Are "Rambo" type knives practical?

Back to track.

I suppose if there purpose is Not to stuff goodies in the hollow handle, chop wood with the massive blade or cut things.

Then yes, they can be very impractical.

I suppose it comes down to what the intended purpose really is.

What, in your opinion (all of you), is the intended purpose of a Rambo knife?
 
rustyrazor said:
And there's your answer "army officer"... Aka: "I don't have to give you any reason why I'm right. Just do what I tell you". Say no more. I completely understand your point sir
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yyyyyaaaaawwwwwwnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn

You answered the OP's question one way. I answered it another way. Is this really worth you getting all worked up?
 
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stvpourciau said:
Back to track.

I suppose if there purpose is Not to stuff goodies in the hollow handle, chop wood with the massive blade or cut things.

Then yes, they can be very impractical.

I suppose it comes down to what the intended purpose really is.

What, in your opinion (all of you), is the intended purpose of a Rambo knife?
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I agree with you, stv. And Im certainly not going to spend more time proving whats been established with video and photos. I think someone would rather see this awesome thread locked, so im not going to continue to feed it, lol.

I cant find it right now, but I have read a letter that Jimmy Lile wrote about the First Blood knife that he originally made, and basically he explained very clearly all of the features and why they were on the knife. But to me personally, the idea is a large fixed blade that will help with shelter construction, possibly personal defense, snare/trap construction, and food prep in an emergency situation. The cord wrap provides cordage, obviously, and the hollow handle provides a match safe, and room for a few other small items you might need. Lile originally included a small folder that fit into the hollow handle for smaller tasks, including cutting the cord wrap to get it off the handle when you need it. And then obviously the sharpening stone to maintain the edge. I believe that for those purposes, that type of knife will do just fine.

Obviously, everyone has their preferences on blade size/shape, but the concept is very sound to me, when properly executed.
If I can find the explanation that Lile wrote, I will post it. Its very cool.

Sam
 
leghog said:
Utter and complete BS. I think "Rambo"-type knives are impractical. You think they are practical. You make "Rambo"-type knives. I don't. Credibility?
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And there is the PROBLEM u don't seem to understand !!!
He thinks they practical :
And he showed us and explained why ! (It make sense to me)
You think they are impractical:
But we don't know why ? It is not enough to say "because I said so" !
Got it ? Or still struggling ?
This is not an army we will not blindly obey and fallow ! We are not 18 anymore. We can think for our self so please talk to us.
 
leghog said:
yyyyyaaaaawwwwwwnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn

You answered the OP's question one way. I answered it another way. Is this really worth you getting all worked up?
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14 years as an NCM... Couldn't let that one slip ole boy ;) not taking a thing personal. Just takin the piss outta ya.
 
leghog said:
You've let yourself get worked up in this thread. Just reread it.
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i have absolutely not in any way shape or form get myself "worked up" in this or any other thread... I am however trying to get you to join the conversation and contribute with some sort of reasoning instead of just trolling it and trying to force us into listening to your point of view... without any facts, figures or experiences to back it up.
 
leghog said:
Most people will never find themselves anywhere near a real survival situation. Then the very very few who do and who actually own a "Rambo"-type knife will wish their "Rambo"-type knife weren't at home in the safe.
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Ps... I completely missed this quote of yours, so I'd like to take the time to reply here now. I completely agree with the fact that most will in fact never find themselves near a real survival situation... And if in fact they did have a "Rambo" type knife at home, they would indeed wish they had it with them. The same could be said for any knife or piece of equipment you didn't bring... Such as proper water filtration or at least puritabs, supplies for starting a fire, some decent twine, possibly some rudimentary fishing gear or snare wire. Who knows? And wait... If they had their "Rambo" style knife with them it could possibly have most of those necessities neatly tucked into its waterproof hollow handle. If your argument is that these knives Are too expensive to bring, I believe that to be an invalid argument... That's not the point of this thread at all.
 
rustyrazor said:
Such as proper water filtration or at least puritabs, supplies for starting a fire, some decent twine, possibly some rudimentary fishing gear or snare wire. Who knows? And wait... If they had their "Rambo" style knife with them it could possibly have most of those necessities neatly tucked into its waterproof hollow handle.
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I completely agree, rusty. If all other gear was lost, a few select items could be very helpful and make a difference. If I was down to just a knife, I would much rather have a properly built HH knife, packed with a few important items, than any other type of knife. Which IMO, makes them practical for what they were designed for.
 
rustyrazor said:
Ps... I completely missed this quote of yours, so I'd like to take the time to reply here now. I completely agree with the fact that most will in fact never find themselves near a real survival situation... And if in fact they did have a "Rambo" type knife at home, they would indeed wish they had it with them. The same could be said for any knife or piece of equipment you didn't bring... Such as proper water filtration or at least puritabs, supplies for starting a fire, some decent twine, possibly some rudimentary fishing gear or snare wire. Who knows? And wait... If they had their "Rambo" style knife with them it could possibly have most of those necessities neatly tucked into its waterproof hollow handle. If your argument is that these knives Are too expensive to bring, I believe that to be an invalid argument... That's not the point of this thread at all.
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TAH said:
I completely agree, rusty. If all other gear was lost, a few select items could be very helpful and make a difference. If I was down to just a knife, I would much rather have a properly built HH knife, packed with a few important items, than any other type of knife. Which IMO, makes them practical for what they were designed for.
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Both of those are great points, and epitomize my idea of what a HH knife should do. It's your last ditch backup for when things just go totally wrong. Yes, most people will never experience those situations, but that doesn't really help you if you ARE one of the unlucky ones that get caught in that scenario. And who in their right mind wouldn't want a knife that contained some of the most important and precious tools to help you survive?
 
