Anyone Else Have This Issue With Ergonomics?

V

Vivi

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I've noticed a vast amount of knives designed so that you lay your thumb right above your index finger. This has always felt forced and unnatural to me, as my thumb wants to move maybe a half inch more forward than this. The only times I like having it back where many knife designs suggest you put it is when I'm cutting something near the ricasso and need to get my thumb out of my way. Otherwise it puts a lot of undue stress on my hand.

Here are some pictures to illustrate what I'm talking about. Here's me holding a Kershaw Groove, Kershaw Leek and Kabar TDI. This is where my thumb naturally goes, and on every knife it's clearly past the area designed for your thumb to lay.

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I plan to grind away the point on the groove here to make it more comfortable. I can scoot my thumb back and it works for me alright, but I see no reason functionality-wise not to smooth out that point.

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I feel like I'm alone here, because I've never heard others specifically point this out about knives and the majority of knives seem to be design with this thumb placement philosophy in mind.
 
Pick up a Kershaw Needs Work and see where your thumb goes. Nice feel in my hands.
 
Looks to me like you are trying to hold it like an axe or a baseball bat. Try tilting the knife forward so that the heel of your palm is resting on the lower half of the hilt and your thumb should end up in the right place.
 
I also like my thumb to be comfortably stretched way forward on the back of the blade. I haven't got a Groove handy, but as I recall, I was able to do this easily when I handled one. Myabe I'm reaching farther forward than you like.

That's part of the problem, too. With so many variations in hand size and finger length, it's hard to design for everyone.
 
It's common for knives to be made to a common denominator. I have problems with studs/discs/slots that are positioned to close to the pivot, which makes opening difficult.

Thumb ramps were introduced as a feature of the tactical knife, which has done well for the originator, but not so good for EDC utility. It could be said they exist because the blade style and edge are less than optimum for cutting and require higher force to do the job. In tactical knives this is true as many have saber grind blades for strength, and an obtuse edge to lessen chipping.

The few times I really need thumb ramps are on hard thick materials, like solid plastics or woods. Most times repeated slicing is faster than a direct push cut, which is 90% of what I do anyway, especially on hoses, belting, cardboard, etc.
 
Hands and knives come in many different sizes and shapes. Pick the one that suits you best . For me I often hold my knife side to side rather from top to bottom ! I also like a straight handle like my Sebenza !
 
I find that having the thumb closer to the index finger improves control when doing fine point work. This is especially true with a "pointy" thumb ramp, such as the one on my Calypso Jr. It gives me a surface to push against when piercing things. My hands are also fairly small.
 
I have the exact same problem. You can simply buy knives that are designed to have your thumb forward. Many designs by Tim Wegner have some jimping far forward on the blade. You could also try the Byrd Meadowlark/Cara Cara. You can put your thumb past the "spyderhump" altogether if you are using the coil.
 
Consider a Native. The top is flat so you can lay your thumb where you want. I think the handle shape encourages you to hold it the way you like, with your thumb and index finger (in the choil) stretched out from the rest of your hand.
 
Vivi, look at some Snody-designed knives. He tends to be a thumb-in-front kind of guy. The Spyderco Ronin and Yojimbo, and the many Snody Benchmades (including their NRA and H&K brands) that I own - Resistor, Gravitator, Juju, Instigator, NRA 12520 - are all comfortable with a thumb lead, and most of them flat out encourage it.

The Resistor and Gravitator were just discontinued, so they're in that sweet spot where they're still available at internet street price, but won't be in a while - if either one appeals to you, I'd pick it up.
 
You should look into a Spyderco Ronin or Yojimbo. Both of these designs allow the thumb to rest comfortably much farther than other designs.

Just noticed Nick beat me to the punch. Some good advice here.
 
Thanks for the suggestions. Some of the mentioned knives I own or did own at one point, but I will take a look at the others. I noticed a large part of my collection is of knives with flat spines that don't have this problem. Opinels, SAKs, Buck 110 / 112 etc. I always liked the Native a lot for this reason. I've had Spydercos like the Byrd Meadowlark and the Dragonfly where I couldn't grip the knife in the choil without my hand feeling uncomfortable because of this though. Kind of ruins otherwise well thought-out designs for me.

The knives pictured aren't bad in this respect though. Like I said, with the Groove I can scoot my thumb back and plan to mod it anyways, the Kabar works fine either way and the Leek is slightly uncomfortable but only during heavier cutting. Still works fine for me, so it's a keeper.

heisler said:
I find that having the thumb closer to the index finger improves control when doing fine point work. This is especially true with a "pointy" thumb ramp, such as the one on my Calypso Jr. It gives me a surface to push against when piercing things. My hands are also fairly small.
Click to expand...

What you say is true, only problem is most my cutting doesn't require this. So a knife like the Dragonfly where to get more than two fingers on I have to keep my hand in such a position, just doesn't make sense for me. I was hesitant about getting a UKPK / Caly 3 because of this, but I held one in a store recently and found it very comfortable. Only problem is the last UKPK that popped up on the forums was snagged by someone else. :p

Chiller2 said:
Looks to me like you are trying to hold it like an axe or a baseball bat. Try tilting the knife forward so that the heel of your palm is resting on the lower half of the hilt and your thumb should end up in the right place.
Click to expand...

I know the grip you're talking about, but it just feels kind of weird to me. Never could get used to holding a knife that way. Maybe that's all it is, or possibly the size of the hands has a lot to do with it.
 
PerformanceFirst said:
Consider a Native. The top is flat so you can lay your thumb where you want. I think the handle shape encourages you to hold it the way you like, with your thumb and index finger (in the choil) stretched out from the rest of your hand.
Click to expand...

Also, there are alot of fixed blades designed that way. I also llike the kind of thumb placement you are referring to. It is common in FMA stlye knife work.
 
looks to me like your handling knives which are too small for your larger hands. Have you handled the bm 710 or the skirmish (mini or regular)? I think they may just fit your hands perfectly. Hard to tell from the pics of course but I have larger hands and they work great for me
 
I wasn't sure how I even held my 710 because I never took notice, so I just tried now and my thumb is on the handle. With smaller knifes it's on the top of the blade though.
 
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