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Blade Length In A Folder...........
- Thread starter clockman
- Start date
- Joined
- Jul 30, 2008
- Messages
- 1,414
For daily carry, where self defense is considered to be a low likelihood, a 2-3/4" to 3-1/2" knife is definitely enough for cutting daily stuff in my life (cardboard boxes, twine, shipping envelopes, paper, fingernails, opening fertilizer bags, impaling the slow cockroach, etc). Anything longer than 3-1/4" starts to get progressively more unwieldy for 90% of ordinary work.
(I try to live my life such that the odds of needing a knife for personal defense are pretty low, plus I try to bring a gun to a gun fight, so to speak ... CHL/CCL, etc.)
Same for hunting knives... where a 3-1/2" knife is dandy for most chores, short of Elk, or the accidental (?) bovine. 3-1/2" is the maximum length where I can use a knife as an extension of my index finger.
When I consider personal defense a potentially more likely thing, I carry a 4" folder... usually a CQC8. Bigger is better here, and I don't care that Emerson grinds the CQC8 on the wrong side for utility use when I estimate personal defense is a higher probability. A 4" blade necessarily requires more than 4" for the handle, and that is as much as I can semi-comfortably carry (I'm 5'-10") in my front pocket.
IMO, and given my body and hand size, 4" is a good practical maximum. Anything larger is a stunt and/or a chore.
(I try to live my life such that the odds of needing a knife for personal defense are pretty low, plus I try to bring a gun to a gun fight, so to speak ... CHL/CCL, etc.)
Same for hunting knives... where a 3-1/2" knife is dandy for most chores, short of Elk, or the accidental (?) bovine. 3-1/2" is the maximum length where I can use a knife as an extension of my index finger.
When I consider personal defense a potentially more likely thing, I carry a 4" folder... usually a CQC8. Bigger is better here, and I don't care that Emerson grinds the CQC8 on the wrong side for utility use when I estimate personal defense is a higher probability. A 4" blade necessarily requires more than 4" for the handle, and that is as much as I can semi-comfortably carry (I'm 5'-10") in my front pocket.
IMO, and given my body and hand size, 4" is a good practical maximum. Anything larger is a stunt and/or a chore.
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