Blade Length

10"-11" is the magic number for performance/portability in my opinion. If you need one knife to do everything, a large 10"-11" chopper can do it all. Anything bigger becomes a crew served weapon. Anything smaller than 9" or so is almost useless as a hard work tool-chopping wood, cutting brush, slicing large ropes..

You are likelybetter served with a machete, tactical folder, and a Ka-Bar sized fixed blade, but if we are talking one knife, the large bowie wins.

I have a 14.5" Sumo bowie made by John Fitch. It is an amazing piece of gear but its too big.

Oh silly me, getting wrapped up in reality again.

For collecting, bigger blades sell better too.
 
Bladeandbarrel said:
10"-11" is the magic number for performance/portability in my opinion. If you need one knife to do everything, a large 10"-11" chopper can do it all. Anything bigger becomes a crew served weapon. Anything smaller than 9" or so is almost useless as a hard work tool-chopping wood, cutting brush, slicing large ropes..

You are likelybetter served with a machete, tactical folder, and a Ka-Bar sized fixed blade, but if we are talking one knife, the large bowie wins.
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this is about as well said as can be if you actually use your knives.:thumbup:
 
Keith Montgomery said:
I would be willing to be that there is more of a secondary market for a knife with a 9 1/2 inch blade, than there is for one with a blade that is 14 inches.
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Generall speaking, that's a safe bet. But if we're talking about your Andrews piece.... well, I bet differently. ;)

Roger
 
Keith Montgomery said:
I personally think that it is probably easier to make a knife that looks symmetrical and balanced when the blade is not too long. I think that 9 1/2 inches will be just fine. I've seen a few bowies with blades in the 6 1/2 to 7 inch range that have impressed me very much. I would be willing to be that there is more of a secondary market for a knife with a 9 1/2 inch blade, than there is for one with a blade that is 14 inches.
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Yep, I agree too. A 9"-91/2" Bowie blade is better for resale prospect than 7ish or 12ish.
 
Keith, any knife you can get from Larry Fuegen will be well worth your time and money.
 
Some makers feel more comfortable doing very large knife blades....Cashen makes a fair amount of swords, so it would stand to reason that doing a 12" bladed bowie is NBD.

Larry Fuegen doesn't do larger blades than 10" because of his forge and heat treating setup....it isn't that he doesn't WANT to make bigger blades or has a problem with it....there has just never been a reason to change his setup.

The bigger the blade, the greater the difficulty of forging and heat treating...also is a much bigger requirement of billet size and time....if you blow a larger blade like this, the time invested and lost could be as much as, if not MORE than TWO smaller blades.

There is also the design component....some makers do a great job with the smaller blades, nailing all the details, but like Don Hanson, watching the evolution of his blades, from the begining, the details on the larger blades have become MUCH more refined, with each build. If you don't build a lot, this evolution will take much longer.

Best Regards,

STeven Garsson
 
JParanee said:
I gotta give it to ya. your right. On friday maybe I can show ya how I carry a big blade and convert ya.
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Looking forward to meeting you on Friday. Will be heading there from work but will try to bring a couple of blades too. One of my favorite users is about a 10"ish Schempp but it's rather light so it's more comfortable to carry. I have another that's only a few inches longer but the weight makes it more of a definite "camp" knife but it chops almost effortlessly.
 
I have a 10" Massey. and a 12 1/2" Chavez,from Brazil, prefer the 12 1/2 blade myself. Balances real well and little extra weight is great for Back cuts!
 
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