Bastard blade talk: Let’s talk about the middle child of knives

Since I sold my Hudson bay there is nothing in size between my Aurora 2 and Mini Dukus.
Considering these: a big Leuku, a Bravo 2 (LT would be nicer), or the Terava Skrama 200.
I think I will get a nice birch/bone Leuku to match my Puukko. If it must be big at least it should be as light as possible IMHO.
 
kobold said:
Since I sold my Hudson bay there is nothing in size between my Aurora 2 and Mini Dukus.
Considering these: a big Leuku, a Bravo 2 (LT would be nicer), or the Terava Skrama 200.
I think I will get a nice birch/bone Leuku to match my Puukko. If it must be big at least it should be as light as possible IMHO.
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Just bought a Bravo 1.5 in 3V. Actually, it's my second one. I love the sturdiness of the .217-in. thick, 5.8-in. long blade. Slices paper out of the box, too.

Looking forward to getting a Bravo 1.25 LT to see if I like the 5-in. blade better.
 
DangerZone98 said:
One thing I picked up from this forum that I didn’t really think about before was having two “sweet spots” for carry knives: big honkers with at least 9” blades and more maneuverable cutters with 5” of blade or less. Big ones are for chopping or otherwise filling the hatchet role (a separate discussion for another day) and the small ones are for carving, feathersticking, or dressing game. This particular school of thought made me rather curious if bastard blades, knives with blade lengths in the 7” neighborhood, serve a practical purpose in the real world.

I mostly agree with the consensus that a seven-incher won’t excel at either small-knife or big-knife work. But while it won’t be as precise as a dedicated bushcrafter or as massive as a chopper, I find that a quality bastard blade reasonably fulfills most utility work that I ask of it. It can open boxes just fine without feeling unwieldy at all, and I find it doesn’t weigh me down as much as a bigger blade. At the moment though, I don’t really do carving with my knives, so I can’t comment on that front.

Does the jack-of-all-trades characteristic justify ownership? I’ll leave that to the user. Personally, I think bastard blades are neat to have and they fill the utility role just fine. If I could only have one blade on hand for the day for any reason, I wouldn’t feel underknifed with a seven-incher.

What about you fine ladies and gentlemen here? Yay or nay for bastard blades? Do they have a place in the knife world?

P.s. The term “bastard blade” also sounds pretty badass.
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As shane45-1911 shane45-1911 implies, this is more of a profile/grind/thickness issue than just length (forgive the unintentional innuendo). A very long blade need not be a big chopper and a short blade might be too thick to do much fine work. Ewan MacGregor said it in Black Hawk Down, "It's all in the grind, Sarn!"
 
The Zieg said:
As shane45-1911 shane45-1911 implies, this is more of a profile/grind/thickness issue than just length (forgive the unintentional innuendo). A very long blade need not be a big chopper and a short blade might be too thick to do much fine work. Ewan MacGregor said it in Black Hawk Down, "It's all in the grind, Sarn!"
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Can’t be too fine, can’t be too coarse. Applies to sharpeners too, hehe.
 
The Zieg said:
As shane45-1911 shane45-1911 implies, this is more of a profile/grind/thickness issue than just length (forgive the unintentional innuendo). A very long blade need not be a big chopper and a short blade might be too thick to do much fine work. Ewan MacGregor said it in Black Hawk Down, "It's all in the grind, Sarn!"
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True. Dutch Bushcraft Knives on YouTube reviewed an Extrema Ratio knife a while back. Fairly short blade, like BK2-ish, but it chopped like a monster.
 
I've always preferred the under 6 inch.

I don't chop (or baton with a knife, unless you consider a froe a "knife") There are better tools than a knife for chopping and splitting. :)
At any rate, in 60 plus years of venturing into the sticks and boonies, I've never wished for a larger knife than my Western 66.

I tried a Buck 119. Found it "too big" and unwieldy for what I needed to do, so I gave it away after returning to "civilization".
Don't get me wrong, the Buck 119 is a fine knife. It just doesn't meet my needs.

My current "woods knives"/"Bushcraft" knives" are a Buck 110 or Old timer 6OT/7OT, a Western L66, a Mora Number 1 or a Cold Steel Finn Bear. Like as not the Buck or one of the Old Timer lock backs, or a two blade slipjoint folding hunter is what I'll have with me, along with a Stockman or Moose and 4 blade Scout/Camp/ Demo knife in my pocket.
They'll clean game or fish and whittle a feather stick, just fine, and can be used to make an emergency shelter if necessary.

AS for firewood, I usually find more than enough small/medium deadfall, and leaves/twigs, etc. for kindling, at the camp site or with-in a few paces of it. :)
 
Top is my sweet spot; 8" or a bit larger. I do carry a 9" once in a while.
I do have some shorter blades, though not that much shorter. Those are kinda speciality blades; talons and shorter wharnies but I rarely carry them. Usually I take them out when I think I won't need a knife.
My thought is that if you're gonna carry, carry all the way!
Then again, my 13" Bowie has never left the house.

IMG_0441.jpg
 
I like thicker 9-10 inch ones to knock about in the woods, if there's enough handle. Of course you can't beat a long, thin Latin American machete if you are just weed whacking all day long.

3-5" blades are nice for close work and utility, though longer and thinner knives are great for food prep and slicing. The 7" bladed Hmong knife in the last pic isn't too thin or thick and is rather handy. Nice little pig sticker. Hundreds of years living in the boondocks and making knives for everyday use taught them a bit. Don't mess with success.

A couple of these were free, as a gift. Others cost around $2 - $5. That was the going rate for hand-forged knives 40+ years ago in Thailand.

thai kbives small 1.JPG Thai knives small 2.JPG Hmong knife 7 inch.JPG
 
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My favorite blades are all in the 5-8 inch range. I actually do a fair bit of carving and bush craft-y type stuff, and this blade size seems to work the best for me all around. I have a Mora HD companion that is awesome for carving, but I think the bigger blades just offer more versatility.

Yes - I baton wood when making kindling for fires. Yes- I know I should be using an axe, blah blah. My fallkniven A1 is probably the best all purpose knife I own, and I have used it quite a bit. If I was uber worried about weight and wanted the best bang for buck - size to weight ratio blade, I'd go with my SRK all day. The SRK ( I have the Vg-1 version) is light, not too thick, quick in the hand, a decent carver, and sturdy enough to do just about anything. Another suggestion is the Ontario SP-1, which IMO is an incredible value. On the shorter end I have an Esee 5 and a BK2 ( no idea why I bought them both) which at 5 inches are still pretty darn versatile.

The bottom line for me is that these "bastard" blades are the ones I enjoy the most. I have some smaller fixed blades that I really like and use around the house, but if I am heading to the woods and will be making a fire from what's on hand, I will likely have one of the "bastard" blades. I am sure I could get a fire going with a smaller knife, I just enjoy the larger blades.
 
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