Problems cutting or holding a knife ?

[sospan]

One of things I found difficult early on in my recovery was cutting vegetables or meat. It was difficult to not only control the knife but holding it and at the time having enough force o chop through tough veg.

I came across a program on Alaska recently and the locals were using a Ulu which is a curved bladed knife which looked so easy to use. Strangely called the a "woman's" knife by the native tribes but it is used by men and women.

I actually found a UK supplier who had them at a reasonable price £9.95 rather than the £40+ some places wanted. Ordered one and it works really, really well. My wife whom has a frozen shoulder could use it as she also struggled with a normally knife.

You can use it many ways but the easiest is to just rock the blade back and forward over what you need to cut. It is so much easier and safer.

Here is some more information if you are interested:

simple guide on here theulufactory.com/how-to-us...

youtube videos youtube.com/watch?v=O7Q_ovC...(Not working as expected?)

got mine from heinnie.com/rough-rider-gre...

[angelite]

Uber like ! I can see why having the blade directly under your hand gives you more power and greater control, plus the rocking action, rather than a sawing motion used with a traditional knife requires less effort- nice : )

Wish I'd known about these when I used to render my hand/arm useless chopping swede !

Thanks for sharing : ) x

[sospan in reply to angelite]

As you say sometimes the simplest of things can make a world of difference. Before posting I asked the moderators if I could make the post.

They are looking at the possibility of producing something with details of what help people cope. So anything you have found useful yourself would be interesting

[randomphantoms in reply to sospan]

Hi Sospan

I think it's a brilliant idea and thanks for sharing it.

I hope I am past that stage but what I found really helpful was to stab what I wanted to cut with a fork and that kept me reasonably safe.

My most useful thing is my over glasses with UV filter from the RNIB. An absolute godsend.

If you or anyone has any idea how to stop me burning pans I would be forever grateful. At least I have finally learned not to buy a set of pans when I ruined one. Lol

Love n hugs

Xoxo

[cat3]

My hands are next to useless in between steroid shots so I'm going to give this a go. Cutting is a particularly painful/awkward action with arthritis so this could be really helpful in eliminating the sawing movement which Angela mentions.

Next, I could do with an less painful alternative for wringing out dishcloths !......... any ideas welcome !

Ordering my Ulu right now. xx

[sospan in reply to cat3]

Hopefully it will work for you.

[philcow1]

My dad uses a larger version of this with a handle at each end that he finds very helpfull, I will show him this as a one handed knife may be be better for some tasks. Like the idea of information gathered from people who have to solve problems from practical day to day experience.

[RogerCMerriman]

I imagine that apart from anything else, having a good blade helps.

My wife loves cooking and has good cooking knifes, each knife is £50-100 which means even with the lightest touch they cut.

I have a penknife from the same company that I use at work for cooking since they only have cheap blunt stuff.

Though in fairness my grip is fine, though going to a headway meeting in a church hall I kept spilling the cup of tea/coffee as something about the shape of the cup ment I couldn't keep it level!