Why are peope so scared of sharp knives?

I

initb2009

Joined
Jul 7, 2009
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51
My sister complained and complained about how our chicago cutlery kitchen knife set was shitty so I bought some old school old hickory knives and back beveled/put a utility edge on them and she was so scared of it that she put it down and picked up a dull knife.Why are people so scared of dull knives when they know sharp knives are safer? and how did people even begin to fear sharp blades? Is it human nature or another hysteria created by society?
 
Charles Manson said something to the effect:

"Everybody knows what it feels like to get cut"
 
what was the leverage factor with your sister? I think fear of 'sharp knives' doesn't happen in a vacuum, ie if someone is totally alone with no other person / people around then they should be fine, unless they are clumsy [i agree with that post]
 
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Bad knife technique in the kitchen, Let them work in a professional kitchen for a few weeks or have to process a fair quantity of food and their tune will change.
 
People are scared of sharp knives because they have never been taught, or have forgoten basic safe use practices. Therefore, they think of the way they are acustomed to handling (dull) knives and, rightly, assume that they will cut themselves.

As is the case with many prejudices and fears the solution is proper education.
 
Joben said:
People are scared of sharp knives because they have never been taught, or have forgoten basic safe use practices. Therefore, they think of the way they are acustomed to handling (dull) knives and, rightly, assume that they will cut themselves.

As is the case with many prejudices and fears the solution is proper education.
Click to expand...

Excellent post Joben:thumbup:
 
I have had two instances of people I work with ( in the last few years ) telling me my knife was 'too sharp'.

Like when your car is getting 'too good of gas mileage' or your gun is 'too accurate' or your TV's gets 'too clear of a picture'.

Doesnt make much sense does it :D
 
Sharp knives are more dangerous than dull.

But on the other hand, a dull knife isn't good for anything. Except prying.
 
Most sheeple are afraid of their own shadows.
Why would you expect them to appreciate sharp edges?
 
Initb2009,
it’s the same argument as gun control, people don’t trust themselves to handle inanimate objects properly so you shouldn’t be allowed to either. Most people have cut themselves usually through poor technique and probably with a blade they assume is sharp, else it wouldn’t have cut them. When in reality they wouldn’t have had to force a “sharp” blade and wouldn’t have cut themselves.

Hushnel, agreed if you have to breakdown a lot of food dull knives get tedious real quick where as using good sharp ones is a relaxing experience.

CWL, somebody threatens to “cut” a board member here will definitely get an “education” as in yes we know what it is like to get cut, no we don’t really care and they will probably need more medical attention than we will.
 
Erasmus said:
Sharp knives are more dangerous than dull.
Click to expand...

I have to disagree. I've been cut with duller knives alot more than sharp ones. And its always been from trying to use too much force to get that stupid dull blade to cut!
 
After many years of using, carrying, sharpening and collecting knives, I've come around to the idea that they can, in fact, be too sharp - at least for me.

What I like in an EDC blade is something that shaves pretty aggressively, but nothing more. To give that some context, take my S30V Sebenza in a dull state. I would regrind it up to 320 and finish on my 10K strop to the point where it would shave well, and move easily through paper. No hair whittling, no push-cutting cigarette papers. That level of sharpness is not practical for me to maintain, and I have to admit, I am likely to cut myself with that sort of blade.

Now... I haven't cut myself problematically in over 30 years, and I have never cut myself in a manner that required stitches. What does happen with a scary-sharp blade though, is that it will give you these little incipient cuts... little kisses part way through the skin, if you get too intimate with it. If you work with your hands, those cuts become splits, and they can create significant problems. In my mind that is a safety... a performance hazard.

Also, I don't really want an edge that's so fine it can't be maintained on a daily basis. I can maintain a good shaving edge on my 10K leather for a few weeks, then maybe have to fall back to the ceramic rod... then back to the strop. Don't generally have to go to the stone more than every few months, unless I start cutting into dirty media. That is with a relatively refined pocket knife. With a larger knife, I use a more obtuse, less keen edge - a rough shaving edge.
 
Erasmus said:
Sharp knives are more dangerous than dull.
Click to expand...

:)

Less leverage (force) will be needed for the same cutting results making a sharp knife less likely to fatigue the user over a period of time, reducing the likelihood of a mishap.

A dull knife will not track through the medium you are cutting nearly as well as a sharp knife, making it less predictable.

A sharp knife may cut deeper into flesh but will cut much cleaner, therefore heal faster and make a repair easier.
 
CWL, somebody threatens to “cut” a board member here will definitely get an “education” as in yes we know what it is like to get cut, no we don’t really care and they will probably need more medical attention than we will.
Click to expand...

Are you talking to me? :confused:

Perhaps you are confusing me with Charles Manson?
 
Tostig said:
I have had two instances of people I work with ( in the last few years ) telling me my knife was 'too sharp'.

Like when your car is getting 'too good of gas mileage' or your gun is 'too accurate' or your TV's gets 'too clear of a picture'.

Doesnt make much sense does it :D
Click to expand...

My father has a 1080p, it is actually too clear for me to enjoy :p

Alot of people just don't know how to use knives, we can't train my step sister to CUT with a kitchen knife. She ALWAYS push cuts and managed to kill knives on fruit
 
good post tsiloics. thumbs up. I stabbed myself to the bone with the sharpest knife I have [Blue Reef titanium dive knife] it has a wicked point too, [OUCH!!!] I actually have lost some feeling in that finger yet it was fortunate the knife hit bone and must have penetrated a bit of the bone or it would have kept going, either that or it hit dead on. I have a friend who is afraid of power tools [he will remain unidentified!] yet he is happy with any assortment of non-power tools, so maybe this extends to blades / knives, as in someone is fine with a hand saw but won't touch a sawzall, fine with a dull kitchen knife but an idiot around a REAL BLADE.
 
Sharp knives hurt less than dull knives when you do cut yourself, it's just a lot easier to cut yourself if you're being stupid with a sharp knife. But you'll be lucky if you even feel it for the first little bit after a sharp knife cut. On the other hand, it's a whole lot easier to cut yourself being smart with a dull blade. It has to due with physics and the amount of force required to cut with a dull knife versus a sharp blade. But many people, especially those safety nuts who grew up in a padded existence, can't grasp this concept; they just see sharp objects as bad.
 
This reminds me of something a friend of mine once said about snakes. He said, "Most snakes aren't dangerous and can't really hurt anybody, but they'll often make people hurt themselves trying to get away from 'em..."

I think the same applies to knives. It depends on the user, what they know about 'em, and how comfortable they are around 'em. A knife only needs to be sharp enough to handle the particular task at hand, by the particular user. No more, no less. I'd kick myself if my own aging mother cut herself on a blade that I'd honed to shaving sharp, especially if she only needed it to slice a piece of cantelope for lunch. She's been doing just fine with her good ol' dull knives (by my judgement only) for the last 30 or 40 years...
 
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