.

I carry a custom folder and believe I'm worth the expense. I continue to find myself handling it far more often than my production knives. It's a fairly recent purchase and I may out grow the lust but I hope not.

Ahhh you guys are always good for a grin. Some funny $hit.

Most of the time someone asks me for a knife is at work. I ALWAYS ask what for.

I did loan my knife to a guy I stumbled upon in the woods. He was looking for a doe shot night before by his handicapped buddy. I found his deer, and loaned him my knife. He was kinda ashamed that he forgot his blade. I then helped drag deer through some thick as$ woods to where four wheeler could get to it.

I guess sometimes it pays to help others. That same guy gave me his number. Said if I ever need help, call him. Next day I shot a 262 lb. buck. Without his 4-wheeler, I would still be dragging it......