Beak or no Beak

[jeffa]

Many knives have a beak on the handle ie: "Battle Mistress", I have heard that this may not be such a good idea. Does the beak hinder a larger "chopping knife" by rubbing your hand or getting in the way somehow.

 

[Corduroy]

Do you mean a pinky-hook at the butt-end of the handle? Or the part of the guard that's formed by the slab tang? Or something else?

For what it's worth, forming the gaurd from the tang can be a bad idea because such a guard is narrow and often sharp-edged, very uncomfortable. You can get around this by continuing the handle slabs onto the guard area, which the Busse partly does. I'd rather see them go all the way, but it's better than some.

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-Drew Gleason
Little Bear Knives

 

[jeffa]

I mean the part of the guard that is formed by the slab tang. I like the look, however if it is not functional and rubs the hand after alot or even a little usage then I don't think it is a good idea and I will disregard it as an option.

 

[Cliff Stamp]

Jeff, it depends on the rest of the handle. I have not used the BM but the MPK has a similar design and the butt-hook or beak on the end of the grip will smack into my hand if I use it in a loose grip. However the handle is rough enough so that I can use a tight enough grip so that my hand does not slip around and thus no abrasion happens. With the new grooves in the handle on the BM I would assume it would behave in a similar manner. Most reports I have seen on BF say it is comfortable.

As an example of what not to do, the Spec Plus line from Ontario has a similar design but the handle I find is unusable. If I grip it tight enough so that butt hook is not a problem the rings tear into my hand. If I grip it loosely so that the rings don't wear on my skin the butt-hook keeps ramming into my palm.

-Cliff

 

[Snickersnee]

I don't really like knives with gaurds formed from the same thin stock the blade is. Yeah, I've been rubbed raw a few times. Even if you round off the edges, you're still concentrating the force on a smaller area.