Men and our Fascination With Knives

There is something primal about a sharp knife. Because their survival depended on it, our ancestors put forth a great deal of time and effort to shape stone into a cutting edge. After a mammoth was taken down, our ancestors would probably carve up the beast, bring dinner back to the camp, and tell hunting stories. Not much has changed.

Today, rather than taking hours or days to make a good knife by hand, we just order one off the Internet.

Even though we no longer hunt mammoth, mastodon, or other ice age animals, we still admire large blades. So, why do we have a fascination for knives that are pretty much useless for skinning deer and other game animals?

First thing someone may say, “Kevin, it is easy to skin a rabbit with a 10 inch blade.” No it is not. I have several survival knives with blades over six inches long, and they are a pain to skin with.

The best skinning knife I have ever seen was a Case pocket knife. A simple Case pocket knife with a three inch blade will beat a long bladed survival knife for work around the camp everyday of the week and twice on Sunday.

Fascination with Knives

Some people may say, “I am going to use my knife like Rambo and hunt pigs with it.” Sure, that may work if you have some dogs to help you bay the pigs.

Then there are the survivalists who plan on bugging out to the wilderness and living off the land while the rest of the world is in chaos. A good strong survival knife is a workhorse. However, there are probably better tools for living off the wilderness, like an axe.

How many fathers have taken their children to a store, looked at a knife, handed it to the child, and asked, “What do you think?”

The honest truth is, we have an instinct to admire large knives. So guys, now you have an excuse to buy more knives.

Watching sports, cooking meat on the grill, and admiring a good knife, it is the little things that bring so much joy to life.

Author’s Note

My apologizes for the article being directed only towards men. As a man, I can not write about how a woman feels about something.

Kevin Felts

Founder and owner of www.survivalistboards.com My blog - www.survivalboards.com Hobbies include fishing, hiking, hunting, blogging, sharing his politically incorrect opinion, video blogging on youtube, survivalism and spending time with his family.