Proper knife care and maintenance

Taking care of and maintaining a knife properly results in the knife lasting longer and keeps the user from the possibility of injury or having the knife fail prematurely.
General Care tips:

Keep the edge sharp and the blade clean.

When a knife is dull you tend to use more force this will result in damage to either the knife or the user.
Knives should be sharpened only a few times a year, the rest of the time the edge should be maintained by using ceramic rods to touch up the edge. When you first notice a lessing of the sharpness touch up the edge.
When a knife is used to cut any kind of meat, vegetables, fruit, green wood or plant life the blade should be washed with soap and water and dried as soon as practical.
When tape, gum, or any solvent or sticky materials get on the blade it should be washed with soap and water and dried as soon as possible.
Keep the handle and the blade channel clean as well as the bladepivot.

When a knife is carried in the pocket and is not protected by a pouch, lint, dirt, bits of paper collect in all areas.
Wash the knife periodically under hot water using soap and an old tooth brush to clean the handles, pivot and as much of the blade channel as possible. Use a q-tip or tooth pick to get dirt and lint out of the channel that the tooth bush does not get out.
Rinse the knife by holding the handle and letting fully hot tap water run over the blade then hold the knife by the blade and rinse the handle as well.
Put one drop of light machine oil on the pivot after the knife has fully dried. the less oil you use the better. use just enough to lubricate the joint.
Do not loan out your knife to be used by someone else!

Every time I have done so I have regretted that I did so. I have gotten back gapped up, chipped, and broken blades.
Offer to cut whatever needs to be cut for the person who asks to borrow the knife. And take the time to educate those who respond with "well I wanted to pry open this _____"
Let them know that a knife is not a pry tool, screw driver, wire cutter, or what ever else they wanted to do with it.
Touch up the edge of your knife regularly with ceramic rods to keepit shaving sharp.

A dull knife is an accident waiting to happen.
When dull a blade takes more force to cut and with more force gees more danger to the knife as well as the user.
And by the way blood is one of the most corrosive substances known. Your blood or someone else's blood will ruin a knife if left to dry on the surface.
Keeping a knife sharp and well maintained will mean less chance of cutting what ou don't want to cut.
Regular knife maintenance will require only a few minutes a week and will result in a knife lasting longer and being a valued part of your everyday carry items.
Knives are tools, but they are not do all tools. A knife is made for cutting and slicing wood, leather, paper, and other items like vegetables, fruit, and even to open thin shell nuts. Don't use a knife as a screw driver, pry bar, hammer, wrench, etc. It will fail and the blade will break and you will feel like an idiot, I know because I have learned this lesson the hard way.