You really shouldn't use your knife for this, but you do...what is it?

[TripleF]

I'm wondering what you all use your knives for that, well, maybe you really shouldn't.

I freqwuently use mine to cut cardboard to use as envelope filler when shipping knives. Mike from Canal Street Cutlery told me
cardboard has sand/stones in it....

I'm sure I shouldn't but I do, and I especially do it when reviewing a knife.

PS....any extra letters become silent.

[Tony_Wood]

Open paint can lids.

[QTCut5]

"Never use your knife as a pry tool" is what they always say, but just today I had to use my EDC Kershaw Chill to pry apart two extension cords (male end from female end) that had been stuck together for a long time. (At least I remembered to unplug the other male end from the wall socket first!)

[WillyCamaro]

Screwdriver and pry bar at times . At least it's never my good knives, I hope …. .

[knife7knut]

Last night I used my pocket knife to repair my wife's document shredder.She had attempted to shred multiple sheets of paper which served only to totally jam the mechanism.Attempts to remove the stuck paper by pulling on them resulted in ripping them off closer to the wheels.
Dis-assembling the shredder I tried in vain to pull them out using pliers and then a large pair of surgical tweezers. I wound up cutting the paper down as far as I could and then jabbing the point of the blade downwards at them first on one side and then the other. After about 45 minutes of this(and several cuts from the razor sharp little wheels inside) I finally managed to free the mechanism.Re-assembled and tested and it works good as new.I hope she will remember to only do one sheet at a time or maybe I'll just buy her an industrial version. BTW the knife survived admirably with only a few new scratches in the blade.

[rexstubbins]

I use the "for flesh only" blade to cut the corns off my toes but I'm not sure why I shouldn't do this because it specifically says: "for flesh only."

I also use punches for cleaning my fingernails.

I also use clip blades for cleaning the crap out of my teeth.

I used the tip of my buck once to pry out an arrow from plywood and I learned real quick that was a mistake.

I probably shouldn't do any of these things with my knife but I do.

[1967redrider]

You all are bad.

I misuse screwdrivers but spare my knives, I use straight screwdrivers as pry bars all the time.

[WillyCamaro]

Guilty as charged ….

[Mumbleypeg]

I never use any knife as a pry bar. I try not to ever use mine as a screwdriver but have been known to, in a pinch, tighten those tiny screws on my reading glasses.

But I’m guilty of using it to scrape battery terminals, wire, gaskets, under the lawn mower deck, removing labels, and so on.

Ken

[bighomer]

Me too .

[New_Windsor_NY]

Stabbing, I mean scraping ice off my windshield.

[313 Mike]

I use mine as a lock pick when needed...not for any criminal activity, but around the workplace there are some locks that it's easier to use my knife to open than it is to find the specialized little key. Also have used it to access a locked door at the old workplace, slide it between the door jam and the edge of the door like a credit card...

[cody6268]

I use the scraper portion of electrician's knives for scraping all matter of stuff off. I have also pried all matter of stuff with that blade.

As for cutting cardboard--yeah, a utility knife is a better tool, but a good steel typically shouldn't have a problem. If I'm just cutting up one box, or opening a package, I use my folder. If it's a bunch of boxes--I grab an 18mm Olfa snap-off knife (soon to have that snap-off blade replaced with a solid one).

[Steve Warden]

Since blades can be re-sharpened, I never worry about cutting cardboard.

[glennbad]

I don't usually beat on my traditionals, but I have been known to do some questionable things with my Benchmade Mini-Grip. I use the blade as a screwdriver sometimes, pry those copper staples out of cardboard packaging, cut low voltage jacketed cable in two, slice cardboard, hammer with the handles...

[bighomer]

Me too.

[1967redrider]

. . . pry those copper staples out of cardboard packaging . . .

Confession- I do have what the Hoppin' Mad Hillbilly used to call a "Chinese Junker, Mr. Douglas," that I have used to pry staples out with, including those big cardboard staples.

[Doc B]

I'm confused. It seems all of the aforementioned activities are legit.

[bighomer]

I'm confused. It seems all of the aforementioned activities are legit.

Me too.

[RevolverGuy]

I don't use my knives for this, but have seen others do it. Batoning. I think it became popular when YouTube reviewers started recording themselves using their pocket knives for what you'd normally use an axe or machete.

[Mumbleypeg]

I'm confused. It seems all of the aforementioned activities are legit.

Agree, but technically, for the most part those activities are not cutting or slicing. (I disagree with the notion of not using a knife to cut cardboard. Every time a knife is used the edge is dulled to some extent. That’s why we re-sharpen).

For the sake of discussion - Scraping corrosion off a battery terminal, where the blade is perpendicular to the surface, is probably a no-no. But removing a stuck gasket, with the blade at say a 15 or 20 degree angle to the surface being cleaned, is slicing and therefore probably okay. As previously stated I’m guilty. The “damage” from scraping can be sharpened away.

But I draw the line at prying or hammering with my knife. You can’t easily fix a broken blade or the dents, dings and broken handles inflicted by hammering. But then, I generally have a toolbox with the appropriate tools relatively close by in my truck, tractor or UTV.

It’s an esoteric argument. YMMV.

Ken

[TwoFlowersLuggage]

When this happened, I said a lot of bad words...

And, it was such a stupid thing that was entirely my fault. I was replacing a light switch and the old switch was stuck in the box, and I was using my knife to cut through the layer of paint. Then, I stuck the tip of the knife in under an ear to pry it out - and SNAP. I didn't have to use my knife, I had a screwdriver in my back pocket!!

[Mumbleypeg]

There are also things a knife should not be used for, not for the sake of the knife but for reasons of personal safety.

I stabbed myself in the arm (necessitating a trip to the ER) when cutting plastic zip ties with my pocket knife. I had a pair of diagonal cutters within a few feet but didn’t think about getting them until too late.

The full "I'm an idiot don't do what I did" story is posted in the “I cut myself” thread.

Ken

[BatJak]

Broke the tip off a small Imperial Frontier stockman playing mumblypeg when I was in grade school.
It was my best knife at the time and I only had 3.

Arced a VIC Safari Pathfinder cleaning the battery terminals on my old truck in high school.
Luckily it got the spines of the blade and saw.

Had someone screw up the edge on my new VIC in the Marines once. Idiot tried to cut slash wire like it was twine.
My fault 'cause I let him borrow it. never again.

I now carry a VIC Alox electrician to do all the scraping, prying, poking, etc...

[rea1eye]

It is easy now to see how all these knives on eBay have broken/bent blades and chipped handles.

It is difficult to not want to get the job done and pull your knife out and just use it for a job
it was not intended.

I probably would not cut cardboard with a really nice knife. Cutting it with a EDC would be no problem.
Knives are intended to be resharpened. I often resharpen my knife later that day after cutting cardboard because
I don't want to pick up a a dull knife.

Bob