The fishing rig I carry on my knife is my main kit and all I need for a day of fun.

I keep the tube from my old hollow handled knife sealed up with extra fishing stuff in case a line breaks or something. And matches
 
To argue against the items carried by hollow handled knives would be the same to argue against "ranger bands" and I don't think you'll find that one snowballing much around here.
 
stvpourciau said:
The fishing rig I carry on my knife is my main kit and all I need for a day of fun.

I keep the tube from my old hollow handled knife sealed up with extra fishing stuff in case a line breaks or something. And matches
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stvpourciau said:
To argue against the items carried by hollow handled knives would be the same to argue against "ranger bands" and I don't think you'll find that one snowballing much around here.
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Lol, I like your humor. That's a neat idea about keeping the tube for miscellaneous items. I sometimes stock a HH knife with a particular kit, and go out just to use it and see how the components work together. Just making and using the kits is a lot of fun.
 
How is the blade attached to the handle on a good hollow handled knife? I don't care for sawteeth but the weak handle attachments on the cheap 80s versions really turned me off. Even if it was demonstrably secure I could see folks not liking the idea & having a psychological hangup about it (like the CS Laredo cable-tang deal that pops up across threads here).

When I saw the way Chris Reeve did it I said to myself "that's what they should've done in the first place". What other methods are out there for making this work right?
 
flatface77 said:
How is the blade attached to the handle on a good hollow handled knife? I don't care for sawteeth but the weak handle attachments on the cheap 80s versions really turned me off. Even if it was demonstrably secure I could see folks not liking the idea & having a psychological hangup about it (like the CS Laredo cable-tang deal that pops up across threads here).

When I saw the way Chris Reeve did it I said to myself "that's what they should've done in the first place". What other methods are out there for making this work right?
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I can't speak for anyone else, but for myself, I radius the tang, and then I press fit the tang into a machined groove in the tubular handle. The fit is tight enough to have to hammer the handle on. Then I run a 1/4" steel pin through the handle, tang, and out the other side, and peen the pin on both sides. I then fill it with a semi-flexible epoxy up to the end of the tang. I also epoxy the guard to the tubular handle. There's a video earlier in the thread of me doing chin-ups on the handle of my knives. And I will be the first to say that other makers do quality jobs of attaching the two using a variety of methods.

If it comes apart, you're probably doing something with a knife you shouldn't be, in my opinion.

Sam :thumbup:
 
Sam Wilson said:
If it comes apart, you're probably doing something with a knife you shouldn't be, in my opinion.

Sam :thumbup:
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Not for a "survival" knife. The term survival applied to a blade, more than anything, seems to imply that it will be used as an axe.

Don't ask me why

By the way, I am a full on proponent of the "sharpened prybar"/batoning method of use. But survival and hard woods use for many years are two very different things.
 
stvpourciau said:
Not for a "survival" knife. The term survival applied to a blade, more than anything, seems to imply that it will be used as an axe.

Don't ask me why

By the way, I am a full on proponent of the "sharpened prybar"/batoning method of use. But survival and hard woods use for many years are two very different things.
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I'm probably missing your point, stv, but what I meant was you would have to do something beyond horrible abuse, such as using the knife handle to hoist out a car engine, or something. Simply put, I truly believe that the blade would break before the knife came apart. To get the blade out of that handle, you would have to destroy a 1/4" thick by 1" long steel pin. Without power tools, I just can't imagine that scenario happening in the wilderness. And that doesn't even address the friction fit of the tang in the tubular handle and the epoxy. But hey, as leghog keeps pointing out, I'm obviously biased. :D

Sam :thumbup:
 
Sam Wilson said:
I'm probably missing your point, stv, but what I meant was you would have to do something beyond horrible abuse, such as using the knife handle to hoist out a car engine, or something. Simply put, I truly believe that the blade would break before the knife came apart. To get the blade out of that handle, you would have to destroy a 1/4" thick by 1" long steel pin. Without power tools, I just can't imagine that scenario happening in the wilderness. And that doesn't even address the friction fit of the tang in the tubular handle and the epoxy. But hey, as leghog keeps pointing out, I'm obviously biased. :D

Sam :thumbup:
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Folding knife lock designs have gotten strong enough that with some of them your grip strength will likely fail before the lock gives, so it would probably take a man with vises for hands to break one of those tangs. Got any build pics?
 
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