Bushcraft/woodlore type knife

I would say 1/8" max. Maybe even thinner. It would be used for carving and finer work.
Scott
 
For me, a bushcraft knife would max out at 1/8th inch thickness also, much thicker and some woodcrafting chores become dificult.
 
The thickness doesn't really matter. It's the ANGLE of the bevels that matters. You can get a tough, thick knife with a thin edge. Full flat/scandi edge works great on wood, but it's fragile. A full convex is a great all rounder IMO. Like the Fallkniven F1 for example.

Cheers,

David
 
Here is my thoughts on full tang Bushcraft knives. I like tampered tangs and thicker blades for batoning. 5/32 or 3/16.



 
Just out of curiosity, what is the closest knife to this ideal that you know about?

If I could get it in an orange or red handle (for visibility if it gets put down on the ground), I'd probably pick one up.
 
I really like the looks of that. It's even in A2 toolsteel. Thanks. I do believe I'll buy myself a new knife. :)
 
Moine said:
The thickness doesn't really matter. It's the ANGLE of the bevels that matters.
Click to expand...

As the thickness increases, to get the same angle you need a wider blade, as the blade gets really wide it becomes cumbersome for cutting (not chopping) in general as you are fighting a larger torque disadvantage and the edge is significantly out of line of the line of force.

If you are just cutting, I have blades which are ~0.05" thick through the spine (similar to the edge thickness on tacticals) and hollow ground and they will do any wood cutting and general work outside that needs to be done, what they lack are utility uses, mainly prying and batoning, But if you just want a cutting tool, this is how you go :

http://www.physics.mun.ca/~sstamp/images/aj_utility.jpg

In general I would prefer a more robust design for general work outdoors, however have used that to do everything necessary, but it is inefficient for tasks which require prying or impacts, but for that I generally would want a longer blade anyway for that, about 7" at minimum, and 14" ideally especially for brush work and frozen woods.

-Cliff
 
Just my opinion....1/8" is as thick as I would go. In my opininion that is about hatchet/chopper thickness. Knife should be 3/32" thick or less....

Knife for cutting,hatchet/axe for chopping,IMHo......

O
 
....and 14" ideally especially for brush work and frozen woods.

-Cliff
Click to expand...


I've seen this said before. If your wood is "frozen" it is to wet or green to be of any use. Dry wood would meerly be cold.:confused:
 
Ref :

http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y269/CliffStamp/fiskars/hatchet/fiskars_log.jpg

That stick is at least two years seasoned, so it is really dry, there is no weight to it, I would not even shoulder it to carry it for example, and have shoulder 12"+ sticks like it trivially and stack them all day long.

It is frozen, meaning it fractures violently when chopped and even has ice inside, the grub trails get filled mainly, but the outside can absorb water. It is really bad for fire starting if you get a decent rain + high temps followed by a really fast and sudden drop and everything freezes.

The ideal woods to burn are those that are seasoned and opened, either by rot, or insects (ants locally) which can reduce it to cardboard consistency which you can pick apart with your fingers, you can slice off 1"+ thick sections easily with a knife, but they absorb water like sponges with it rains and get soggy so go from being best to worst.

Yes it is bad to burn, sometimes it is all you have so you have to make due. However the frozen and icy wood dries out *way* faster than actual green wood when split. That bucket in the picture will be bone dry with one day next to a wood stove, only the outer shell is frozen (there is water everywhere in it of course, just not significantly) but if it was green it would be days longer unless it was at least quartered.

Green wood doesn't burn very well here at all unless it is very sappy or you split it really fine, birch is ok because it is fairly clear and you can split it really fine, with pine boughs and birch bark and trunk you can get a fairly hot fire even in bad conditions, the bark and boughs don't hold water or snow, and birch rarely rots or gets eaten by ants so it can be split and used almost anytime, I have seen it otherwise.

Ideally you have no rain, snow or wind, lots of tinder (grasses, bark, lichens) and small dry wood, but who plans for ideals.

-Cliff
 
By golly, you live in a hellish place. I've never encountered such trouble with wood. The Sea must cause some of that radical shifting. I thought Minnesota had crazy weather.:thumbup:
 
It is pretty silly, we had whiteouts yesterday, heavy snow all day long and you could not see the road from a short distance away, it was freezing rain right before that. Today it is well above zero and everything is melting.

-Cliff
 
I designed a Bushcraft knife and had Dave Beck make it for me in 3/16" thick O-1. After the full flat grind and tapered tang, it's probably closer to a heavy 5/32". Cuts like a laser, by far the sharpest knife I own and due to it's thickness I can easily use it for batoning purposes. I had him make the knife wider than a standard Bushcraft knife, so the edge stayed nice and thin.
 
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