How to Use a Rope Handle Knife

A knife handle wrapped with a small diameter rope or cord is often used when participating in outdoor activities such as hiking, backpacking, hunting and camping. Rope or cord provides a secure grip for holding and using a knife and is convenient for use in an emergency or survival situation. Rope or cord is a valuable material in the outdoors and is enhanced by knowing how to properly put it to use.

Instructions

    • 1

      Hold the small diameter rope- or cord-wrapped handle of the knife. Grip the wrapped cord firmly so your hand does not slip forward when cutting. Use rope-wrapped knives in wet weather and muddy conditions, as they provide a good grip surface.

    • 2

      Loosen and remove the small diameter rope or cord from the handle of the knife. Locate a straight length of 2- to 3-inch diameter wood to use as a spear shaft. Use the knife to trim the wood to length if necessary. Place the knife beside one end of the spear shaft and lash or tie the knife to the wood with the rope. Position the knife so the blade extends beyond the end of the spear shaft as a spear point.

    • 3

      Cut lengths of wood to be used as supports for an emergency shelter with the knife. Unwind 1- to 2-foot lengths of small diameter rope from the knife handle and cut them to length with the knife blade. Use the rope to tie lengths of wood together to form a frame work for making a shelter.

    • 4

      Locate a 6- to 7-foot long sapling that is 1 inch or so in diameter at the base. Cut the sapling with the knife and remove any smaller limbs to prepare it for use as a fishing pole. Remove the rope from the knife handle and tie it to the small end of the sapling rod to use as fishing line.

    • 5

      Pull a length of rope from the handle to use to hang food from a tree limb so it cannot be reached by animals such as bears. Place food in a backpack, for example, and tie one end of the rope to the pack. Toss the pack over a limb that cannot be reached by animals and tie the rope to the trunk of the tree to suspend the food-filled pack.