What's the worst thing your knife has been used for?

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Mar 17, 2015
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Most of my working time has been spent in machine shops. I've used my knives for everything from cutting open boxes or bags of parts to digging metal slivers out of my hands. Nothing out of the ordinary. Some years ago I made a career change from being a machinist to being a sheriff's deputy. I started carrying one or the other of my Buck 110's on my duty belt and a folder clipped to my back pocket. That setup suits about anything I could run into I believe.

One day at the station, a female deputy asked to borrow one of my knives. I've known her since my first day there and she's very trustworthy so I got the Buck out of it's sheath and handed it to her. She took off to use it for something. Before our shift started she returned it and back into the sheath it went without a thought. Later in the day we were having lunch and somebody had put a bowl of cherries out for dessert. I had already used my Buck for cutting my sandwich and it was laying on the table so it got used as a fork for the handful of cold cherries that I ate. A quick wipe with a napkin and back into the sheath to finish the day.

The next day before our shift started she again asked for my knife and once again I handed her the Buck and she disappeared into an office. After conversing with a few other guys we were about to begin our work day but the girl and my knife were nowhere to be found. I headed into the office she had went into to get my knife back and she had her boot off digging at something in her foot with it :eek:

She explained that on our day off she had got a thorn in her foot because she hates wearing shoes and always goes barefoot at home. She went on to say that she had got half of it out the day before when she'd borrowed the Buck but didn't finish. I explained that I had used the knife the previous day while having lunch, even going so far as using it as a fork. Through her laughter, she said she had wiped the blood off of my blade on her pants leg so not to worry. She got a good laugh out of this needless to say. That is, until I pulled the rest of the thorn out of her foot. Our inside joke is that we're now blood brother and sister. I gifted her a knife of her own after that.

Another time I was asked for my knife so a different coworker could cut open a baggie of drugs. What he didn't say was where exactly on the arrested person the baggie was found. Needless to say after he told me, that knife went into an evidence bag until I could get home and soak it in bleach. Suffice to say, that was not a job for alcohol! One day I was asked for my knife and I had the good sense to ask what it was needed for, and when the reply was "this screw needs tightened up", I told him to go find himself a screwdriver.

I have a Smith&Wesson knife I sometimes carried on the job. I got it used and very cheap, i cleaned it up and sharpened it. At some point I had polished it quite a bit so it looked almost chrome plated. I once used that one to save a guy's life while on duty. I don't know if I'd be permitted to tell the story here so I'll refrain. I haven't carried the knife since and I won't part with it even though the story had a happy ending for all involved. I see it kind of as a good luck charm now and it rides in the glove compartment.

I'm curious what y'alls knives have went through as far as stuff like this goes. I love reading people's knife stories on here.
 
Nothing like what you're describing. I use SAK Classics as legit screwdrivers sometimes, and I've used a CRKT Minimalist as a tent stake before.
 
There was the time I electrocuted my Leatherman wave doing a DIY electrical repair.

Not knife related, but I accidentally ran over my zippo lighter with a Dodge pickup. It fell out of my back pocket when I was doing an oil change in the driveway. It must have opened when it hit the ground because I found it later that afternoon with the hinge completely broken off. Needless to say the lid was also quite flat.
 
Can’t say that I have tried it yet, but the Mini Cotton Sampler ought to make a pretty good coke spoon.

My little Anza has scraped some gaskets, and popped open a few frozen car doors. The worst misapplication was as an impromptu motorcycle tire lever. If you think screwdrivers are bad...
 
Lmao “where the baggie was found”. Hardest thing I’ve used a knife for was to try and cut some wire mesh at my old job in a mill. Tore it up pretty good but it was only a Kershaw injection. I’d never use a good knife for something like that.
 
I have used a camillus bk-10 and a western w49 to chop through roots in soil, badly denting up the edges on rocks and metal fencing.

I've used cheap knives as screwdrivers. I've done light prying and automotive work with a cold steel broken skull.
 
XM-18 used to remove snake's head. Needed a good disassembly/cleaning after disarticulation...
 
I hastily cut a piece of grit tape for stairs....it messed up the tip edge on my brand new PM2...ouch this was my first real expensive knife too!
 
1989 Spyderco police fully serrated it's cut wire, pvc pipe, tree limbs, plastic stapping, opened cans with it ect ect. It's been a pretty tough knife for the most part although it has a nick in the tip area. The dlc black coating is pretty tough as well and the knife still has quite a bit left on it overall.
 
Haven't really done anything out of the ordinary with my knives. Some light prying and scraping..

Oh, and that one time I was going to try out batoning.
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I once let a friend borrow my knife while backpacking he apparently he used it to cut a couple of blisters on his foot. The next day we had stopped for lunch on the trail and I go to cutting spam into strips to put on my tortilla. He starts laughing a little. I say what? He says did you clean that knife after I gave it back last night I for got too. Well no I didn't. Yuck! I did finish cutting my spam and yes I ate it. Other than that nothing to strange with a knife.
 
About 5 years ago, I cut a 1/4" off the tip of my left middle finger with a SAK while carelessly slicing some cheddar cheese. Obviously, it wasn't on purpose and the tip actually grew back although I don't have the same amount of feeling in the tip as my other fingers. Ever since then, I get a little nervous feeling whenever I do any food prep with a knife now. It was a very painful lesson to pay attention while using a sharp knife.
 
We finished packing up a semi trailer with tons of lighting and sound equipment at 2 or 3 in the morning, pulled it forward to close the doors, and a piece of plywood flooring was blocking them. Pulling and repacking wasn't an option, most of the crew had already bailed, so I took out a Junglee Emerson clone (it was the 90s, I had never even heard of Emerson then) and chiseled that 3/4" ply until I could break enough to get those damn doors closed. It was about -10 F, but I was pretty warm by the time it was done. Knife survived, even after stabbing through into metal multiple times.
 
My boss asked for a knife at work, stupidly I gave him my delica and he proceeded to pop open his office door with it. Using the tip!

Luckily, it was A-ok!
Lol
 
Burnt several notches in blades doing electrical work. Sometimes it was because I had the wrong breaker off. Other times because someone had turned it back on without me knowing.
 
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