Blade Shapes on folding work knives

NPT

NPT

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It seems to me that in the search for a folding work type knife, that the overwhelming majority have some kind of drop point blade shape. Some are more subtle, but some have this comically huge rounded belly to them. Seeing as how most of what I do with mine (BM AFO II) is open boxes and cut cardboard, this is a somewhat useless shape. I wonder why more aren't either a sheep foot, wharnecliff, or hawkbill shape? Honestly, the hawkbill would be the best for what I do, but I bet it's a pain in the balls to sharpen, and I don't really like the aesthetics of it.
 
I would suspect it is because a drop point profile is a jack-of-all-trades blade. It can do most things rather well. Once you get into "specialty" profiles, you are limiting your options simply because the majority of knife users do NOT require a specific blade shape. Those that do require something special, will have limited options.

This is true of just about anything, not just knives. Manufacturers focus on designs that sell the best and serve the broadest market.
 
Most blade profiles were developed before cardboard boxes and packing tape came to dominate our lives. That's why box cutters with disposable blades were invented. Hawkbills are not super hard to sharpen just use a tool suited, like a round diamond or ceramic file, slipstone etc.
 
There are tons of sheepsfoot and wharnciff blades out there so I'm not sure what more you want. Drop points will always exist because they are better at certain tasks, and they are arguably the most versatile blade shape.
 
I feel like sheepsfoot blades were more common on old knives. The Stanley blades took over, and the sheepsfoot knives fell out of favor.

My favorite knife is a LoomFixer. Rough Rider is the only company making one now. They call it a half hawk.C9966DCD-4DDA-46B3-939A-84DA738422AA.jpeg
But honestly its hard to beat a good quality knife that uses Stanley blades. Milwaukee makes several some open one hanged. I prefer the old school Stanley 199 fixed blade utility knife.
 
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NPT said:
It seems to me that in the search for a folding work type knife, that the overwhelming majority have some kind of drop point blade shape. Some are more subtle, but some have this comically huge rounded belly to them. Seeing as how most of what I do with mine (BM AFO II) is open boxes and cut cardboard, this is a somewhat useless shape. I wonder why more aren't either a sheep foot, wharnecliff, or hawkbill shape? Honestly, the hawkbill would be the best for what I do, but I bet it's a pain in the balls to sharpen, and I don't really like the aesthetics of it.
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I have those same thoughts. I use my knives mostly for opening boxes and I've passed on many knives that I otherwise liked because the blade had too much belly near the tip. Fortunately, there are still lots of options to choose from.

A Drop Point blade like this is satisfactory for my needs. The belly isn't huge but it's there when needed and this still works well for opening boxes.
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But something like this has too much belly for me considering that I mostly open boxes. I can make a blade like this work. It's just not my preference.
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I like the aesthetic of a good drop point, but wharncliffes and tantos find themselves better suited to my needs.
 
I'm also a big fan of Wharncliffe and Tanto blades for working on cardboard. It's either the Kizer Mini Sheepdog or the Cold Steel Recon 1 for me.
 
Until I went back to the Buck 501, the traditionals that I carry were predominantly Wharncliffes (with an occasional sheepsfoot). I'm also a big fan of the modified sheepsfoot blade on modern folders. I find those shapes to be the most useful; but I make do with a drop point.
 
CHNeal said:
I have found that I really like the Tanto as a work knife. Wire-ties fear it, boxes tremble at its name and the Zaan has enough belly to still slice very well and that small secondary straightedge is a scraper like no other.
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I've been using my tanto Umnumzaan hard for over a decade and it's never failed me. It's my favorite knife.
 
NPT said:
but some have this comically huge rounded belly to them.
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These are making me laugh daily:
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So what kind of tasks do drop points excel at in y'all's opinions?

At this point, I prefer to carry an auto, and not a utility knife, because the AFO and like others will disappear into a pocket on a clip. But, this style of knife seems to overwhelmingly come with a drop point blade.

Yes, Tanto. I also really like this shape from an aesthetic view. I'm not sure how they'd cut cardboard well, though. They're basically just a squared off drop point.
 
My guess is because knife experts are not generally considered the guys who open boxes all day. They are like bushcrafters and ninjas and stuff.

So the top tier guys use a specific sort of knife.

So that means that knife must be better. Right?

But yeah. I mostly use sheepsfeet and wharncliffes these days.
 
NPT said:
So what kind of tasks do drop points excel at in y'all's opinions?

At this point, I prefer to carry an auto, and not a utility knife, because the AFO and like others will disappear into a pocket on a clip. But, this style of knife seems to overwhelmingly come with a drop point blade.

Yes, Tanto. I also really like this shape from an aesthetic view. I'm not sure how they'd cut cardboard well, though. They're basically just a squared off drop point.
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Skinning maybe?
 
I don't carry it often, but the ZT0456 may be the best all around work knife in my collection when it comes to boxes, rope, and general tasks.

Mine is the full titanium version, so it's a tad thick and heavy for what I need, but it's a pretty bombproof box opener.
 
I carried a Spyderco dlc coated serrated police for 30 years in construction and cut wire, plastic pvc pipe, zip ties, pretty much whatever I happened to run into and needed to cut/saw in a hurry to continue working. It also was a daily CC type knife as well. The tip has a nick in it, and I had to tighten the blade up a couple of times, but I still carry it quite often because it's just so dang slim and comfy to carry. I need to send it back to Spyderco to get sharpened and tightened up but afraid it might get lost in the mail or something. At this point it's like one of my kids. 😁
 
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