The Knife History of a Survival Tool - Outdoors - Camping

Knives have been the number one tool for humans since we developed the ability to sharpen items. A sharpened stick is good for stabbing but for pretty useless for cutting. The traditional definition of a knife is a sharp object used to cut with. So when did we learn how to make a knife? About 2,5 million years ago. This is before humanity and any primitive weapon gave you the edge on survival. The first tactical knife was a sharpened rock. This primitive knife gave the owner an enormous survival advantage.

The early hominids struck stones against each other to sharpen the edges that could become very sharp if the right stone materials were used. Flintstone was commonly used to make sharp objects but other types of stone and obsidian were also used in areas were flint was not available. The sharpened stones were used as spearheads, arrowheads, primitive axes and knives. These made a huge impact on hunting and as construction tools. The survival knife was invented during the stone age.

Stone objects last for a very long time and there are huge amounts of prehistoric artifacts such as stone knives that prove their use during the stone-age. In some areas the ability to make knives started early, in other parts of the world, the art of making a knife came very late, probably as a result of trade. This might have been because of lack of local stone suited for sharpening.

When humans developed the ability to forge metals, the knife came to resemble the knives as we know them today and quickly became the number one survival tool and household item. Although knives are mainly used as tools, they also come into use in combat situations between humans and animals or in human war and each are designed for their specific purpose. A sword for example is essentially a elongated knife for better reach in combat. This was probably the first tactical knife design. The basic idea is the same as a pre-historic stone or wood knife: a sharpened blade that you can hold and use.

Modern knives are made from a wide range of materials and the more exclusive custom knives sport extreme performance, weight ratios and exotic blade materials. Knives have also developed from fixed blades into switchblades, stilettos and folding pocket knives. From simple blades to the high-tech modern tactical knives.

If you ask me what singular development has played the biggest part in human development... my answer is the knife.

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