Interesting Knife Uses

oldmanwilly said:
D dirc ,

I might agree with you if I lived in the Pacific Northwest or elsewhere with beautiful old-growth cedar forests. In central Texas, however, they are voracious weeds that choke out any pasture or creek they can access. Their pollen also chokes out any sinus they can access. As far as I'm concerned, the only good cedar on my property is one drying on a burn-pile or wired up as a fence post.
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wow, ok... I honestly would never have expected that to be the case. Up here in Canada (not northwest), I don't know any farmers or ranchers that complain about them, they typically have them grow around property boundaries also

we have them all over up here, and they still sell for $20 for a 4x4 8 foot post (about $15'ish USD)... in my book, that's not a weed but a lucrative harvest
(they get much much higher for the big ones)

but thank you, I learned something I wouldn't have expected
 
DangerZone98 said:
Cutting off those annoying shirt tags with the washing instructions that you don’t read anyway.
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With the right tip, I'll sometimes use my knife as a "seam ripper" to cleanly liberate a tag. Hawkbills and other hook-like knives (such as in my profile pic) work best for this. I've also used clip and trailing points but with the blade on the outside of the curve, it works a little differently.
 
Velitrius said:
Why thank you, David!

1999 it was. Got hypnotized. Never had another cigarette. Been buying knives with the proceeds ever since.
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It didn’t work for me. I don’t even know if I got truly hypnotized or just really relaxed. I would not have made chicken noises when I heard the word beer (or whatever) like you see in the comedy routines. I ended up using chantix. Woke up 3 weeks after starting and just didn’t want it anymore. What sealed it though, for me, was learning that I still craved the habit. To this day (I quit September 13th, 2007), I get a glass of water and go stand in the driveway a few minutes. Or where the smoke pen used to be at work. I still follow the routine (albeit a lot less often) I just removed the cigarette.

Back on topic. I use mine to place stickers on lego sets for the kids. I use the edge to get in between them to separate them without prying. It’s just enough to then get my nail in. Like someone else, I use the spine to scrape cutting boards. Too easy to just flip it over. I use it as fingernail cleaner quite often. I use it to scribe fiberglass in the shop. Often using the back of a drop point for that. Use them to remove splinters. Most of all, I use them as a worry stone. Especially at work, I have this little spin I do in my hand when I’m walking around checking things out or standing around talking lol.
 
Knives and edge weapons are great “quiet time” tools. When ever someone starts mindlessly rambling on about this or that, I like to take out a kukri, or TrailMaster, or a tomahawk and tell them about it. Or better yet, set them up for a photo. And just like that, the rambling is done, the crowd disperses and you can get back to watching something important like Cheyenne or Big Valley!

Like the great poet said, sit quietly and carry a big knife!
 
SVTFreak said:
It didn’t work for me. I don’t even know if I got truly hypnotized or just really relaxed. I would not have made chicken noises when I heard the word beer (or whatever) like you see in the comedy routines. I ended up using chantix. Woke up 3 weeks after starting and just didn’t want it anymore. What sealed it though, for me, was learning that I still craved the habit. To this day (I quit September 13th, 2007), I get a glass of water and go stand in the driveway a few minutes. Or where the smoke pen used to be at work. I still follow the routine (albeit a lot less often) I just removed the cigarette.

Back on topic. I use mine to place stickers on lego sets for the kids. I use the edge to get in between them to separate them without prying. It’s just enough to then get my nail in. Like someone else, I use the spine to scrape cutting boards. Too easy to just flip it over. I use it as fingernail cleaner quite often. I use it to scribe fiberglass in the shop. Often using the back of a drop point for that. Use them to remove splinters. Most of all, I use them as a worry stone. Especially at work, I have this little spin I do in my hand when I’m walking around checking things out or standing around talking lol.
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My hypnosis experience was with a group. Many of the folks stood outside before the session began and chain smoked several cigarettes until it started. It didn't work for them either, as I'm pretty sure they did not want to quit. Me, I wanted to quit in the worst way. And I agree that the physical cues are one of the hardest things about the addiction... pick up the phone, light up... step out on the deck, light up.... grab the cup of coffee, light up. Maybe the hypnosis just lasted long enough to break those habits, I don't know.

