Base case trouble

The entirety of my silverware is packed in boxes on their way across the Atlantic. It only took me a few hours to realize my mistake. As backpackers know, one cannot survive long without a knife, so I quickly bought a knife at the nearest store. There is a world of a difference between having one knife and no knife at all! However, good, sturdy knives come in good, sturdy packaging, a mixture of cardboard and of hard plastic. How do you open such packaging? With a knife. Thus, in order to get a knife, you need to already have a knife! So, how can one go from the knife-less state to the state of having one knife? After that initial knife it is easy to get a second one, a third one, etc., but getting started with the first one is a challenge. (Today's solution used a lengthy mix of the following ingredients: twisting, turning, hitting, pulling, and a dash of swearing.)