Spear or Clip blade?

[confucius37]

... But it's perfect all the same.











~ P.

Hard to argue with those pictures!

[Doug Add]

Clip for me. I'm warming up to the spear w/ a barlow I carry from time to time. But the clip just looks like a blade should (IMO).

That pretty well sums up my feelings. Probably due to having knives with clip blade mains from my youth. I've had a bunch of Victorinox knives with good spear blades, but still tend to prefer the clip, though I am also warming to the spear.

The reason I started this thread is because I'm planning on picking up a White Owl for my birthday and I'm not sure if I want the clip or the spear blade. Very good points as well guys you've kind of got me leaning towards the spear blade.

I had a spear blade White Owl and sold it. If it had been a clip, I'd probably still have it. I bought it for the beauty of the ebony on that particular knife.

It's all about personal preference. My own personal bias toward clip blades is slowly being changed, due in no small part to these recent purchases:

[BenLong1018]

I think I'm gonna go with the spear point for now and if I really like the White Owl I can always get a clip point version some other time. I do think that the spear point looks a bit classier in my opinion.

[kamagong]

Both. I like two production slipjoints head and shoulders better than any others I own. One of them is a spear, the other a clip. It really depends on the knife.

- Christian

[pertinux]

I usually pass on a knife with a spearpoint main. I've only had two blades fold on my finger in use, and both were spearpoints. After the second time I figured out why. On a piecing cut, the sharp edge cuts through the material and the flat spine doesn't. On a clip point, that's no big deal. On a spearpoint, it can push the blade down enough to fold it.

Interesting. I had a knife fold on me in use for the first time ever recently, and I couldn't figure out how/why. It was a spear point (although not the white owl shown in this thread). Your explanation above gives me a new way to about it, and a possible explanation. I shan't try a reenactment, but will keep this in mind.

~ P.

[bear1889]

A spear point is artistic symmetry, whereas a clip is an asymmetrical expression of the mundane.

[Obsessed with Edges]

I usually pass on a knife with a spearpoint main. I've only had two blades fold on my finger in use, and both were spearpoints. After the second time I figured out why. On a piecing cut, the sharp edge cuts through the material and the flat spine doesn't. On a clip point, that's no big deal. On a spearpoint, it can push the blade down enough to fold it.

Interesting. I had a knife fold on me in use for the first time ever recently, and I couldn't figure out how/why. It was a spear point (although not the white owl shown in this thread). Your explanation above gives me a new way to about it, and a possible explanation. I shan't try a reenactment, but will keep this in mind.

~ P.

That's part of the reason I mentioned the 'thickness' of the tips on many spearpoints. I don't recall having one fold on me, but I have noticed the blade get 'pushed' downward in a piercing cut, because the relatively wide & flat spine, near the tip, creates a lot more resistance in material being cut. I was comparing two of my knives today; one was my Schrade 8OT Old Timer (clip main, very thin tip), and a Camillus TL-29 (spear main, rather thick & stout, and very flat on the spine near the tip). The thought occurred to me, a well-executed swedge on the spear's spine, run fully to the tip, could or should alleviate some of the issues otherwise created by the wide, flat spine near the tip.

[richstag]

David, something like this?



Never had any problem with tip work with that blade.

[Obsessed with Edges]

David, something like this?



Never had any problem with tip work with that blade.

Yep. That's what I'm talkin' about. I couldn't overlook the other swedged examples also posted in this thread, either.

[pinnah]

One reason why I like the asymmetrical Ulster spear compared to the more symmetrical spear of the SAK is that is easier to make a piercing cut so long as you push down slightly with the tip. It's easier to get the tip to "catch" and cut.

[2Dead]

I find I have and use clip points more. I still do like spears and droppoints too. It depends on what looks best on the knife I think.

[puukkoman]

For me, it depends on the rest of the knife. Some I prefer with a spear, and some I prefer with a clip. Don't think I could choose one over the other, across the board.

[willgoy]

Rather depends on the aesthetics of a pattern.

But...smaller knives for me work better with Clip, larger with Spear.

[rarreola]

Boker canoe has a beautiful spear.

[Pocketknifesheaths]

Buy a moose with both, carry it for awhile and find out???

I like both. I agree that really some frames look like they where made for one or the other. Clips are more delicate with the tip. Spear is my choice for a harder use knife.

What he said ^

[zippofan]

I usually pass on a knife with a spearpoint main. I've only had two blades fold on my finger in use, and both were spearpoints. After the second time I figured out why. On a piecing cut, the sharp edge cuts through the material and the flat spine doesn't. On a clip point, that's no big deal. On a spearpoint, it can push the blade down enough to fold it.

I hadn't really thought about this until now, but your explanation of a blade folding under use explains why so many Cub Scouts get cut on their first knife, which is usually a SAK spear. The Cub knives sold in Scout shops are liner locks but many parents opt for a SAK or SAK knock off (more often). I guess it is because the spear point looks less 'threatening' than a concave clip.

As for me, I've always gravitated to a clip, probably because of aesthetics. I figure I have roughly the same number of each, and slightly more Wharncliffe's.

[yablanowitz]

Yep. The first one that folded on me was my Cub Scout knife back in the 60's, and the second was a Victorinox SwissChamp in the 80's.

[Bowman1911]

I've cut bulls with plenty of clip, & drop points. Oddly enough, never used a spey blade for it's actual purpose. The spey was sort of saved for still born cattle. I won't get into the use, as it's pretty morbid, but if you've ever had to save a heffer, & the calf is too big to pull, you know exactly what I'm talkin' about. Havin' said that, I'm no longer a farm boy & most of my blade play is menial tasks & putting food in my mouth, so nowadays I prefer the spear point for most of my daily use.

[festerfromnzed]

I like both blade shapes for different reasons..hence why i like the MOOSE so much....best of both worlds. FES

[Bigfattyt]

I also love both. It is like asking which I think are prettier, red heads, brunettes, raven haired, or blonds.

The answer is all of them!

Clip points, drop points, warncliffs, spey, spear, sheeps foot, I like them all!

I have to say, the spear on my S&M is great. It is pretty close to a zulu style spear. That beauty also has a needle pointy clip point secondary (instead of a spear/pen). The spear just makes it so pinch-able!


Those swedged spears on the white owls look great! Are they pinch-able?