What do you actually do with your knife?

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John Fenna

Lifetime Member & Maker
Oct 7, 2006
23,143
2,880
66
Pembrokeshire
Cutting things...sorry - coudn't resist :)
Food prep, from skinning to serving even opening "Boil in the Bag" pouches...
Spoon and tool whitling
tent peg making
Firewood/featherstick prep
Fire starting - with a firesteel (not often)
Decorative carving
String cuting
and more.....
 

gregorach

Bushcrafter (boy, I've got a lot to say!)
Sep 15, 2005
3,723
28
51
Edinburgh
Which knife? ;) My main bushy mostly gets used (in conjunction with a folding saw) for splitting kindling, making feather-sticks, producing wooden tools and implements, and constructing camp furniture. The stainless lock-knife in my KFS gets used for food prep and eating, and the wee stockman in my pocket gets used for cutting string, opening parcels, and suchlike.
 

Everything Mac

Bushcrafter (boy, I've got a lot to say!)
Nov 30, 2009
3,112
83
36
Scotland
cutting rope, battoning kindling, gutting game. cutting leather.

as a spoon

food prep

cutting troublesome bits of paper :D


Andy
 
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Prawnster

Full Member
Jun 24, 2008
806
0
St. Helens
Not much really.

Preparing tinder and kindling.

Striking on a firesteel.

Making pegs for guying cord out.

That's about it for most of the time I reckon.
 

Toddy

Mod
Mod
Jan 21, 2005
38,996
4,650
S. Lanarkshire
This weekend mine has been used to
Cut reeds in the pond.
Cut down Rushes,
Scrape the edges of a deerhide.
Prep birch bark.
Strip and strip down brambles.
Feather sticks, just because :)
Made a new handle for a coal shovel from an Ash branch.
Dug up ramsoms and bluebells in the garden (it was handy :eek:)
Cut twine to repair a sweetpea net.
Cut Flag Iris corms.
Roughed out a netting needle.
Bored holes in bone plates for tablet weaving cards.
Trimmed up the Cherry and Hawthorn trees after pruning.
Took the hard shell off two good sized fomes and cut out the corky layer.

I can't see why I *need* a big knife :dunno: Besides, my neighbours would think I'd gone Rambo'd :rolleyes:

cheers,
Toddy
 

MartiniDave

Bushcrafter (boy, I've got a lot to say!)
Aug 29, 2003
2,355
130
62
Cambridgeshire
OK, in the last week I have used various of mine for:-

Replacing a phone socket. (SAK)
Opening paint tins. (SAK)
Slicing lemon for drinks, cooking and serving with fish. (SAK)
Carving a shrink pot. (Frost 106)
Feather sticks. (Clipper)
Cutting hazel sticks use for future projects (Helle Eggen)
Opening boxes at work. (SAK)
Cutting up old carpet to better fit in the skip. (Opinel)
Getting paint off a door handle. (SAK)
Cutting up a couple of pineapples (Newly sharpened bread-saw)
Sharpening a pencil. (SAK)
Stripping a cable to fit a plug. (SAK)
Cutting thin ply to make a machette sheath. (Mora No1)
Stripping and rebuilding a desk. (SAK & Leatherman) - I hate the leatherman, it closes on your fingers too easily, but it did prove useful for this job.
Opening a few beers. (SAK)

Oh dear, the good old Woodlore's been left out of things!

Dave

PS - Yes, you've guessed it, I'm decorating!
 

Tadpole

Full Member
Nov 12, 2005
2,842
21
60
Bristol
This week my edc (opinel nó6) has been used to cut up Spanish sausage for my lunch, open and shred card-board packing boxes, trim some 8 core cable, chop out a hole in some plaster board for a new plug socket, open half a dozen envelopes. In a normal week it does all that and cut string, paper, leather, food, plastic tie-wraps, plus a hundred random things that other people ask me to do, knowing I have a sharp knife with me at all time.
 

Draven

Native
Jul 8, 2006
1,530
6
34
Scotland
All sorts :D The main activities would be:
Food prep
Carving little ornamental thingymabobs, mostly woodspirits or copies of totems, etc, mostly carve woodspirits for peoples gardens or local woods
Making tool handles - axes, knives
Leatherwork
Barking (from wood :p )
Firemaking (splitting kindling and feathersticks)
Collecting rushes
Bit of gardening, when I'm helping someone out (not much of a gardener mself)

I also often carry one of my knives round the house - I'm not a big fan of the cheapo kitchen knives dad collects, so it fills the role of kitchen knife, butter knife, as well as utility knife, letter opener, etc. Will often use it to smooth the endgrain of sawn wood rather than sanding. Pretty much anything I cut I cut with one of my 'bushcraft' knives - suddenly calling them bushcraft knives seems wholly inappropriate :lmao: My knives take the roll of push knife and draw knife too, occasionally a froe and I have on one occasion shaved my face and chopped my hair with one! But that was to see if I could :p

Course I also have a Leuku - that gets used for more serious chopping, pruning of overhanging trees, splitting of larger wood than I'm willing to do with my smaller knives, it also makes a more suitable push or draw knife. It also gets used for food prep as my smaller knives aren't ideally suited to a chopping board. It also excels regarding my very limited forays into shelterbuilding, and is much faster and more convenient for clearance, making poles and stakes than my smaller knives.

Pete
 

locum76

Bushcrafter (boy, I've got a lot to say!)
Oct 9, 2005
2,772
9
47
Kirkliston
Opinel No6: cut string, cut holes in mulch fabric, whittle sticks, prep food, fix polytunnels (cut tape).
 

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