For the second point you're are addressing, time (at least at a human scale) doesn't meaningfully help in the determination since the sample size is a single unit - your personal EMT shears. I have a 30 year old knife that works great and hasn't been sharpened since I got it. I also have a 3 month old knife that has been sharpened three times. No meaningful conclusions can be drawn from either or both of those samples.

It is impractical for a single person to try to master all the available and potentially useful skills that humanity has identified and refined over the years. We live in communities for a reason.

Based on the above I'd say your second point was also made (or should have been obvious to the proverbial "casual observer") three years ago.

That does not invalidate key point I think people were driving at. You need to have a plan that works for you on the day your shears are no longer meeting your needs since nothing material lasts forever.

Having said the above - I'll fess up that I am terrible at tasks that require fine motor skills (like knife sharpening) but have gotten, uhm ... competent(?) at the ones I find important by leveraging tools and technology but everyone needs to chart their own course.

-Eric

To be honest, I am not sure if this is a valid point but it is worth acknowledging nonetheless. That said, to the best of my knowledge, a disposable tool cannot be maintained other than cleaned. Therefore, the knowhow to sharpen a blade is as useful to me as checking and replacing a vacuum tube would be to someone else.

Jeanette Isabelle

This recent flurry of posts introduces a stale whiff of 'troll' into the room. Increasingly tiresome.

Jeanette Isabelle,

I think we miscommunicated a round back. I am not saying you or anyone needs to know how to sharpen a blade. I am saying that if you have and use tools you need to recognize that stuff happens to tools and you need to know your personal "what next". In todays world, pitch and replace is a very valid and even economical strategy, just look at the loss of repair shops in the USA in general over the last 50 yrs.

If you choose a use and dispose strategy, your plans may need to include additional backups or at least a good way to rapidly replace the damaged items. Of course mend/sharpen/repair isn't a guarantee either since the tools needed for the repair must be at hand when the "unforeseen" happens.

My personal example is utility knife blades - there is no way I would try to rehabilitate them. For me these are cheap disposable items and I keep a pretty decent supply on hand so I have them when I need them. A good friend "recycles" his blades by resharpening them between tasks.

There is seldom one right answer - just what works for an individual.

- Eric

Definitely, our discussions here on ETS are right on the cutting edge.

Over the past 40 or so years of living in the woods
(and of the land), I have used only one kind of pocket knifes:
Swiss Army!
Various Victorinox modles until the Backpacker lock blade made its apperance.
This, and a Wenger Ranger. are the two most vertisile knifes ever made!
I just happen to use the Victorinox bec. Wenger's was not availabe in my area back then.

Keep it sharp!

I have been working sooo hard to avoid that particular pun!! Well played!

-Eric

What do you mean?

Jeanette Isabelle

I did not give this much thought at the time you asked but recently I have been wondering about this. How does one wash the dishes when away from civilization?

This question is open to anyone to answer.

Jeanette Isabelle

With no hot water, soap or tools, use lots of water and clean sand, by preference for scrubbing.