Blade thickness opinions

[Omega Leather Works]

Ya know... It just occurred to me that my wharncliffe is somewhat close in shape to the Raptor. That wasn't my intention at all. I hope no one thinks I was lifting Andy's design.

 

[Mistwalker]

Your bushraptor is a dream fiddleback for me. Love the scales, grind and taper. If you ever tire of it......lol

Thanks, it was a dream Fiddleback for me for over a year Then when it became a reality there were two in the first batch that were very hard to choose from...but I had been wanting something in the drunken burlap for some time, so I chose this one and have been extremely happy with it. The handle composition is gorgeous, the full height grind is amazing, and the taper is just fantastic. It has become an edc for me in the local urban environments. It is very light-weight, and is my pocket knife that doesn't fold when I have another larger knife on my belt, a Sneaky Pete most of the time lately. It has gotten a heck of a workout over the holiday season with making and opening packages, making snacks, and even in harvesting some of the local organic materials. I do not see me getting tired of it any time soon, but it is not a custom order or anything, I'm sure Andy will revisit this handle combo again, and full-height grinds are not unusual for him.

I know what you mean with the full tang throwing you off. It's a completely different feel as well as balance. I used to be a 5/32" full tang guy, but I think I'm more of 1/8" tapered tang guy now. That'll probably change next week though; they're all so nice, it's hard to choose.

It is the balance that messes with me I think, after spending so much time using the tapered 5/32 Recluse and Woodsman. and the SFT Hiking Buddy and Sneaky Pete. It was the reason I got rid of a few other full tang knives made by various makers and companies in which the handles heavily outweighed the blades. I do still have a couple of full tang tactical knives I love that are designed and hand ground by Bill Harsey, but their blades are longer and both have perfect neutral balances and balance on the first finger. I am definitely wanting a less-handle-heavy Kephart, as I absolutely adore the design, the handle ergonomics, and the blade profile, hands down my favorite bushcrafting knife design to date. It sucks that I now fine the pull of the handle weight annoying when I use it.

Mist, I gotta say it again - that Raptor is absolutely amazing …

~ Edge

Thanks, I think so too. It's simple and elegant all at the same time. Very light and fast in hand, and very unobtrusive on the belt or in the pocket.

Ya know... It just occurred to me that my wharncliffe is somewhat close in shape to the Raptor. That wasn't my intention at all. I hope no one thinks I was lifting Andy's design.

I see a pretty much straight forward Wharncliffe blade profile with a sow belly handle and a canted pommel. All of which owe their origins to another time in knife making history. It looks like a fine and very utilitarian design, but I do not see it as you having lifted Andy's design, so I wouldn't sweat it. The Raptor is pretty much Andy's Hiking Buddy handle, with his sexy interpretation of a hybrid Wharncliffe-ish blade with a shallow continuous curve edge.

 

[Omega Leather Works]

I should have said that I hope it didn't appear that I was trying to emulate his work. Sowbelly handle? I didn't even know that it had a name, but it makes sense. In any case, whatever I end up with it won't be anything as nice as that blade you have there Mist. I'm a little more fond of a straight cutting edge on a wharncliffe, but I could be persuaded to try that knife.

 

[Joe Duder]

Hey Mist, I have some Christmas funds left, if you want to unload the natural G10 Kephart shoot me a pm.

 

[Mistwalker]

Hey Mist, I have some Christmas funds left, if you want to unload the natural G10 Kephart shoot me a pm.

Thanks Joe, but it was a gift from a friend. I couldn't do that, it's still very sentimental to me.

 

[write2dgray]

I prefer 1/8" on smaller knives as they feel more nimble and slice better. There is something to be said for a thick blade with heft, but in a blade this size I also feel it's mostly psychological and I've seen no problems with 1/8" in 3" to 5" blades. I really like some of my thick Busse's, but when I need a knife that cuts I reach for thinner stock.

 

[Mistwalker]

It's interesting reading all the replies. There are a lot of great opinions but the philosophies all appear to be similar. It seems to be more mental than physical when pushing an 1/8" blade to the performance limits. I look forward to using this Arete in 1/8" and matching the performance to my 5/32 blades.

Your thread has inspired another long term study. I have put a lot of Andy's 5/32 convex through a lot of paces, one knife in particular for more than two years. I have also put a couple of 1/8 scandies through quite a bit of hard work in the woods. I am currently having fun putting a 3/16 Fiddleback through some pretty rough environmental testing, but just recently developed a game plan to put a 1/8 convex saber grind through some long term testing. I think this will be fun.

 

[wildmanh]

I prefer thinner knives and higher grinds. 3/6" thick and a full height grind or near it is as thick as I'll go for a "knife" these days. Most of the knives that I use frequently are 1/8" to 5/32" thick with high grinds. Used to have a few Scandi ground knives, the only one left is a Mora 711 that I use for wood carving.

Years ago, I used to frequently carry knives that were 5/32" to 1/4" thick. Then I started playing with machetes and old hunting knives. Thinner blades and higher grinds grew on me to the point where I started getting rid of my thicker more obtuse knives. I kept a few thicker knives, most have been reprofiled already.

In the woods I carry an assortment of tools. A 4-6" knife for general cutting, slicing, carving and the like, a hatchet/Machete/Khukri for Chopping and heavy duty work and a small knife for detail work. When car camping, the 4-6" blade does double duty as a Kitchen knife. I tend to do a lot of Dutch oven dinners on my trips. The Small or mid sized knife helps build camp crafts and shelters on trips, especially backpacking trips where I'm using a tarp shelter. If I need to split wood, I'll use my bigger blade for that. If I'm backpacking with my brother, he has a hatchet and I'll have a Thinner Khukri or Machete, so we have everything covered.

But for general use, thin is in!!