A reminder about letting others use your knife...

[British Red]

Interesting

There are a few members of this forum who can borrow any kit I have (Sean, Jon, Dave etc.). Why? becuase their friendship and knowledge means far more to me than any bit of sharpened steel - be it my Reeves, Cegga or even my PFK, their friendship means more to me than a possession. If it broke in their hands I would assume "great need or manufacturing fault" and price it at a beer

Red

 

[Northern Giant UK]

Young children can be vindictive thoughtless hateful spiteful scheming little (insert expletive here), I'ts not their fault it's just how kids are but to blame it solely on parents would be unfair. Ask any parent, they'll all tell you that no matter what you do you just can't watch them 24 hours a day (believe me, as a father of 3 girls who've had broken bones, cuts and have destroyed projects etc but all just because of the fact that they're kids). Kids are naturally inquisitive and no matter how well brought up they will always check out anything new they find and as adults it is up to us to keep dangers to a minimum. They will still have accidents however, and this is part of the learning process too, my nephew for instance put a 6mm drill bit thru his hand and he learned never to unlock the shed and mess with his dads piller drill again .

It would be (IMHO) foolish to loan any tool to someone I think couldn't handle it safely, in the case of a knife it would include being able to not only handle a knife with care but also be used to handling a knife as sharp as the kind used for bushcraft (most people haven't used a knife you can shave with).

here are a couple of rules I use and stand by. . .

Never lend something that you can't manage without. (as if it gets stolen/broken you'll be in the proverbial)

Always return whatever you borrow in as good or better condition than when you recieved it (this way you stand more chance of being loaned it again)

And it goes without saying. .
If you break it, you replace it!

Kev

 

[SOAR]

I was out with a friend od mine once when he asked me if he could borrow my knife, when I asked him what he wanted if for he replied "I want to cut something," when I quized him further, being, very reluctant as to lending him my knife bassed on his reply It turned out it was some wire that was tangled arround some of his fishing gear. NO!!!! was yhe reply he got. Well can you cut it then? NO!!! he heard once more. And I thought the guy knew about knives.

 

[Dave Budd]

I tend not to worry about people hurting my knives and tools. I make them to stand up to numties who can't care for things the worst that can happen is that the thing needs sharpening and that is no real chore to be honest. I do it everyday, so what's another blade on the pile?

I think lending tools (of any description) is going to to be a risk. I damage mine through accidents occasionally, but I still lend let me use them Just accept that some people need a word of caution when being lent a treasured piece

 

[pvtcamo]

I see that my thread caused a lot of arguments about what I should have done to the kid,and who's fault was it that the knife got into his hands...

Maybe I've used the wrong word... he's 15yrs old. So... I didn't think it was dangerous to put the knife on the floor.

Lesson learned!

Also, I've had problems with saying "no" when people ask to use my knife (I don't wanna offend'em), but now I see that I wuld have to either learn to say it, or carry an extra crappy knife...

 

[pvtcamo]

He promised to pay for it so I told him how much it had cost me. "Whaaaat? You paid a hundred and twenty quid for that?" I told him it was hand made to my specs. I waited over a month, and kept reminding him and he eventually paid up. He's never asked to borrow my knife again and I wouldn't lend it even if he did.

He was a bit peed off when someone told him the knife only cost me thirty quid. He asked me why I took a hundred and twenty off him so I told him it was to teach him a lesson and to cover the distress it cost me.

Eric

Cool method!!! I guess it would work great around here (considering that the average salary in Croatia is 200-300 pounds [cca.$400-600])!!

 

[heath]

Well this has turned out to be quite an interesting post. I think it's quite strange that some people have decided to get on a soap box, maybe we need to give each other a little more credit and assume that no one is going to let a three year old pick up a knife, and that someone is being sarcastic when they talk about lost digits being a lesson learned. I'm amzed no one has posted their disgust at the idea of cooking and eating a poor childs finger. Come on guys lighten up.

Anyway here's my story, my brother came to visit me from the states a couple of weeks ago and while our wives were talking about babies and girly stuff we decided to do mens things (play with fire and sharp stuff). I went up to the spare room to grab an axe to chop some kindling, hovered for a while over my new Roselli and then went for my Fiskars when I thought that my brother would probably want to have a play (this is from years of experience). Sure enough my brother decided to have a chop at a piece of wood that was lying on the concrete floor, before I had the chance to stop him he'd missed thewood and made a nice big ding in my axe. My brother leaped to an apology and couldn't understand while I was laughing. I was just so relieved that I didn't take the Roselli.

 

[Northern Giant UK]

Maybe I've used the wrong word... he's 15yrs old. So... I didn't think it was dangerous to put the knife on the floor.

Whooa, !!15!! By that age they should know better and any 15 yr old walking in to my garden picking up stuff they have no permission to, deserve frog marching off the property to their parents to discuss punishments!

No soap box here, I assumed (wrongly) that we were talking about a child not a young adult.

Kev

 

[Yorkshire Boy]

I was out with a friend od mine once when he asked me if he could borrow my knife, when I asked him what he wanted if for he replied "I want to cut something," when I quized him further, being, very reluctant as to lending him my knife bassed on his reply It turned out it was some wire that was tangled arround some of his fishing gear. NO!!!! was yhe reply he got. Well can you cut it then? NO!!! he heard once more. And I thought the guy knew about knives.

That's what fishing pliers are for!
A pair of cheapie £2 pliers will do that job!

 

[bambodoggy]

It's very rare that I ever lend my knife out, I find the question "Where's yours"? usually surfices when asked for a borrow If they have their's then they use it and if they haven't then it's a useful lesson in remembering to bring their own, if they don't own one then they have no business using mine.

