6"long, 1/4"thick, usual?

[Chicahiro Ishida]

There are many 6-7"long, over 5mm thick fixed blade tough knives.
it is known that SEALS trial(SOG Seal 2000 and Mad Dog A.T.A.K) was just for such knife.

But are such knives realy usual in the field?
To cook or shave wood, it is too thick.
For skinning game, it is too long and unsharp.
To cut large wood or brack bush, too short and right.

 

[Keith Montgomery]

As far as it's ability to cut is concerned, it is not really a problem to have a knife made from 1/4" stock. As long as the geometry of the blade is right it can be a very good cutter. It just has to be thin enough behind the edge. A hollow ground 6" long, 1/4" thick at the spine knife can be a good cutter. I prefer a flat or convex ground blade that is thinner myself, but that is just personal preference.

 

[mogmz]

I own a SOG SEAL-2000 and about the only thing i haven't/wouldn't use it for is to field dress/skin an animal. Not because it wouldn't cut well enough, but mainly its 7" blade is a bit too long for such a task.

 

[Buzzbait]

For the most part, such knives are too long for my own personal outdoor purposes. I normally prefer something closer to 3 3/4" long in the northeast outdoors. If I need more then I probably will be chopping wood. I grab an axe or hatchet at these times. Longer blades do have their purposes, but I just find the uses to be too few and far between to carry one. That’s in my neck of the woods though. Your mileage may vary.

I guess I have an issue with making controlled cuts. Doing fine work with a large knife can be dangerous, especially in the outdoors where stupid mistakes will kill you quickly. You just don’t have the accuracy that you do with a smaller knife. But a job that requires a slightly larger knife only requires a bit more patience and time with a smaller blade. At least that’s my opinion, for what it’s worth.

1/4" thick knives are usually too thick behind the edge for any kind of fine woodcraft, or game cleaning. There are exceptions though. I have comparatively small fixed blades that are that thick, but have a fantastically thin convex edge on them. It’s just a matter of finding a maker that is confident enough in his/her steel, to make such a knife. Most of the thick production knives I’ve tried are too darned thick behind the edge to cut well, but people love to buy sharpened prybars. They don’t usually cut efficiently enough for my tastes, but they make the owner feel invincible.

 

[Cliff Stamp]

Keith Montgomery :

As far as it's ability to cut is concerned, it is not really a problem to have a knife made from 1/4" stock.

Yes, for example David Boye made some of the best all around cutting blades and the stock thickness on the light hunters was often 1/4"+. The top ABS cutting bowies (Kirk, Fitch etc.) would easily outcut many thinner knives on a lot of material.

As long as the geometry of the blade is right it can be a very good cutter. It just has to be thin enough behind the edge.

And ground at an acute angle, and of course sharpened well, which most heavier knives are not.

The blade stock thickness only comes into play in regards to cutting ablity when the material can binding or wedge on deep cuts. So you have to be cuting foods like solid thick vegetables like turnips, or very heavy cardboard, one inch+ hemp rope etc. .

The only real cutting advantage of the thicker blades is in regards to stiffness (which is only really a factor when you go ~1/16" and under) and using the blade like a draw knife or any other grip that puts your hand on the spine. This can be uncomfortable when the spine is very narrow.

-Cliff