Comments on: Fun with a Pocket Knife: How to Play Mumbley Peg

By: mick

mick — Fri, 17 May 2013 18:07:30 +0000

my dad show me how to play mumbly peg at Lake Hartwell when I stuck the knife in my foot let me get drunk. if he was still here we would laugh

By: keki

keki — Sat, 11 May 2013 23:50:46 +0000

Girls love this game, too!

I took a couple summer school co-ed camping trips one year (back in the 80′s) and this is one of the games we played to pass the time, after setting up camp for the night.

We were using a fairly dull Bowie knife and there’d be 4 or 5 of us in a circle. We’d pick someone to start, who would then pick whoever they wanted to toss the knife at. Wherever it stuck in the ground, the other person would have to move the outside of their foot to it, remove it from the ground and pick who’d be next to do the same to. It ended up being a bit similar to Twister by the time all was said and done. Whoever eventually stretched too far and fell over or gave up was out. Last person standing was the winner.

It’s a crazy and sometimes dangerous game if you’re playing against an idiot, so I’d say make sure you trust your opponents. I can’t remember having more fun that summer. On a side note, I did learn how to play Cribbage on those trips as well, which wasn’t always a safer bet in this case.

By: Jack Kardic

Jack Kardic — Mon, 15 Apr 2013 12:13:26 +0000

I’ve carried a knife every day since fourth or fifth grade, including to school. I never had any problems with it because I didn’t behave like a jackass. My school had a zero tolerance policy, but on the few occasions it left my pocket, it proved incredibly useful and nobody, teachers included, reacted negatively. I’m from a fairly rural area, and nearly all the boys and some of the girls carried knives or multitools regularly. I was involved in several fistfights, and witnesses many more, and not once did anyone decide to use one of those knives violently. It goes to show that violence and crime follow population density, not weapon density.

By: Spencer Allen

Spencer Allen — Sun, 14 Apr 2013 22:29:12 +0000

Ive played another version where the players begin with their feet together, about 5 or 6 feet apart. The object here is to throw the knife so that it sticks in the ground within a knifes distance from the outside edge of the other players foot. Once the knife is stuck into the ground, the non throwing player has to move his foot out so that it touches the edge of the knife. This is repeated until the player can extend his legs no farther. If the opponent throws the knife so that it sticks in the ground between the other players feet, the non throwing player has to turn his back to his opponent, and make his subsequent throws that way

By: AD Graves

AD Graves — Tue, 02 Apr 2013 16:23:54 +0000

I remember my older cousin and I playing this when I was around 9 or 10. We used his dad’s pocket knife, my dad didn’t let me near his knife without supervision. One day, my cousin lodged the knife right in his foot. Never played it again after that! Uncle got into a lot of trouble from my dad. Maybe it’s a good idea that this game isn’t often played.

By: Barry

Barry — Fri, 29 Mar 2013 01:01:19 +0000

As kids in the early 1950s in the far west Chicago suburbs, we played this game at school during recess. Most of us had hightops with a knife pocket in the side of the boot to put your knife. we either had a Hopalong Cassidy or Roy Rogers pocket knife. No one ever got hurt playing that I remember. We were all in 3rd or 4th grade. I’m certainly glad I’m not a kid today. No cap guns, pocket knives or outdoor fun like we had. The best part was that we never even thought of doing any harm to ourselves or others.

By: S Powell

S Powell — Fri, 22 Mar 2013 16:27:26 +0000

I grew up in a camp full of tree planters and the guys used to play a version with shovels. They’d toss ‘em as high as they could, the winner being the one who got it to rotate the most times before sticking in the ground. My dad cut the handle down on one so I could play too, but at 10 years old I could only heft it far enough up to get one circle and I never did get very good at the sticking in the ground part.

By: J Barnes

J Barnes — Thu, 21 Mar 2013 00:09:54 +0000

An acquaintance of mine who carried a knife religiously once said “Oh, I don’t use this knife”. My thoughtful reply was “huh”, cocking my head to the right like a dog in wonderment. Apparently his knife was only to be used as a secondary lint collector.

By: Michael Kenny

Michael Kenny — Mon, 18 Mar 2013 14:23:03 +0000

The version we played was a might bit different. Two players would stand facing each other, feet shoulder width apart. The first player would throw his knife, point first into the ground, between his opponent’s feet. His opponent would then move one of his feet until it was touching the knife, shortening the distance between his feet and shrinking the target area. Game play would continue like this, each player alternating steadily decreasing the target area between their opponent’s feet until…bloodshed or ‘chicken.’

By: Wasim

Wasim — Thu, 07 Mar 2013 00:40:31 +0000

So, people were so bored in the old days that they would throw knive at their feet and hope they don’t get an infection?