- Joined
- Feb 1, 2012
- Messages
- 11,783
Fiddleback Forge Asp in tangerine (third from bottom):
My quick images don't capture how lovely this color is in person, a deeper hue than pops out of most pictures.
The Asp fits in my hand as I would expect, ie, very directly and encouraging forward movement. This is not something I look for in a knife (heh), but I appreciate how well the design is executed to that end.
And, to this end:
-- While the wider top guard(? not sure what to call it. Double guard? hiltlet?) would be useful in preventing one's hand from sliding forward while making certain cuts, it gets in my way for most of the types of uses I enjoy, not least the all-important task of making pieces of wood smaller. Through these comparisons and closer observation, I've come to realize how often I end up with both thumbs on the spine of my blade whilst cutting, and how that informs my preferred ergonomics.*
*And here, I secretly hope those reading pull out a knife or two to figure out what I mean, thumbs here and there on blades, similar to how "Did you know it's impossible to lick your elbow?" leads to, well, you know.
A quick illustration, with my Bear Cub:
(I think this is why I enjoy some of the thicker-stock knives more than I expected-- they are more comfortable under my thumbs.)
~~~~~
One last look at the WASurls trio:
Again I say: that Arctic Ice is some of the most beautiful material I've seen, on a knife or otherwise, the gradations of blue and white shot through with silver, the distinctive FF/WAS pins evoking the centers of flowers.... Y'all gots any more of it around?!
The Palmer itself doesn't quite do it for me, Arctic Ice or no; it registers as 'bulky' for its size, while its slightly curved tail cramps my hand (and here I reference my persnickety pinky, once again)-- especially as compared with my Esquire. Mind you, the Esquire isn't the most comfortable knife I've handled, but it fits together in pocket, use, and Style Points better than the Palmer.
The Big Palmer is hardly 'big,' but I found it far more comfortable, with more obvious potential in the using, than its smaller sibling (sorry for the poor lighting):
The WAS knife that continued to call me back was, is, the Bobcat. What a beaut!
(Old School Karda, WAS Bobcat)
I love its size and its lines, and want to like the knife more than I do. The osage orange is fantastic stuff, too; the wood's vaunted density leads to an incredible feel in-hand, and looks far better (and more interesting) in person than I expected it to based on pictures alone-- my own now included.
Look how (rightfully) golden it appears here as opposed to the picture above-- top row, third from the left:
Natural with Blue is always a good thing.
I spent a lot of time with the comparisons represented by this picture:
The Bobcat, with its greater length and similar contours, looks like it should be as comfortable as the Esquire, if not more so, but it wasn't. Isn't, for me. Yet, those of you with larger hands (which I'm guessing is most of you!) may well come to an opposite conclusion, particularly if the curved end of the Bobcat's handle nestles between your ring and pinky fingers, vs how it either tried to constrain my four fingers on the handle or fall on the wrong place on my pinky.
A beautiful little knife, no matter what. :thumbup:
... As is the Old School Karda, which merits consideration on its lines alone, but I could make even less sense of it in-hand when I returned to it again. This newly-favorite comparative view provides a clue as to how wildly the OS Karda's handle profile varies from what I'm narrowing down to be my preferred characteristics:
Very similar blades, marked departure from the neck down.
Still ahead: Gaucho, Bushfinger(s), and an EDC round-up.
Including, have I mentioned recently how much I love my Bear Cub?!?
~ P.
My quick images don't capture how lovely this color is in person, a deeper hue than pops out of most pictures.
The Asp fits in my hand as I would expect, ie, very directly and encouraging forward movement. This is not something I look for in a knife (heh), but I appreciate how well the design is executed to that end.
And, to this end:
-- While the wider top guard(? not sure what to call it. Double guard? hiltlet?) would be useful in preventing one's hand from sliding forward while making certain cuts, it gets in my way for most of the types of uses I enjoy, not least the all-important task of making pieces of wood smaller. Through these comparisons and closer observation, I've come to realize how often I end up with both thumbs on the spine of my blade whilst cutting, and how that informs my preferred ergonomics.*
*And here, I secretly hope those reading pull out a knife or two to figure out what I mean, thumbs here and there on blades, similar to how "Did you know it's impossible to lick your elbow?" leads to, well, you know.
A quick illustration, with my Bear Cub:
(I think this is why I enjoy some of the thicker-stock knives more than I expected-- they are more comfortable under my thumbs.)
~~~~~
One last look at the WASurls trio:
Again I say: that Arctic Ice is some of the most beautiful material I've seen, on a knife or otherwise, the gradations of blue and white shot through with silver, the distinctive FF/WAS pins evoking the centers of flowers.... Y'all gots any more of it around?!
The Palmer itself doesn't quite do it for me, Arctic Ice or no; it registers as 'bulky' for its size, while its slightly curved tail cramps my hand (and here I reference my persnickety pinky, once again)-- especially as compared with my Esquire. Mind you, the Esquire isn't the most comfortable knife I've handled, but it fits together in pocket, use, and Style Points better than the Palmer.
The Big Palmer is hardly 'big,' but I found it far more comfortable, with more obvious potential in the using, than its smaller sibling (sorry for the poor lighting):
The WAS knife that continued to call me back was, is, the Bobcat. What a beaut!
(Old School Karda, WAS Bobcat)
I love its size and its lines, and want to like the knife more than I do. The osage orange is fantastic stuff, too; the wood's vaunted density leads to an incredible feel in-hand, and looks far better (and more interesting) in person than I expected it to based on pictures alone-- my own now included.
Look how (rightfully) golden it appears here as opposed to the picture above-- top row, third from the left:
Natural with Blue is always a good thing.
I spent a lot of time with the comparisons represented by this picture:
The Bobcat, with its greater length and similar contours, looks like it should be as comfortable as the Esquire, if not more so, but it wasn't. Isn't, for me. Yet, those of you with larger hands (which I'm guessing is most of you!) may well come to an opposite conclusion, particularly if the curved end of the Bobcat's handle nestles between your ring and pinky fingers, vs how it either tried to constrain my four fingers on the handle or fall on the wrong place on my pinky.
A beautiful little knife, no matter what. :thumbup:
... As is the Old School Karda, which merits consideration on its lines alone, but I could make even less sense of it in-hand when I returned to it again. This newly-favorite comparative view provides a clue as to how wildly the OS Karda's handle profile varies from what I'm narrowing down to be my preferred characteristics:
Very similar blades, marked departure from the neck down.
Still ahead: Gaucho, Bushfinger(s), and an EDC round-up.
Including, have I mentioned recently how much I love my Bear Cub?!?
~ P.
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This, combined all-at-once with my wondering what I might like better 'n your Bushnubs and loving the weight of your different TT offerings, had everything to do with my jumping on the non-Shadetree, non-Blue Bear Cub when I did (including, I suddenly wanted it here in time to compare with your knives). I love the thing unreasonably....
