I'd go for Micarta or G10 everytime on a knife of this type !
not arguing with that choice, jist pointing that someone ight want a copy and want wood scales. just trying to think "worst case scenario".
Why do you say it doesn't need the bail notch ? I've thought that would be a neat thing to have and doesnt really affect anything ! Are you thinking the notch would affect using a batton ?
the bail notch IS a neat idea, on a blade with a straight spine. with the big dip further back on the blade it seems to make the notch superfluous or redundant since the dip can serve the same function. also, some backpacking pots have sheet metal bails. and if you had one you couldn't use the shinny notch on it.
I agree about the pin, I didn't put any thought in to their positioning but what you say does make sense !
when i can i try to explain why. i'm not here to just trash your ideas.
When I batton I only seem to use the last 1" of the blade so left the flat spot for that purpose.
if you rotate the blade so the flat spot in the edge is level, like i expect you'd do when batoning with this, the dip on the spine almost becomes a ramp that looks like it
might redirect the baton into your hand holding the knife.
not saying it would happen every time, but it does look like it
could happen if you hit it too far forward. smacking your hand with the baton doesn't sound like fun!
especially in the back country where you might not be able to put ice on it if you didn't have a snowbank or creek handy.
i'm no expert on knife design. it's been more than a few years since i drew one up, and i can't find it right now. currently working on an EDC type blade idea, but my drawing ability is limited until i get my new glasses. should have those in 7-10 days!
however i do have a little mechanical design understanding, a lot of time wrenching on stuff and my career has been in graphic design and technical illustration and i've drawn a bunch of templates for cutting on plotters, routers, waterjets and laser cutters. i've been doing that kind of stuff in Illustrator for 23 years or so, but most of it has been "ink on paper" and not stuff getting cut out.
combined that means that often i see solutions to potential problems that some people miss, or a "neater" way to do something... but design is subjective and there can be more than one way to do something well, and usually a heck of a lot of ways of doing it badly.
soo i'm used to tossing ideas around and refining things, but i won't get bent out of shape if you say i'm not aware of some reason for doing something a certain way. i'm just offering suggestions. if you like something i say, great. if not... meh. i won't lose any sleep over it.
