Safe Knife Handling

When to use this

Any time a knife is in use — your knife or a kid’s.

• General camp tasks
• Food prep
• Cord cutting

What you need

• A camp knife (folder or fixed)
• Awareness

Step by step

1. 1.Always cut away from your body — never toward your hand, leg, or another person.
2. 2.Keep your non-knife hand clear of the blade path. If your other hand is steadying the work, position it behind the cutting line.
3. 3.Use slow, controlled movements. Power belongs to a hatchet; precision belongs to a knife.
4. 4.Keep the blade sharp. A dull knife slips and is the most common cause of camp cuts.
5. 5.When you stop using the knife — even for a minute — close the folder or sheath the fixed blade. Never set an open blade down.

Pro tips

• Establish a "blood circle" — an arm’s length around you with no people. If anyone enters, stop cutting.
• Sit when carving anything that takes longer than a minute. Standing fatigue is the silent enemy.

Common mistakes

• Cutting toward yourself "just for one cut."
• Using too much force when the blade is dull — slips happen at the end of a hard push.
• Setting an open blade on a log "for a second."