Any weaknesses of the conventional two-knife combo?

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DangerZone98

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If you only had a big knife (9”+ blade length) and a small knife (4-5” blade length), would there be any knife-related tasks that would still give you trouble? Or does this reasonably cover all bases?

Purely hypothetical situation, folks. We all know every man needs at least two knives.
 
2.5" to 3.5" for me for the "small" and Axe, hatchet, Kurkri or machete for the "large"

(add a bowsaw &/or one of those cord type saws & it's got 99% of everything covered)

I only remove the 9+ " long blade simply because I've been playing around (much to the annoyance of my wife) with my Schrade Bowie (10" blade).
I viewed a few video reviews of that knife and it changed my mind about taking it out in the yard and doing some torture testing on it.
A few people did just that & despite the junk status of the thing, it did pretty well. I'll just keep mine as a wall hanger.

Anyhow - having said that - the balance of the knife is fine, but, it's far too hefty for much of anything useful.
The blade is too thick for using it to slice roasts, hams, turkeys or much else in the kitchen. I guess it could be used as a cleaver - but -in the 68 years I've been alive, I never needed a cleaver for anything (other than I always wanted one because they are the ultimate "badass looking blade".

That's just my take on it.
Other people are going to have other needs & uses.
 
One 6 inch knife is all you need. A hatchet would be nice too. The two knife thing is more about different shapes than sizes. A clip point and a skinner for example.

A KA-BAR and a fillet knife are both 7 inches but do very different jobs.


H Hal cleavers aren’t very thick either. So I’m not sure what a knife that thick is good for.
 
A 3.5 to 4" fixed blade would be the perfect "do it all" for me. It can tackle fine cuts and heavier stuff. No need for two knives.
If more choppiness is needed : machete or axe. If intensive downsizing of wood is required : saw.
Of course, I don't abide by the reasonable. I carry permanently at least two to four knives.
 
A Alberta Ed Two when wearing pajamas (friction folder in left pajama pocket and necker). Four to five in full town dress. I try to downsize because that's not very reasonable. Although : a multibladed folder, left pants pocket (for "you never know"), a slim and long friction folder, left vest pocket (for steaks !), a 3.5" pocket fixed blade, right pants pocket (that's my EDC !), a small fixed blade necker (never be without a blade, even in the shower) and a small Douk-Douk in the money purse (for the giggles)... seems like a comfortable basic outfit. OK, I'm not nuts.
 
Strong stance... Or "it can be done later". If it ever has to be done, sort of...
 
DangerZone98 said:
If you only had a big knife (9”+ blade length) and a small knife (4-5” blade length), would there be any knife-related tasks that would still give you trouble? Or does this reasonably cover all bases?
Click to expand...
There a plenty of cutting tasks where a 4 to 5 inch blade is way to long. Whittling is one example. For general every day use I would prefer a 2 inch blade to a 5 inch blade. For years my two knife carry EDC was a Buck 110, (3 3/4 inch blade) and a Swiss Champ ( 2 3/4 and 1 3/4 inch blades). In recent years I have added some other knives to the mix. Just because I can. But they all have small , under 3 inch blades.

O.B.
 
I am swapping a S30v blade from a leatherman charge on to my Wave To use that as my small knife/multitool. I carry that and either an Esee 4 or Carothers FK2. That covers everything I need for outdoors/woods/yard/home repair etc.
 
If we include folding knives in the discussion. I find a loom fixer in my pocket compliments a large belt knife.

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If I were thrown into the wilds and had to walk 50 miles back to civilization, I would want nothing more than a 4" stout and sharp fixed blade. With that, I could do most tasks required to hoof it out of there.

Even still, I find the area between a 9" and 3"/4" not enough of a difference to work for me. At that point, I have two knives that overlap 80% and weigh me down.

I have long been a fan of a rig that consists of wildly different knives/tools to cover more work. Something like the Khukuri set up where the scabbard pairs a large, thick blade with a small 2-3" narrow knife and a tool that can be used to maintain the edges of said knives that nest behind the big one. I modify mine a bit. I carry a khukuri with about 12" blade, pick and choose a karda (small knife) out of my collection that comes in around 3" of blade and very pointy/narrow as to handle much finer work, and then carry a small 2-3 layer Swiss Army Knife in the place of the chakma (traditional burnishing tool) as to have more specialized tools like scissors or a saw or what have you to maximize my tool set.
 
It really depends on what you're doing and where you are.

Are you in a wilderness survival situation -- desert...rainforest...tundra...prairie...jungle?

Do you have access to an axe? Or saw?

I live in the rainforest. My 4+ inch Rukus folding knife is all I usually need. But if I need a chopper to clear trails, or if I might need to make a shelter for chop/split my way to find dry wood, then a 10-inch chopper would really help.

I seldom carry two knives, but if I was going on a multi-day hike though the rainforest, my Rukus and Carothers Light Chopper would be primo.
 
for my suburban-fringe needs, I find a super slicy ~3" folding blade (Opinel 8 Carbon Mod w/ lanyard/bead) and a little beefier small ~2.5" fixed blade (original JK Handmade Knive's Hiker’s Backup w/ pocket sheath)

If I'm going way out into nature, depending on the environment, I'd rather bring a machete and/or ax than a big ol' competition style chopping knife paired with a smaller ~4" knife, and my little Opinel of course :)
 
I like a light, thin, slicey thing in the 4-5" range for light work, and around 9 -11" of thicker, heavier, choppy things for things that need chopped. That about covers it.
For me, light, thin, and slicey are handled by a White River Sendero Classic. Favorite thicker, heavier, choppy things are a Livesay RTAK, or the Becker BK-4 Machax.
In truth, tho, I'd prefer a 6-8 inch fixed blade and a tomahawk or hatchet if I knew I was going to be spending some quality time in the boonies.
 
I guess it all depends on what we are doing. I've never had much use for a "chopper" knife, though if I couldn't have other tools that might change. A 4-5" fixed blade paired with a 2.5-3.5" folder can cover most of my recreational activities and if it's not recreational I want a chainsaw and splitting maul. If we're talking about walking any distance in the woods and staying out overnight I would rather carry a folding hand saw than the big knife.

With all that being said, I'm not against the suggested pairing.
 
Two knife pairing is something I have been doing a little bit of recently.

Not with fixed blades but, with folders. I started with a Vic Cadet and a large Griptilian. I found that worked very well for my needs.
Actually, very well is an understatement. It worked great!

The problem was that any Cadet that I have ever owned likes to play hide and seek. It hides and I look for it.

So, I shifted to a Spartan. A little bigger and easier to keep track of.

This combo works well and it is very rare that I have to reach for any other folder.

I like this combo so much that I now have a Spartan in my emergency gear and have plans for a Griptilian also. The big question is which one, H2o 551 or their 551 with a combo edge?

As for fixed blades, I don’t get to use them very much. I think that I would pair my Benchmade 162 with a multi-tool or a Soldier/Pioneer. Probably a MT.
 
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