Suppose you’ve just shelled out the money for a new LT Wright Knife, or perhaps you’ve been given one as a gift.
These are actually handmade, hand-fitted knives. A smith forged the blade and a team of craftsmen finished it and inspected it before it got to you.
The company uses high-end steels and scale materials and upholds a much higher standard of quality than even most of the best mass-produced manufacturers do.
Therefore, though your new LT Wright is certainly tough enough to hang with the worst conditions, you shouldn’t abuse it.
That being said, here are 4 things you should never do with your LT Wright Knives.
1. Throw them.
Most LT Wright Knives actually have a relatively soft heat-treatment, which makes them fairly easy to resharpen in the field (all else being equal), but even with that being the case, you should never throw your LT Wright.
Only throwing knives are designed to be thrown; they are made with a special temper that enables them to better absorb the shock of striking a target. Other knives that are not intended to be thrown (like pretty much any bushcraft or camp knife) run a higher risk of snapping or chipping on impact.
2. Stick the blade in the ground.
It might look cool, but this is one thing you never want to do with any knife, period, and for two good reasons.
One, the ground is full of moisture, salt, and other nasty things that will latch onto the steel in the blade and which will cause staining, pitting, rust and corrosion. That should be reason enough for you.
The other is that the ground is also full of rocks, sand, bits of stone and other hard things that will dull the blade. Even the hardest steel should not be abused in such a manner.
3. Put them away wet.
Many LT Wright Knives are made with steel alloys that are fairly corrosion resistant, but the latter term is not a synonym for “rust proof.” Try hard enough, and any steel will rust.
Therefore, make sure you thoroughly clean and dry any LT Wright Knife (or any knife, for that matter) before putting it away.
4. Strike them with another steel tool.
A stout LT Wright, with its full tang, can be used as a baton, but such must be used responsibly. You can use another piece of wood or a wooden or nylon mallet to strike the spine, but never use a steel implement like a hammer or a bar to strike the knife.
Doing so will almost certainly either deform the spine, or create micro-stresses in the blade that predispose it to chipping or breaking down the line. Either case is not good.
Is this list comprehensive? Not even close. But these are 4 things that will ruin pretty much any knife, and that makes no exception for LT Wright Knives.
In fact, it’s a good idea if you never abuse any of your knives according to what has been described in this article.
At any rate, if you’re actually here because you’re looking into LT Wright Knives and haven’t gotten one yet, visit The Knife Connection. They carry a wide variety of LT Wright Knives and represent other great brands as well, including ESEE, TOPS, Winkler, Wenger, and others. Visit their website for more information and get in touch with them before you buy if you have any questions.
