Cutting Remarks:

- "Don't take offence .. Otherwise I'll have to build a gate".

For me - a good quality knife ranks most as high as a decent firearm - in that both are TOOLS that can be relied upon to save life whenever needed.

Obviously any tool can be misused .. but that is down to the abuser .. NOT THE TOOL.

The earliest surviving cutting tools are FLINT BLADES, scrapers, hand axes and knives - plus of course arrow-heads and spear points. While seeming basic stone-age crude to the learner - the production of flint tools from the basic nodules is highly skilful work. Flint is a form of QUARTZ.

 Tools Flint Cutting.

Various minerals can be included within the microscopically small cryptocrystalline structure of flint.  Different mineral inclusions give rise to different colours.  Freshly broken Flint is commonly black, grey, green, white or brown. The following semi-precious stones are all forms of quartz similar in struct water, though it is typically 10 per cent. Some or all of this water may evaporate and leave the surface causiure to flint:  Agate, Carnelian, Chalcedony, Jasper, Obsidian, Onyx and Opal.  The microscopic structure of flint is capable of holding water molecules – as much as 30 per cent of the mass can beng changes in colour and making the flint more brittle.  Opal, for example, has a water content as high as 20 per cent, and often loses this water, and its rainbow colouration over time. 

Here is something that I didn't know until today - a flint blade is SHARPER than the best steel blades.

Obsidian -- a type of volcanic glass -- can produce cutting edges many times finer than even the best steel scalpels ( As can diamond).

At 30 angstroms -- a unit of measurement equal to one hundred millionth of a centimeter -- an obsidian scalpel can rival diamond in the fineness of its edge.

 When you consider that most household razor blades are 300 to 600 angstroms, obsidian can still cut it with the sharpest materials nanotechnology can produce.

An obsidian blade is 3 nanometers thick, capable of cutting BETWEEN your cells, allowing for a much more painless surgery. A stainless steel scalpel is .4 MM thick, meaning it doesnt cut between the cells. It tears through them. Steel scalpels tend to leave scars, even if temporarily. We have no reported cases of obsidian blades leaving scars in the skin.

Where a modern steel knife beats Flint is in it's overall strength & durability - steel doesn't CHIP so easily. You can't beat the functional value of a low cost 'ring lock' Opinel Blade as a working tool ..

And I haven't even mentioned how FLINTS  advanced the ignition of BLACK POWDER in guns ..

Marty K.