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American Knife & Tool Institute
Knives Save Lives!
From day one AKTI has helped educate the law enforcement community that knives of all shapes,
sizes and mechanisms are intended as tools for a variety of essential tasks. Knives created and
used by our members perform vital job, recreational and even life-saving functions.
Files of manufacturers are filled with letters from users who had a knife they could reach, open and
rely on when their life was in danger.
We are also asking manufacturers and individuals who may have knowledge of these situations to
submit those customer letters and/or stories to us for website publication. Contact AKTI
Here are just some of the stories that have been reported to us!
A North Dakota farmer gets the sleeve of his work jacket caught in the power take-off of his tractor. As
he struggles to free the cloth, he is able to get a one-hander out of his pocket, open it quickly, and cut
the cloth before his fingers and arm are mangled by the revolving shaft.
A Colorado rancher working on his irrigation system is pinned under a pile of irrigation pipe. As the
breath is being squeezed out of him, his only hope is to get to his knife and cut the rope holding the
stacks of pipes together. Once the rope is cut, the individual pipes roll off the stack and he escapes
with his life.
An Arizona EMT arrives at the scene of a car crash to find the driver pinned behind the wheel. He
needs to use one hand for the pry bar to free the passenger. With the other hand, he grabs his one-
hand opener and cuts the seatbelt to complete the rescue.
An Oregon electrician working overtime on a Saturday morning falls through a skylight opening with a
loop of 12-gauge wire wrapped around his ankle. The wire breaks his fall but leaves him hanging in
the skylight shaft upside down. He can’t twist and climb back up the wire so he cuts the wire and
takes the fall on his shoulder. He breaks his collarbone but he lives to tell about it.
A Minnesota canoer and his dog are on a trip in the remote Canadian wilderness of the Quetico
Provincial Park. On a portage below a roaring falls in a rocky gorge, the dog unexpectedly jumps for
shore, the canoe tips and starts taking on water. The canoer gets caught in the anchor rope and is
being sucked down by the loaded canoe in the powerful current. He gets his one-hand-opening knife
out of his pocket, cuts the rope and watches the canoe and gear go down in 30 feet of water. Once
free, he grabs a branch growing along the rock wall and pulls himself to safety.
A Wisconsin deer hunter in a treestand loses his balance and falls but gets his foot wrapped around
the rope ladder. He’s suspended in midair and doesn’t have the back and upper body strength to pull
himself up. He grabs his folding knife from his belt pouch, cuts the ladder and takes the fall to the
ground, rather than possibly choking to death by hanging upside down for hours.
An Iowa deer hunter takes a late-season trip into unfamiliar woods that borders a nearly frozen
stream with steep banks. The hunter gets too close to the stream bank, which caves in under his
weight. He ends up in icy water, looking up at the steep bank. He remembers his Buck 110 folding
hunting knife on his belt and uses it to dig into the slippery bank and pull himself to safety.
From day one AKTI has helped educate the law enforcement community that knives of all shapes,
sizes and mechanisms are intended as tools for a variety of essential tasks. Knives created and
used by our members perform vital job, recreational and even life-saving functions.
Files of manufacturers are filled with letters from users who had a knife they could reach, open and
rely on when their life was in danger.
We are also asking manufacturers and individuals who may have knowledge of these situations to
submit those customer letters and/or stories to us for website publication. Contact AKTI
Here are just some of the stories that have been reported to us!
A North Dakota farmer gets the sleeve of his work jacket caught in the power take-off of his tractor. As
he struggles to free the cloth, he is able to get a one-hander out of his pocket, open it quickly, and cut
the cloth before his fingers and arm are mangled by the revolving shaft.
A Colorado rancher working on his irrigation system is pinned under a pile of irrigation pipe. As the
breath is being squeezed out of him, his only hope is to get to his knife and cut the rope holding the
stacks of pipes together. Once the rope is cut, the individual pipes roll off the stack and he escapes
with his life.
An Arizona EMT arrives at the scene of a car crash to find the driver pinned behind the wheel. He
needs to use one hand for the pry bar to free the passenger. With the other hand, he grabs his one-
hand opener and cuts the seatbelt to complete the rescue.
An Oregon electrician working overtime on a Saturday morning falls through a skylight opening with a
loop of 12-gauge wire wrapped around his ankle. The wire breaks his fall but leaves him hanging in
the skylight shaft upside down. He can’t twist and climb back up the wire so he cuts the wire and
takes the fall on his shoulder. He breaks his collarbone but he lives to tell about it.
A Minnesota canoer and his dog are on a trip in the remote Canadian wilderness of the Quetico
Provincial Park. On a portage below a roaring falls in a rocky gorge, the dog unexpectedly jumps for
shore, the canoe tips and starts taking on water. The canoer gets caught in the anchor rope and is
being sucked down by the loaded canoe in the powerful current. He gets his one-hand-opening knife
out of his pocket, cuts the rope and watches the canoe and gear go down in 30 feet of water. Once
free, he grabs a branch growing along the rock wall and pulls himself to safety.
A Wisconsin deer hunter in a treestand loses his balance and falls but gets his foot wrapped around
the rope ladder. He’s suspended in midair and doesn’t have the back and upper body strength to pull
himself up. He grabs his folding knife from his belt pouch, cuts the ladder and takes the fall to the
ground, rather than possibly choking to death by hanging upside down for hours.
An Iowa deer hunter takes a late-season trip into unfamiliar woods that borders a nearly frozen
stream with steep banks. The hunter gets too close to the stream bank, which caves in under his
weight. He ends up in icy water, looking up at the steep bank. He remembers his Buck 110 folding
hunting knife on his belt and uses it to dig into the slippery bank and pull himself to safety.