What dulls our blades most?

[grumpyphil]

As I was hacking my way through a blisterpack today (Gawd I'd like to use my blade on the jerky that thought them up), I began to wonder...
Just what dulls a blade quickest? I'm not talking here about trying to cut the cell bars with your dragonfly, I'm talking about TYPICAL EDC use. That would be like skinning an animal but not working in a slaughterhouse. I would say what's most abrasive but I'm not sure that's all that needs to be considered. For instance, those heavy blisterpacks always seem to be a pain no matter how sharp a blade I have but really don't seem to have that much impact on the edge.
So...what's the worst for blade wear? Whittling green wood? Cutting cardboard? Blisterpacks? Field skinning? Stabbing a felon? Let's be reasonable here: obviously hitting bone while skinning is going to be hard on an edge as will hacking down a sapling with a ladybug. Maybe it's cutting coupons.

[Blerv]

Cardboard and paper in general are very abrasive due to impurities and the general make-up. I don't think blister packs are very high or plastic in general assuming it's general use stuff and your not sawing through high-strength polymers.

Probably the worst is people who cut metal twist ties with a blade or saw against ceramic tile/cutting boards. Great way to send your edge to ****. :)

[Ankerson]

Cardboard and Zip Ties can be very hard on edges.

Glass cutting board will kill an edge quick.

[DMgangl]

We 48x45" sheets of this stuff at work that I have to cut into strips to pack out my parts. Its pretty abrasive and very gummy. I have to touch up a VG-10 blade every few days.

DM

[Max1975]

It's cardboard for me. I work in a large kitchen and I have break down alot of boxes all day.I have to sharpen my military every week.

[Ed Schempp]

Sheetrock or wall board...Ed

[FLYBYU44]

Shark skin :) When I was younger I would deckhand for my Dad who was a commercial fisherman. Occasionally a small shark would get hooked on the line while trying to steal some fish. My Dad would take the gutting knife and stab it a few times then throw it back, the other sharks smell the blood and come finish off the wounded shark. My job amoung others was to sharpen the knives. A few stabs through the shark skin would destroy the edge, it's like slicing up sandpaper.

[Monkeywrangler]

Cardboard is hard on edges, as is cutting weed roots in the yard & garden! :eek:

[phillipsted]

Cutting carpet always dulls my knives out quickly.

TedP

[drewskeez]

+1 on the carpet it will kill a edge

[unit]

Anything reinforced with carbon fiber or fiberglass.

[chuck_roxas45]

Battoning cinder blocks...

[.357 mag]

For me it's when I ducktape my delica to a broom stick and spear wild boar with it. Those 75 yard shots are hard but when the edge hits the bone at 300 miles an hour, it dulls the edge rather quickly. :)

[SmoothOne25]

usage :rolleyes:

[Blerv]

Drywall and carpet?!? Lol I'm a wuss I guess :) .

[cesar]

Plastic belts of server boxes and those little white belts used for bind many wires together (I don't know how those are called in English).

[ICSK]

Lending it to a friend who knows nothing of quality cutlery. Easily the quickest way to dull a blade. I lent my blade out once and immediately took it back after the person tried to baton through hard rock!

Joking aside, I'd say MY quickest way to dull a knife is through use at the dinner table. Every time one cuts with it, it has a risk of hitting those very hard ceramic plates.

[JacksonKnives]

I agree with those who point to plates, cutting boards, etc. as the primary culprit. Steel holds up really well when you're slicing through the cutting media, but as soon as you create blunt force across the edge (and especially if you've got abrasive material thrown in as when cutting carpet on top of underlay/dirty plywood) you're not really slicing anymore, just blunting the edge.
Sadly, there's not much we can do about it, short of carrying a rubber cutting mat in a hip pocket or something... (and even that wouldn't work very well in the kitchen, LOL.)

[SolidState]

wood and fools dull my edges quickly.

[jackknifeh]

Lending it to a friend who knows nothing of quality cutlery. Easily the quickest way to dull a blade. I lent my blade out once and immediately took it back after the person tried to baton through hard rock!

Joking aside, I'd say MY quickest way to dull a knife is through use at the dinner table. Every time one cuts with it, it has a risk of hitting those very hard ceramic plates.

I'd rather loan my wife to someone instead of one of my Spyderco's but now one want's her. :D

About the dinner plates this is what to do. Put a nice razor edge on your knife. Then take a ceramic steel sharpener and slide the edge across it like you are trying to cut it in half. Yes you are trying to dull the edge. Of course your goal is not to "dull" the knife, just "take the edge off". By taking the razor, hair popping edge off just the section of the blade that will touch the plate it will retain a good working edge for cutting steak. The razor edge when hitting and sliding across a hard plate either rolls or flattens but a "slightly dull" edge will keep a good working edge. That is why steak knives always seem to stay sharp. They are not hair popping sharp but are sharp for the job they do. Other than doing this you are right, don't use it to cut on ceramic plates. I've seen folding knives advertised as traveling steak knives for taking into restaurants to use instead of the house knives. I'm sure their edge is like I described. Before you start to think I am smart, I didn't figure this out. Someone else told me. :)

Jack