Am I the only guy who prefers the smaller knives?

My sons and their friends all like the 4 inch plus stuff and often make fun of me when I pull out my Ladybug. But they never offer to step up and clean whatever I am preparing for the grill. I tell them small knives are like toy breed dogs, you have to be a secure man to be seen with one.
 
I mostly carry a small pocketknife(Case Peanut)and a SAK anymore.I might strap on a large fixed blade while roaming the woods,but not out of any real need.Perhaps it's just because I got older,I don't know.
 
I carry either a small CRKT Mirage, a Spyderco Dragonfly or a custom neck knife that's 4 1/2" OAL. Small knives are great.
 
No way in hell I'm cutting a little string that's hanging off my shirt with anything less than a 4'' blade. How would you even go about doing that?!
 
Same here man:)
I always gave preference to 3" folders because it doesn't take so much space in the pocket and, for my needs, it is more than enough.
Fortunately i'm over with 3" folders now:)
However, for collecting purposes, i would like to get the bigger size of the ones i trully like.
 
Carl's stories in the traditional forum are what turned me onto small knives (the peanut pattern in particular).

He has helped more than a few of us go nuts.:D

Of all the time I carried the peanut (exclusively), I never felt under-knifed. Similar to your burger test, I like my knives to be able to cut a sandwich in half. If you use the right technique, it can be done with a small blade, it just takes an extra pass or two.
 
I prefer smaller as well. I understand the logic that there are a few tasks that "only" a large knife can do effectively, but those tasks are quite rare in my case, and when I do need to do them, usually I know in advance and can bring along a larger knife (like a chopper or machete) that is specialized to the task. I think it's fair to say that the majority of common knife tasks that I do wouldn't require a blade larger than 3 to 3.5", and many, not even that big.

I just had a long-running thread asking the question of whether large folders really give you anything that you NEED, performance wise. I concluded that for me, the answer is No. I like large folders because of the craftsmanship or artistic aspects of blade-making, but in terms of usage, I virtually never NEED a large folder bigger than about 3.5". Really, same thing for fixed knives, about the only time I need something really big is for chopping and batoning wood, and for me, that's fairly rare. Usually I get by with my Silky saw and a medium-sized fixed blade.

My EDC is now a 3.5" folder, a small MT (2" folding blade), and a 3.5" fixed blade in a Mercharness.
 
Having fairly big hands, I find that small knives with an OAL of less than 7" is hard to open and close and manipulate. That doesn't seem to hold true with the Izula though, as I have little issue with using that tiny knife. I guess I can go smaller with fixed blades because I don't have to fiddle around with the locking mechanism.
 
I'm another in the "less is more" camp: prefer folders with blades between 2.5" and 3" and fixed blades between 3.5" and 4".

My most used pocket knife is a Vic Bantam Alox (sub-3" blade); most used outdoorsy knife is a Mora 510.

Planning on upgrading, but won't get anything bigger on either count.
 
i typically carry a chive or a delica. i never faced anything those couldnt handle. but who knows i havent ran into a mob of zombies yet.
 
When I was younger, the bigger the better. I carried a large stockman (4 - 4 1/4" closed) in my front pocket all the time. It wore out many a pair of jeans at the ends of the knife. It looked like I was carrying piece of rebar in my pockets. I carried a large Browning folder for a long time in a belt sheath (their answer to the Buck 110 and the Schrade LB7).

I am not sure why it was important to have that much sharpened metal on me, but it was. I did use the knives all the time in the normal course of my job, and didn't think twice about the size.

As I have gotten older (55) my knives have become much smaller. I carry a larger work knife at work (construction) and when I am away I carry one of my smaller knives. I just bought an old "preowned" German Canoe (gorgeous) and an even prettier, brand new Jim Bowie medium rancher in stag. Hard to take that one out of my pocket.

It finally came to me one day that I just didn't need all that knife. And for those harder tasks, I have a truck full of tools wherever I go.

My favorite small knife is a 30 year old EYE brand butterbean (mini canoe). But I also routinely carry a peanut, small rancher, and a tiny half whittler. Can't get much smaller than that!

I have discussed this "smaller knife" phenomena with my buddies. We think the smaller knives is an age thing.

Robert
 
I have huge hands and very long fingers. I have quite a few large knives around the ranch for certain jobs, but my small Sebenza is the biggest knife I'd consider carrying in my pocket all day. Even it is larger than necessary for 99% of the work I expect from a pocket knife.
 
midnight flyer said:
I have discussed this "smaller knife" phenomena with my buddies. We think the smaller knives is an age thing.

Robert
Click to expand...

I think you're right on there. My other retired old crock friends and I have discussed this, and came to the same conclusion. At our Friday morning old fart breakfast, open only to retired old crocks, knives like Case peanuts, Eisenhower's, Buck 309 companions, are the rule rather than the exception.

Of course, being a retired old crock, smaller knives mean more room in the pockets for the really important stuff. Stuff like the bottle of Nitro pills to fend off a vapor lock, Ronco pocket defibulator in case of vapor lock, spare nose fixture for the oxygen tube, list of medications you're on for the EMT's in case you keel over, reading glasses because as you got old, you found out your arms didn't get longer, and other stuff you never thought you'd be carrying when you were younger.

Carl.
 
in my experience, the best "hard use" knives (but not for chopping) would have a blade thickness of at least 3/8 inches, thick bevels and, most important, longer handles than blades. this positive handle:blade length allows for good leverage when cutting tough material. my favorite working knife was a quick job by a machinist. he simply removed stock from a 1/4 inch flat bar and came up with a full-tang knife with a 2 1/2" blade and 6" handle. with this knife, i can transmit my full shoulder and body stength when cutting a 1" nylon rope, a section of fire hose, or prying apart big beef bones from a carcass. and yes, you can baton it for all you're worth.

something like a cold chisel with a sharp edge.
 
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