And damn it, why didn't I think of using your Lego sticker trick with a knife way back when. My stubby fingernails ruined more than a couple of those in the day.

Many of you are mentioning using the spine of the knife, and this reminds me. I use fresh ginger quite a bit, and the spine of the knife makes real short work of peeling ginger. It's pretty much automatic now to pull a knife, cut off a chunk of ginger, flip the knife over and scrape it clean, wipe it off, back in pocket.

The spine of a knife is a super handy scraping tool. I wonder how many times I use it as such and never notice doing it.
 
Velitrius-
Never occurred to me to use the spine to peel ginger root. I'll try it next time I peel ginger, I've been using a spoon. Thanks for the tip!
 
dirc said:
wow, ok... I honestly would never have expected that to be the case. Up here in Canada (not northwest), I don't know any farmers or ranchers that complain about them, they typically have them grow around property boundaries also

we have them all over up here, and they still sell for $20 for a 4x4 8 foot post (about $15'ish USD)... in my book, that's not a weed but a lucrative harvest
(they get much much higher for the big ones)

but thank you, I learned something I wouldn't have expected
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SVTFreak SVTFreak correct me if I'm wrong but I think you are talking about 'salt cedar' which is an invasive species and huge problem for some areas of Texas.
 
I've used the sharper spine on some knives to peel potatoes and get the outer skin off of onions. If the blade is broad and long enough, smashing things is good too, like garlic cloves. A couple of the fun things I've learned playing with hunting knives and bushcraft knives in the kitchen the past couple years. Kitchen knives are a bit too flexible for smashing.

I also use my EDC for pulling staples a lot at work, hate staple pullers.
 
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No one going to suggest clearing toilet blockages prior to cleaning teeth? Or is that just too normal around here? Sorry, the thread brought flashbacks to that discussion... :D
 
In our part of the country we have juniper cedars that are invasive to pasture land and spread everywhere. They take a lot of moisture and nutrients from the soil. This is a more arid climate so that deep rooted trees are dominant over grass and choke it out of the range. It used to be the ranchers would manage the range and either use control burn or cut the junipers out which was a time consuming process. Now a lot of range land is regulated by anti burn and environmental laws and are almost useless for grazing. Some wildlife has benefited some but many species that were dependent on grassland are all gone.
 
Phydeaux said:
Velitrius-
Never occurred to me to use the spine to peel ginger root. I'll try it next time I peel ginger, I've been using a spoon. Thanks for the tip!
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I've been using a spoon for years. Then it occurred to me that I can use the ol' knife without fetching and dirtying up a spoon.

Another thing I forgot I use the spine on... wire stripping. I used to strip the end of a piece of wire like sharpening a pencil.

Now I score a ring on the sheathing, drive the spine of the knife into the scored slit and pull the wire coating off. Works perfect every time.
 
I hulled a few natives today.

hulling-pecans-en.jpg
 
Tx308 said:
SVTFreak SVTFreak correct me if I'm wrong but I think you are talking about 'salt cedar' which is an invasive species and huge problem for some areas of Texas.
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sorry man, wasn’t me. We don’t have cedar down here in Louisiana that I know of. At least it’s not common and I’ve never seen one on my land. Plenty of cypress though lol.
 
One of my favorite off-spec uses for a knife is popping open iced up car doors. In MN we have occasion to do that maybe four or five times a year. A favorite knife for that task is a Hultafors GK. For light encrustations, the screwdriver on a SAK will often do the trick.

The knife in my console, an SCHF55, would seem particularly well suited, but if you think about it for a second or two, the nature of the conundrum should be clear.
 
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