A lamb and a soddie. A comparison

Rsmith_77

Rsmith_77

Joined
Jun 4, 2010
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Ok, first I wanna be upfront and say this is not my picture. I borrowed it from the lambsfoot mega thread. I will go back and edit in the owner of said pic

Secondly I didn't wanna clutter up jacks mega thread with my musings, I don't figure he would appreciate it anyways.



But I just couldn't shake the similarities in both size and heritage as inexpensive, hard use users.

I don't really have a point to this post other than I couldn't shake how similar they are in so many ways and yet so different in others

Based on these forums I would say the lambsfoot is the more popular of the two patterns but I don't actually think that's true.
 
Ok I can't find it again to credit the poster of that pic.

But eventually I will find it and give credit where it is due
 
Rsmith_77 said:
Based on these forums I would say the lambsfoot is the more popular of the two patterns but I don't actually think that's true.
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I think the drop point is the more popular of the two in general world wide.
You're forgetting that the sodbuster pattern isn't the only single blade folding knife with a drop point blade. Every size Opinel has that blade. Opinel is number one or two of the top selling knife producers in the world. Victorinox is the other.

As far as I know, other than a couple GEC SFO's, no one other than a few English makers are producing a Lambsfoot knife, while several companies in the US and Europe produce the "sodbuster" pattern. Could the Opinel be considered a variation of the sod buster pattern? I think so. An argument could be made that the standard Opinel is a friction folder "sodbuster". (with a "use it or not" blade lock on the N°6 and larger.)

Knife nuts are a very, very, very small segment of the market. I'd be surprised if world wide, we make up just 1% of the market. What we like isn't necessarily what the other "99%" like.
To be honest, I doubt anyone outside the knife community (in the US, at any rate) has ever heard of the lambsfoot pattern or blade.

The Guardians of the Lambsfoot is one of the longest running, and in terms of posts, one of the largest threads on BF. (if not the largest. Without checking the page counts, the only thread I can think of that might be as large is the What are you carrying today thread. There are a couple threads dedicated to the soddy that are competing against each other, and none are as old as the guardians thread.
 
I understand most, if not all of that
I was just generating some discussion and I didn't want to clutter up the huge guardian thread

But the gist was ...it seems the sodbuster style is more popular world wide as you say
It's almost as if the lambsfoot is used very similarly in the uk but they went about the design completely differently.
And I thought it was cool

Also that pic really drive home how similarly sized the knives were, I had thought they were much larger
 
afishhunter afishhunter Good commentary, however I think the conventional Opinel actually has a Yatagan Clip-Point blade as it's slight swoop rather than just pointed.

I don't really see the similarity between a Sodbuster & a Lamb Foot. Single blade yes, work-knife yes but a Sodbuster type is far more familiar to knife owners around the world whereas the Lamb Foot has become known to people on his Forum- which is very few people in point of fact. The construction is not similar, Sodbusters are Shadow with a Bird's Eye type pivot, the Lamb Foot is single bolster and the blade shape and use show no similarities.
 
Will Power said:
afishhunter afishhunter Good commentary, however I think the conventional Opinel actually has a Yatagan Clip-Point blade as it's slight swoop rather than just pointed.

I don't really see the similarity between a Sodbuster & a Lamb Foot. Single blade yes, work-knife yes but a Sodbuster type is far more familiar to knife owners around the world whereas the Lamb Foot has become known to people on his Forum- which is very few people in point of fact. The construction is not similar, Sodbusters are Shadow with a Bird's Eye type pivot, the Lamb Foot is single bolster and the blade shape and use show no similarities.
Click to expand...
Simple, inexpensive, hard use working knives
I bet they were used very similarly and in very similar ways
But as you said, constructed very differently
 
Rsmith_77 said:
Ok I can't find it again to credit the poster of that pic.

But eventually I will find it and give credit where it is due
Click to expand...
They're my pics, and I certainly don't mind. The Sodbuster Jr. is similar in size,however the full sized versions are bigger. In the above pics the one with the yellow sodbuster and a Boker barlow,the barlow is much closer to my particular lambsfoot in size.
 
Other than both being single-bladed folding knives, I don't see a lot of similarity in the patterns. There are many tasks where "any sharp blade will do, no matter the shape or size" so from that perspective, all pocket knives are very similar.

But the handle and blade shapes are different enough between those two patterns where it is clear in their original design that they were intended to be optimal for different tasks.
 
I feel like this post either got off on the wrong foot
Or I was just very poor in explaining myself.

This is not a slight on either knife or saying one is better than the other. They are both interesting in their own ways.

What I think I was trying to get at was.
Both sodbusters and lambsfoot (along with opinels and other "working" knives) share alot of similarities.
Inexpensive, hard use, working knives

It appears to me they occupy a similar niche but they go about it in very different ways.

In that aspect, it struck me that the similarities and differences were interesting. Maybe even insert a lighthearted joke about how the Brits always gotta be different so they made their soddie unique just to stand out 😂

If I, or this post, rubbed anyone the wrong way, my apologies. It's just tough to insert oneself into the big guardian thread, especially for someone who isn't a member
 
Heh well seeing as I read thru to about page 90 yesterday...

Ok. This conversation has been a dud
Let it fall away and forget about it
 
Rsmith_77 said:
I feel like this post either got off on the wrong foot
Or I was just very poor in explaining myself.

This is not a slight on either knife or saying one is better than the other. They are both interesting in their own ways.

What I think I was trying to get at was.
Both sodbusters and lambsfoot (along with opinels and other "working" knives) share alot of similarities.
Inexpensive, hard use, working knives

It appears to me they occupy a similar niche but they go about it in very different ways.

In that aspect, it struck me that the similarities and differences were interesting. Maybe even insert a lighthearted joke about how the Brits always gotta be different so they made their soddie unique just to stand out 😂

If I, or this post, rubbed anyone the wrong way, my apologies. It's just tough to insert oneself into the big guardian thread, especially for someone who isn't a member
Click to expand...
I myself like discussions and comparisons, in my book it's how we learn. There is a reason the Lambsfoot was paired with my Sodbuster Jr.,they're both good solid working knives. I think they complement one another quite well. I could carry one knife that would give me similar functionality of those two. My much carried GEC calfpen or my large Case stockman would do,as both have blades with belly and a straight edged blade. But I like carrying all different types of traditional knives,to learn the merits of each. I also like discussions on the merits and histories of them as well.
 
No worries. I seriously missed a cue or something on the subject. But I'm moving on. Id delete this but I apparently don't have the ability.
 
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Rsmith_77 Rsmith_77 , I found this thread to be interesting and liked reading along. I got your point, so to speak. It's funny how some patterns cross many borders and reach widespread use, and others remain regional, but used as frequently where available. We were very fortunate to have Jack on board to share this one and spread the love.
 
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