Mammoth ivory or wood? How to pick a pocket knife for life

Even pocket knives go through trends, one of the current ones being a smooth wooden shell. — Victorinox AG/dpa

A pocket knife can come in handy in all sorts of situations: cutting a chunk of cheese, fashioning a walking stick, cutting through some clingfilm or loosening a screw.

You can use it to file your nails or gut a fish you caught yourself and even rescue the picnic when someone forgot to bring a bottle opener for the wine. And then there are some that let you saw, write or light up the darkness with a built-in torch.