Let's Talk Knives

Back at the beginning of the century, my wife got me a new pocket knife for a project I had at work. Since that day I've carried a pocket knife with me daily. As much as this might sound all outdoorsy and manly, the truth is I use it mostly for cutting straws down to kid size at McDonalds, but I'm OK with that. Sure, I've used it for other manly tasks like freeing a newly gifted Barbie from the box, or for freeing a Transformer from the grips of cardboard and zip ties. A pocket knife is just a great tool to have close at hand.

Recently The Fiberglass Manifesto posted about carrying a whistle while wading. In response to this, Fishy Kid ordered up a bunch of whistles for those willing to support Fishy Kid and safety! This of course got me thinking about safety a little and what I do, which brings us back to knives.

I like to carry a knife while wading.

A few weekends ago I went to a gun and knife show in town and was looking for some cheap knives...the kind you can carry if you are out on the town and know you might get frisked going into a concert and not care if you have to give up the knife. My daily knife cost me close to $60 and I don't feel like handing that over for admittance into a concert, know I'd probably never get it back. So, searching around the show I spotted a knife shaped to look like a grenade. Immediately I thought I had to have one. I checked the price and it was $18. For the knife I thought $18 was pretty good, but I wasn't quite sure I was going to get it.

My friends and I continued checking out everything that was available when one of them spotted the same kind of knife for $10. When I picked this one up, the guy selling it told me how to open it. It was a spring assisted knife and the moment I moved the blade it snapped open! It was the best assisted opening knife I've ever had the joy of opening. I knew right then, that for $10 I was going to buy one of these. I then checked out both the Army and the Marine version of them, and decided I'd get both. As I was reaching for my $20 bill the guy says "how about both for $15?" I immediately took him up on that offer!

So, why this knife? What's so noteworthy about a $7.50 knife made in China? A couple of things. First, when I go wading I always put my knife on my waders so it's right there, just in case I need to cut my waders off in a hurry. I've never taken a fall in the creek, and therefore never been swept away in the current and logged under a tree....but, should it happen, I have a knife ready to help free me of my waders.

THIS knife has a few things to keep in mind if you are looking for a knife. First, it's spring assisted. This means that once you start moving the blade to open it, a spring takes over and the blade flies open. Second, this knife can be opened with EITHER hand. I can open and close my daily knife with only my right hand (even if my left hand is unavailable), but this one I can open with either hand, without help from the other. The ability to open and close the knife with just one hand is a huge thing.

If you are interested in this type of grenade knife, I did a search online and found them for about $10. To me, it's a great knife to show off because of what it looks like, but even better because it's single hand spring action. Make sure if you find one online it is spring assisted, that to me makes the knife a great buy!