Best EDC Blade Shape

Like BitingSarcasm, I get a lot of use out of a hawkbill too. If you want to try one out fairly cheaply, go to you local Home Depot and find a red Milwaukee one, here they’re about 15 bucks. It’s a liner lock with a locked closed button, that takes a little getting used to (although for home use I just leave mine open).

Keep it sharp with a ceramic rod, before it gets fully rounded-off dull.

Parker
 
ShelterGirl said:
I like the tip of my knife at or below the pivot for disassembling boxes.
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I assume you mean how the tip lines up with the centerline of the handle. This is further complicated by blade angle which varies by manufacturer and model. Take any knife you want, you might even want to cover up the blade, then think of an imaginary line through the center of the blade. Now uncover the blade and look at how this line compares with the blade edge and location of the point. I've noticed if I'm cutting something tough like heavy rope and I have the knife in a fist grip as I'm putting pressure on the knife it will deflect in my hand and some knives would then try to slip off of the rope. Some knife models anticipate this by angling the blade down a little bit. If the blade angles down then the point goes down with it and lines up lower with respect to the pivot.
 
So there's the general question and really, lots of blade shapes can do all sorts of things. In recent years, my EDC rotation has gotten a little nuts so it's almost like I carry a different knife every day. (Lots of long-term members in that rotation and time speeds up as we age, so once every week or two does add up.) For general purposes, it's pretty rare that I'm like "darn, if only I was rocking a different blade shape".

Still, some tasks really do benefit from certain shapes. I like Wharncliffe and sheepsfoot blades for certain kinds of utility cutting, especially stuff like tracing a cutout on a blister pack. Some of the other tasks listed by the OP really are better with a thinner and pointier tip so Wharncliffe wins out. In some of them, like slipping a tip up under a stitch, a clip or trailing point can also be a bonus.
 
Hey man, welcome to the forum.

Me personally, the simpler and more ‘boring’ the knife, the better. I’m a fan of Spyderco’s conventional leaf shape blade. That easily covers 99% of your EDC knife needs. The clip point blade shape is also okay. Maybe makes it slightly easier to pierce plastic and cardboard? Lol. The wharncliffe blade shape is also nice for opening stuff in general.

I’m a huge fan of the tanto shape too, but I’ll readily admit that the leaf shape is probably easier to sharpen and more practical.

Don’t get serrated blades unless you plan on cutting a lotta rope.

Blade grinds are also good to talk about, but I’ll limit my answer to your topic.
 
I think any shape would work well for you and your needs. In my usage I have found that I really like a wharncliffe or modified wharncliffe with a bit of belly, drop point, spear point, and leaf shape blades. I look at the wharncliffe as one extreme and the drop point as the opposite extreme, with the spear point and leaf shape somewhere in the middle.
 
I've used this for all of that. As others have said, I have other blade styles, too, but this one is often in my pocket, so I suppose I like clip points, particularly since I have five of them in my wee collection (clip point blades, that is, not five of these).

 
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"Modified" sheepsfoot is probably my favorite. I know the sheepsfoot purists hate that term and what it denotes (slight curve), but it's just a great blade shape. For the stuff I cut, it works great and makes precise cutting easier. Same thing with the Wharncliffe - it's easy to put the point where you want it and make precise cuts.

I have a lot of examples of pure versions of Sheepsfoot and Wharnie with straight angled blades, and the modified shapes. I love them both. I also love drop points - so I guess I didn't really answer the question at all.

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I don’t know what’s best but I like the clip point more than any other for general purpose use, in function and form.
 
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For my uses I like a Wharncliffe or sheepsfoot for edc lately.
Most of my cutting is opening/breaking down boxes, cutting zip ties and plastic, so I like a straight edge for the leverage you get all the way to the tip.
Aesthetically I like Tantos and bowies.
 
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