A shout out to the HTM Crew! I would like to hear your thoughts.

Dirk

Dirk

Joined
Mar 19, 1999
Messages
2,277
Hey everyone! I hope the new year is starting out well for everyone! Things have been groovy for me!

I working on some ideas for possible HTM projects and I would like to hear your thoughts.

As many of you know, most of my designs are small concealed carry style fixed blades. I am curious about what you look for in small fixed blades What style of blade do you guys prefer, clip point(bowie), dagger(double edge), spear points, tanto(American style or more traditional Japanese), hawkbill, wharncliffe?

What about gripper grooves? Do your prefer the more coarse grooves or the finer grroves? What about placement of those grooves. Where do you like them on the handle?

Last question is about steel thickness. Darrel, keep your mind out of the gutter!;) On a small fixed blade, 1/8", 5/32, 3/16"?

Thanks for the feedback. It will help me with some of the designs I am working on.

Also, thanks for the great response on the HTM Ti BroadHead! That turned out well! I have some more ideas down that path. We might have to see if they have what it takes to make it!
 
I'd be all over a traditional, Japanese style small fixed blade along with a bowie. I like a bit more coarse grooves, maybe about 1/8 inch apart. I like them as a thumb groove and also near the center of my palm for a little bit of extra grip.

5/32 at least IMO, unless it's a smaller sized fixed like the BroadHead (which I cannot wait to get).

Double ground everything for me please.
 
I like the way Harkamus thinks. I agree with him 100% on tanto, bowie, 5/32" to 3/16" thick, and double grind for me also.:thumbup::D Man, I could not have said it better!!:)
 
harkamus said:
I'd be all over a traditional, Japanese style small fixed blade along with a bowie. I like a bit more coarse grooves, maybe about 1/8 inch apart. I like them as a thumb groove and also near the center of my palm for a little bit of extra grip.

5/32 at least IMO, unless it's a smaller sized fixed like the BroadHead (which I cannot wait to get).

Double ground everything for me please.
Click to expand...

Cool. Why do you like that spacing of the grooves?

BroadHead will be in your hands very soon.:D
 
What you have creted in your line over the years is great.
Bring more and just use the good sense of function and style that YOU have built in.

MAKE THEM THEY WILL COME!
 
Dirk said:
Cool. Why do you like that spacing of the grooves?

BroadHead will be in your hands very soon.:D
Click to expand...

Sweat makes close grooves feel like they lose a lot of traction in my hands. I'm in the south where we have humid heat. Grooves that are too far apart just feel like they create hotspots for me. I find about an eighths of an inch to be just right.
 
Interesting. I have not come across this before. Is this for any size knife?
 
Dirk said:
Interesting. I have not come across this before. Is this for any size knife?
Click to expand...

For me, yea. Thinly spaced grooves to me just feel like they disappear and don't offer much traction especially when my hands get sweaty.
 
+1 on the coarse grooves I have lived all over and am currently in northern Minnesota. If the grooves are not coarse enough when wearing gloves the grooves also disappear. I also had this problem down south when my hands were sweating also. Good point Harkamus!

I am partial to canvas Micarta with grooves, slight palm swells and a curved grip similar to the Kershaw Rake or MT Amphibian. When I don't wear gloves and my hand sweats Canvas Micarta has a more grippy texture than linen or paper and when cold the handle grooves (a nice pattern of course) do the gripping.

The thicker the steel the better I like to feel my knife 3/16" is a nice thickness.

I like a nice FF grind and although swedges look nice I don't like them to effect the tip of the blade and thin it out.

I like my handles bolted on not glued and the metal butt of the knife to be exposed.

I like a modified drop point, with belly and a recurve. (not popular among the forum members but I like the way they work)

I also like a good carbon steel 1095, A2 etc. I'm no steel expert but I can field sharpen these pretty easy if I have to.
 
I love sculpted g10 over checkerboard g-10 for the same reasoning behind why I like the grooving spaced the way I do. With checkerboard textured g-10, sweat builds up easily and just gets stuck in the grooves as dry crud.
 
Thanks for the input. It is very informative. Please keep them coming.
 
I just had a wild idea...how about a bowie bladed version of the Variable BroadHead?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top