I also don't leave or even put my knife on the floor (s.o.r.r.y to step on anybodies toes) but I don't think too highly of anybody else who does. A wise man once told me that in the woods "Your knife is your life" and I try to live by that. It's al very well getting excited that you've made an ember one way or another but if you loose/damage your knife then it's going to be that much harder to make another ember.
Putting your knife down is a short cut and short cuts have a nasty habbit of turning round and biting you.
I belong to a group now that if you leave your knife laying about then somebody will pick it up and keep it quietly for the rest of the time you are away, only giving it back to you at the end and right in front of all your mates so everybody knows you've been a prat....surfice to say it's not often any of us loose or damage our knives.

All the best,

Bam.

 

[spamel]

At eight quid a pop, a frost mora knife is an ideal first knife for bushcraft. I don't like the idea of my kids using one of these knives to throw sparks from a ferro rod as it still has a sharp edge so was thinking about geting an old one and grinding the point and edge right off leaving a stick of carbon steel with a decent plastic handle for the kids to grip onto and no sharp pointy bits. I know it means the destruction of a knife, but it is only a cheap one, and many will say why not use a bit of hacksaw blade, but I find young kids don't have the manual dexterity that adults have.

Does anyone else think this is a worthwhile idea?

 

[Porcupine]

been thinking a bit about this.

it boils down to two things for me.

dont ever let your stuff unsupervised since you cant expect people in general to look only with their eyes.

never start to love your gear to much,if you disagree please etch the words "my precious" in it and start working on your gollum imitation

 

[pvtcamo]

You will not believe this:

As I finished writing my last post, a couple of friends and I went for a hike on a nearby hill... Half way up the hill, a friend wants to borrow my knife (a friend that I KNOW does not respect knives - many times, he pointed a knife at someone, like he's gonna hurt them, but in a joke)... And I've said my first sharp, loud, clear, resounding "NO!! I can sell you my knife, but you can't borrow it!"
(I only offered to sell it to him 'cause I knew he will not buy it)

It appears I really CAN say "no"...

It felt good... REALLY GOOD...

 

[-Switch-]

There are only a few people I would lend a knife to and they know - like anything I lend them - if it gets damaged they're buying a new one.
Usually if someone asks to borrow a knife I'll ask what for, and if the work they need it for is reasonable then I'll offer to do it myself. If it's not reasonable then no, they can't borrow it and no, I won't do it for them.

Personally I find it very flattering when a responsible knife-user lets me borrow a knife because it shows they respect my ability to use it properly and safely.

 

[benp1]

agree with whats been said before.

carry a mora just in case. they're so light you don't really notice them and they're so cheap that they're easily replaceable

plus they're surprisingly good knives!

 

[bent-stick]

At eight quid a pop, a frost mora knife is an ideal first knife for bushcraft. I don't like the idea of my kids using one of these knives to throw sparks from a ferro rod as it still has a sharp edge so was thinking about geting an old one and grinding the point and edge right off leaving a stick of carbon steel with a decent plastic handle for the kids to grip onto and no sharp pointy bits. I know it means the destruction of a knife, but it is only a cheap one, and many will say why not use a bit of hacksaw blade, but I find young kids don't have the manual dexterity that adults have.

Does anyone else think this is a worthwhile idea?

How about giving them locked closed opi plenty to get hold of and no need to wreck a knife.

On the original question,,,If I know the person can handle it it's fine, if they don't they are going to need me looking over their shoulder anyway. I'm more concerned with them damaging themselves or others than damaging my stuff. OTOH I carry backups and would't be left without a knife if they managed to baton the handle off.

 

[elma]

Meet the man before judging him.

He is possibly one of the politest and most respectful people you will meet, if you then add a good knowledge on things concerned with bushcraft, a good judge of character and someone who is interesting to talk to and you get the basis for a good mod.

He has high standards that he sets for himself, he doesn't expect others to meet them, but does expect some common courtesy.

Off the subject of C_Claycomb.

If the child is 2, 3, 4 years old, where are it's parents, guardians or carers?

Why are they not ensuring that their beloved child is not damaging others peoples property or causing a nuisance. If the child were abducted there would be merry hell about it, but whose fault would it be?

After spending a week of my life in the wilds of Norway with Chris I must agree with leon !00% I have found Chris very knowledgeable, polite and helpful.
Its also bad form to judge a man befor you know him:tapedshut

Rgds

Ian

 

[Ogri the trog]

You will not believe this:

I've said my first sharp, loud, clear, resounding "NO!! I can sell you my knife, but you can't borrow it!"
(I only offered to sell it to him 'cause I knew he will not buy it)

It appears I really CAN say "no"...

It felt good... REALLY GOOD...

Now thats given me a great idea for the next time I get asked to lend a knife..
"I'll sell it to you, and at the end of you're use of it, I might buy it back for a reduced amount depending on the state in which it is returned!"
Though I'll probably forget and hand it over anyway - Can't say I've had a problem so far but there'll be a first time to regret doing it.

ATB

Ogri the trog

 

[C_Claycomb]

"I'll sell it to you, and at the end of you're use of it, I might buy it back for a reduced amount depending on the state in which it is returned!"

I LIKE it!

Ian, Leon, Cheers!:You_Rock_ I really should learn not to be facetious on forums:11doh:

 

[JohnC]

My niece (13yo) asked to see the knife I had made. I cautioned her it was sharp, and checked she knew the correct way to hold/handle a knife, which she did.. She asked if she could cut something with it to see it, I said "yes if you are careful" (and I was there), so she picked up the sheath and sliced a (small) chunk off the beltloop...

It wasn't easy not to shout out or try to grab, ...