Handle a Knife

• TASK: Safely use and sharpen a pocket knife in order to ensure that you can meet life’s challenges with confidence.
• CONDITIONS: Given a pocket knife, a stick, and a whetstone.
• STANDARD: You must be able to safely use the pocket knife to whittle the end of the stick into a point and you must be able to sharpen the knife afterwards.

There are many different types and styles of knives. We are going to focus on the single-edged folding pocket knife as that is to most widely used and useful type of knife. A good pocket knife has a 2-3 inch blade with a locking mechanism of some kind to keep it rigid and open when in use.

Basic Open
Opening a pocket knife one of the most basic skills. Some knives have assisted opening mechanisms that make this step easier. With practice, it’s possible to learn to be able to flick open a blade with one hand.

• Hold the closed pocket knife in your offhand so that the spine of the blade faces away from your palm and the tip of the blade pointing away from your dominant hand.
• Make sure that the fingers of your offhand do not cover the spine of the blade.
• With the thumb and forefinger of your dominant hand, grip the exposed spine of the blade. There is usually a ledge in the spine of the blade that you can use to wedge your thumb nail into for added grip.
• While gripping the body of the pocket knife with your offhand and the spine of the blade with your dominant hand, rotate your wrists in opposite directions away from each other to open the knife.
• If the knife has a locking mechanism, verify that it is engaged by attempting to close the knife. If the locking mechanism fails, you need to perform maintenance on the knife.

Basic Close
Closing a pocket knife can result in cut fingers if you’re not careful about where your finger tips are along the handle. Don’t be in such a hurry that you cut yourself after you’re done using the knife.

• Hold the knife with your offhand so that the blade channel in the handle is facing away from your palm and make sure to keep your fingers clear of the channel.
• Grip the spine of the blade as far towards the tip as possible. I like to grip the spine of the blade with my thumb and forefinger so that the tip of the blade rests on the third knuckle of my forefinger.
• If the knife has a locking mechanism, disengage it.
• Double-check that your fingers are clear of the blade channel in the body of the knife and rotate your wrists towards each other so that the blade rotates into the blade channel.

Clear Your Radius
Sometimes called a blood circle, your radius is the area around you that you can reach while holding the knife. Anything inside this radius, or blood circle, is able to be cut by careless use of the knife.

• Hold the knife by the blade so that the sharp edge is facing away from your palm and the handle is facing away from your body.
• Extend your arm out straight and rotate your arm.
• If anyone else is within your radius, one of you needs to move so that only you are within your radius.

Pass an Open Knife
Ideally, you should close the knife before passing it to someone else. Sometimes, though, it just isn’t practical. In these cases, you should know how to pass and receive the knife safely. If someone holds a knife out to you so that the blade is pointing at you, don’t accept it from them.

• Hold the knife by the blade so that the sharp side is facing away from your palm and the handle is facing the person to whom you are passing the knife.
• Extend the knife towards the other person and wait for them to grip the handle.
• Both you and the other person should be holding the knife and neither should be pulling on it.
• The other person must wait for you release the blade and pull your hand away before assuming control of the knife.

Sharpen a Stick
While you can buy fancy metal skewers to cook a hotdog over a campfire, it’s more fun and rewarding to make your own skewer with your pocket knife and a stick.

• Select a stick that is about half the thickness of a hotdog. If the stick is too thin, the hot dog will droop down into the fire and ash. If the stick is too thick, it will split the hot dog when you try to skewer it.
• Sit down on a log, rock, or chair with your knees apart and point the end of the stick that you want to sharpen at the ground in front of your feet.
• Hold the knife so that the sharp edge faces away from your body and is at an angle to the stick.
• Push (don’t pull or slice) the sharp edge of the blade into the stick. If the stick is too thick or has knots that prevent the knife from cutting it, try a different angle or a smaller section of the stick.
• When the blade shaves off part of the stick, rotate the stick and repeat the previous step. Do this until the tip of the stick is pointy enough to pierce a hot dog.

Sharpen the Knife
A dull knife is more dangerous to the user than a sharp knife. If the knife is dull, you have to use more force and end up slipping when the blade finally cuts through. A sharp knife, however, will cut more easily and you don’t have to use as much force. You should always make sure that your knives are sharp and ready to work.

• Soak the whetstone and lay it on a secure surface that can withstand any cuts or nicks that may result from slipping with the knife.
• Lay the tip of the blade flat on the whetstone so that the sharp edge is facing you.
• Grip the handle of the knife and tilt it slightly (about 15 degrees) so that the sharp edge of the blade is still in contact with the whetstone.
• Use the fingers of your other hand to gently apply even pressure to the flat side of the blade.
• Push the blade away from you so that the edge rubs along the whetstone with a slight outward motion.
• Repeat this motion 5-7 times and then change hands so that the other side of the blade is contacting the whetstone. Make sure that the sharp edge of the blade is still facing you.
• Repeat the pushing motion again 5-7 times and inspect the edge of the blade. You’ll likely have to repeat this process several times to get the blade to the sharpness you desire.
• If you have whetstones of varying grain, start with the high grit whetstone and finish with the finest grit.

Sources

• Art of Manliness