Blood grove?

Retlawman590

Retlawman590

Joined
Jul 31, 2022
Messages
109
Hi,

I wasn't familiar with this term until I looked it up.

Definition of blood groove
: a longitudinal groove on the shaft of an arrow or spear or on the blade of a bayonet or knife said to have been introduced to cause increased bleeding of a wound produced and possibly actually facilitating withdrawal of bayonet or knife by preventing suction.

Question, does this have any tactical advantage on a 4" folder blade or is it primarily on larger blades?

Thanks
 
An alternative term for "blood groove" is "fuller". A "fuller" is a groove created to reduce the weight of the blade. Such a feature might be practical on a folder to make it lighter, depending on how big and heavy it is.
 
I like the look of a well executed fuller or “blood groove”. As ferider ferider said it’s “primary purpose is for weight reduction and balance”. It does serve that purpose well, especially on a Busse TGULB, IMO. I only have one folder with a fuller, a Benchmade Adamas. I guess for fixed blades, it makes sense. Folders, however, I’m not so sure about.
 
As far as "why?", I believe it's both reasons mentioned, depending on the maker, and the design of the individual knife.

For some folders I can see the practical purpose of it. Either for weight reduction and/or to provide a one-hand opening feature. But for other knives, like ones where the groove is far too narrow and shallow to provide any noticeable weight reduction, I believe it's just a matter of looks.
 
killgar said:
As far as "why?", I believe it's both reasons mentioned, depending on the maker, and the design of the individual knife.

For some folders I can see the practical purpose of it. Either for weight reduction and/or to provide a one-hand opening feature. But for other knives, like ones where the groove is far too narrow and shallow to provide any noticeable weight reduction, I believe it's just a matter of looks.
Click to expand...
Well said, the last bit of your reply describes the Adamas to a T.
 
TheEdge01 said:
I’d say it’s primary purpose on folders is to give the blade a more “tacticool” look rather than making it more functional.
Click to expand...

I wouldn't call a common feature 'tacticool' when used on folders when the primary (and very obvious) use on folders is as an opening mechanism, either the only one or in addition to some other feature like the flipper on Civivi's Chevalier. They're on a huge variety of folders and the overwhelming majority of them are definitely not 'tacticool'.
 
I have a couple of fullered folders, none of them "tactical", whatever that means. For instance:

Weight reduction:

i-XrLhJvt-X2.jpg


Opening help (I prefer the flipper though):

i-RCNgnRT-X2.jpg
 
Fullers have become very popular on folders in recent years, especially in higher end folders made in China. I didn't really like the look and thought that they wouldn't work very good as an opening method at first but after having a couple, the fullers on mine make really good opening "holes". They're actually kind of ideal because you don't have a thumbstud to get in the way of your sharpening stone, and you don't have a hole that might weaken the blade a bit (not that it really matters in a folder), and it also makes for a nice ambidextrous opening knife.
qQlOvHU.jpg

sGeOILW.jpg
 
Done well, they can look amazing. No offense to those who like it, but the milled slot running off the side of the blade let's just say doesn't appeal to me. I just got a fuller grinding attachment and haven't done any yet, but my goal is the sweeping, curved, organic ones you see with a gradual plunge.21oNhhc.jpg
sam_lurquin_custom_knife_9228_open_l-416x297.jpg
 
Retlawman590 said:
Definition of blood groove
: a longitudinal groove on the shaft of an arrow or spear or on the blade of a bayonet or knife said to have been introduced to cause increased bleeding of a wound produced and possibly actually facilitating withdrawal of bayonet or knife by preventing suction.
Click to expand...

Urban legend. A "blood groove" does nothing to increase bleeding or to facilitate easier removal.

As others have said, it does reduce weight and can be used to change the balance point on larger knives.
 
I'd say a lot of these blood grooves on folders are really just long pulls, especially the Civivi Chevalier. I guess that goes to the point of it being for marketing.
 
Fullers go back a long way. A functional one is used to reduce the weight of a sword, large knife, bayonet etc... without significantly compromising durability. It uses the same principle of an I beam in construction work to reduce weight and resist bending or excessive flexing.

That is what they were made for despite the fact that many use fullers for looks and/or hogwash tactical marking of the mythical "blood groove."

Trust me it ain't going to matter whether the blade you get stabbed with has a groove down the middle or not. It's going to be bad regardless.
 
greater said:
Fullers go back a long way. A functional one is used to reduce the weight of a sword, large knife, bayonet etc... without significantly compromising durability. It uses the same principle of an I beam in construction work to reduce weight and resist bending or excessive flexing.

That is what they were made for despite the fact that many use fullers for looks and/or hogwash tactical marking of the mythical "blood groove."

Trust me it ain't going to matter whether the blade you get stabbed with has a groove down the middle or not. It's going to be bad regardless.
Click to expand...
Ding ding, it took 16 posts, but someone said I-beam! Take a drink everyone and let's close the thread! 🤣

PS if I do get stabbed with one my last words will likely be "nice, is that forged or milled?".
 
I can't be the only one here who remembers "Dark OP's Knives". They were the height of mall-ninjery and SPECOPS fantasy some years back. With their ridiculous designs, high prices, and over-the-top ad copy they were a running joke for several years here at Bladeforums.

To give you an example of how they advertised their knives, they had descriptions like- "blood grooves to re-direct blood spray when de-animating Taliban fighters". I kid you not, they actually said that stuff, and more.

I checked, and it looks like they went out of business. Not a shock, and no loss to the knife world (although a loss to the world of comedy).

Anyway, just thought I'd take that stroll down memory lane and maybe provide a chuckle. Whenever I hear "blood groove" I think of Dark OP's, and "de-animating" 😁 .
 
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