Why Do You Carry a Knife?

One of the questions I continually ask myself is "why?". Why do we do what we do? Why do I do the things that I do and why do others do the things I observe them doing. In terms of this hobby of collecting and using sharp and pointy objects I think it's an interesting question to ponder.

Yes, knives are tools and they are useful. But if that were the case, we could all just buy one reliable, well made knife and that would be that. However, more often than not, those who are "in deep" with this hobby know the steel addiction all to well and end up with several knives to put it lightly.

The majority of the population at one point or another has most definitely used a knife once in their life for utility or most likely for some food related task. However, there are those of us who gravitated towards this age old tool and ran with it (not literally because it'd be dangerous to run with a knife, much less scissors.) Now the question is why? Is it due to some Paleolithic predisposition that goes back to our hunter-gatherer days in which we relied on basic tools for survival? So much so that we feel the need to keep and carry a blade in our pockets or loin cloths for the majority of our waking hours?

To me, when I have a knife in my pocket I feel capable. I feel as useful as the blade that resides in my pocket is. The irony being that out of a typical day, I may not even really use my knife unless I go out of my way to use it. For the most part I take it out just to play with and fondle (that's what she said). But anyways, I digress.

Having a knife at my disposal does give me a sense of security and power. Not in the sense that I need to defend myself from soccer hooligans or that I go around brandishing a blade to feel like some sort of badass. But, if any situation were to present itself, I feel that having a knife gives me an upper hand. For example, if I were trapped in a burning car and had to cut myself free from a stuck seat belt, it wouldn't be an issue. Life threatening situations aside though, there are so many little tasks that I've found myself using a blade for that would have been annoying, but with a knife it's now FUN!

I guess what I'm really trying to say is the use of a knife is limited only to our imaginations and because the debate isn't whether or not a knife is useful, but why we carry them. In my opinion we don't just carry knives for utility, we carry them simply for the feeling that having a knife in our pocket or hand give us.

Whether it be security, power, capability, resourcefulness, or just plain for fun. But anyways, these are just the late night ramblings of another knife junkie. Did this post even make sense? I'm not even sure, I'm just up because I'm high on caffeine from that Hazelnut Latte I had at a bubble tea place a few hours ago. Damn, this is what rockstars must feel like! Take care and stay sharp!

-Tim