Okay, so here's my entry - it's the first knife design I've made that has ever made it out into the world, so I'm hoping to get feedback from all of you with more experience!
I started off by thinking about what kind of knife would best suit my needs right now, and decided to make some type of "chopper" - of course, the 1 1/2" limit on how thick we could go made this pretty hard - so I widened the blade at the front and put as much curve to the handle as I could build in order to shift the weight towards the tip.
I don't know how much I was influenced by my training in Filipino Martial Arts, but here it is - I call it the "pocket bolo":
Elements of the design that may not be apparent in the image:
---I would like the pin farthest to the back to be hollow, to allow use with a lanyard (this pin is visible in every picture of the knife in-hand below, so a lanyard shouldn't get in the way of gripping the knife)
---I would also like the pin in the very front to be hollow, for use of a front lanyard (for better retention in chopping/etc)
---I would like the tang to be somewhat skeletonized to help keep the weight down, and to shift the balance towards the tip (I had previously requested a tapered tang, but I would think that this would be a more effective way to accomplish the goal)
---There is a little bit of tang exposed at the butt of the knife, for punyo (pommel) strikes
If this works like I hope it will, this knife would be a functional "big little" knife for a variety of outdoor uses, and also work well in more "tactical" situations (without looking particularly aggressive.) I think that the handle should be comfortable in a variety of grips, including the following:
(The design in the following pictures is a slightly older one, with a different design for the scales and jimping; the newer version extends the scales farther forward along the back of the blade and should allow for stable and comfortable thumb positioning without jimping, and also better allow for a front lanyard.)
---A "pinch grip:
---A "saber" or "filipino" grip:
---A hammer grip - chopping / slashing; also good for "punyo" (butt) strikes:
As a side note, I tried doing some sinawali (double-weapon "weaving") drills with two cardboard cutouts and had a lot of fun with them - I may need two of these!
Anyways, this was a lot of fun for me - I hope you guys like it, and am excited to hear your feedback; thanks in advance!
