Blade height preference in medium fixed blade?

peripatew

peripatew

Joined
Jul 31, 2007
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Still meticulating over custom knife details! What is your prefered blade height/width? I'm enjoying a wider blade on a Koyote knife that I have on passaround. The increased options for holding the wide blade are great. Nessies are plenty wide, as are larger knives like Rats and Beckers, but what about smaller blades?

Of your most used knives in the 4-5ish" blade range, what's the height of the blade?
 
1.5 inchs is great, sometimes I wonder how a 2" high blade would be, and I like anything under 5/32.
 
I prefer a wide blade, 1.5" or so. As you said, being able to grab the spine of the knife sort of like a chefs knife is a nice option. Also wider blades usually have more sweep, so it's like you are getting more edge out of a shorter blade. They can also have a thicker spine but the wide blade leaves plenty of room for a flat grind down to a razor edge.
 
I guess it depends on what tasks you are faced with more often. For me its a 1" to 1.25" blade height. Like stingray, 4" X 1" is ideal.
 
Unless I'll specifically be skinning I'll take a narrow blade. I find an edge closer to the centreline of the handle gives a lot of control for carving and whittling. I'm thinking about trimming an inch or 2 of my Old hick boning knife for this reason. And with a narrow blade its easier to get tight curves on a piece of wood you're whittling.
 
peripatew said:
Of your most used knives in the 4-5ish" blade range, what's the height of the blade?
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My most used knives in that size range are about an inch wide from edge to spine.

Anything smaller seems too small for my taste.

I do like blades in the 1-1/4” to 1-1/2” range, and have several that are longer then 5”; they see a lot of use.



I recently acquired a stout folder with a 4” blade that’s 1-3/8” high; I really like using the wide piece of cutlery, but it really depends on the task at hand.

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"If you're not living on the edge, …you're taking up too much space."

Big Mike
 
To tell the truth, I don't care much for the current seeming fashion for "wide" blades. I just don't see that it adds any utility to the blade, and I find it aesthetically unappealing. I think on a 4 inch blade, a width of 1 inch or just a bit more, is just fine.

Looking at the three knifes Big Mike posted above, I like the proportions of the two fixed blades, but find the folder too wide in the blade for my taste.
 
I like 'em semi-wide to wide. The RC-4 and the Bravo-1 have it about right. I don't have my Bravo-1 with me, but the RC-4 measures out at 1.25".
 
For a small knife, in the 4" range, I prefer a narrower blade, up to an inch is good.

I like wider blades on long blades.
 
mdauben said:
Looking at the three knifes Big Mike posted above, I like the proportions of the two fixed blades, but find the folder too wide in the blade for my taste.
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That folder is extreme, …but it is a great slicer.

The lack of an acute point leaves me wanting at times, but the large belly makes me happy at others.

Everything in knife design is a trade off.

That top knife, the Jim Stewart Custom, is my most used; a good balance of point and belly, and a great convex geometry.




"If you're not living on the edge, …you're taking up too much space."

Big Mike
 
1.25" width seems to be ideal for my preference in that blade length range. I find it mostly a handle comfort issue, personally. Any narrower and the handle doesn't seem to fill my hand the way I like. Wider is OK, but in a smaller blade 1.25" is a good combination of comfort and weight.
 
For the 4 inch range, 1 - 1.25 inches, no more. I don't care for wide blades in this size range except for specialty tasks.
 
I prefer a thin blade such as this Schrade . This is the most used knife Ive ever owned. Its gone now,but will be replaced some day.

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I prefer 1.25". On a 4" knife, 1.5" can be a bit extreme. Here is my big-paw at 1.37" and I like it. Wide blades offer the advantage of greater rigidity (stiffness) for a thinner thickness. They are also much better slicers when it comes to food prep (provided you have a full flat or full convex design).

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Since you have the answer in your hands, it's redundant, but:

I prefer a 1.25 to 1.5 inch broad blade in the 4-5.5 inch range for general outdoors use. 1.75 to 2 inches with a nice dropped edge and a 5.5-6 inch blade works really well if you use a blade like that- for example if you do more big game packout and heavy food prep.
In either case i like the 3/32 to 5/32 range on thickness, with 3/32 to 1/8 and a flat blade being ideal, I think, for a 'scandi taper' convex grind.
 
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