Bushcrafter Knives

Razor

Razor

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Dec 8, 1999
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Why do the bushcrafter knives seem to have such thick blades? I just bought on the custom forum, one of Koster bushcrafter knives, it was you all's fault, for talking how good they were, now I am broke again. His blades and Bark Rivers look to be thick. Is their a reason for this?
 
I think strength is the reason. I know that Ray Mears calls for that width blade. But many simply use 1/8th stock, Breeden, Stomper, and others. I am torn - but I have a Kosters.

Thicker will not slice as well - but it is a danged sharpened pry bar in width.

TF
 
I didn't know the kosters were that thick. I always assumed they were 0.125" or 0.1" what is their width? Anyhow, the high scandi grind should serve to really thin out the edge. Those scandi grinds do seem to be by far the best thing out there for carving wood!
 
I'm with kgd, I thought Koster's stuff was thinner. I like thicker stock for using the spine to hammer tent pegs or baton with, but that's just personal preference.
 
0.135" isn't that thick especially when paired with a scandi-grind. I imagine this just gives it a good rigidity particularly given how aggressive the tips are on his bushcrafters. Look like a winning design and no wonder their popularity.
 
no comment :D

(koster's knives are great! I have a strange philosophy with mine.)
 
All right Christof, You better say any one of your knives would make a great bushcrafter type knife, I know because I have one:D LOL

Bryan
 
Where thicker shows up as an impediment to cutting is as the material you are trying to cut gets thicker. I can cut nice curls on "fuzz sticks" with a
.25" thick sharp knife. Try to cut carrots with that knife and they split apart - not really cut.

A convex grind works just fine for wood carving and is the natural result of freehand sharpening.

All the professional wood carver's knives I have seen have been under 1/8" thick - well under. But they don't need more. Their knives are not general-purpose tools.

So it works for you or it does not.

As for the so-called "Scandi grind" (saber grind with flat final bevel and no secondary bevel), Scandinavian custom makers have pointed out that it's rare in Scandinavia. A concave final bevel or secondary bevel are more common.
 
sicily02 said:
All right Christof, You better say any one of your knives would make a great bushcrafter type knife, I know because I have one:D LOL

Bryan
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I think the leuku patterns and the EDCs do good for bushcrafters. They just mostly clock in at .095. Though I don't think of .13 as really too thick, by any means.
 
It depends how far from home you go. If you expect a bushcrafter to do the job of a heavy-duty survival knife, you might want a bit thicker stock. If you're camping in a fairly benign environment, you're going to be more concerned with slicing or filleting or food prep and thinner blades are fine. Even thin blades will hold up to hard work as long as the force is in line with the edge. Twisting or prying requires a thicker blade, that's all.
 
I like a thicker stock because of worry of battoning and other things. I don't need a knife for general woodworking that slices paper thin tomatoes. So I like a thicker stock.

.147 is the width of the my Koster's as I measured it this morning. That is almost 5/32.

TF
 
What about 3/16 which I believe is .188? I was wondering if a larger bowie 9 inch type should be the 1/4 or 3/16? Anyone use the Becker Bowie, or the Becker Companion in the Wilderness forumn. So this is a two parter, about thickness and what experiences have you had with Beckers of various thicknesses in the field?
 
Esav Benyamin said:
It depends how far from home you go. If you expect a bushcrafter to do the job of a heavy-duty survival knife, you might want a bit thicker stock. If you're camping in a fairly benign environment, you're going to be more concerned with slicing or filleting or food prep and thinner blades are fine. Even thin blades will hold up to hard work as long as the force is in line with the edge. Twisting or prying requires a thicker blade, that's all.
Click to expand...


What Esav said.

I'm not into survival that much so I sort have been gravitating to the 1/8" or less thickness.

I think Dan's bushcraft knives are thicker because the steel he is using doesn't come in 1/8. He said his 01 bushcrafter is tru 1/8"
 
I've never cut carrots in the bush - honestly. However, I have cut my share of onions. They are flexible enough that you can get away with 1/4" slicing them :D

Edit: personally I have gravitated more towards 1/8" for most of my knives. However, 3/16" has its uses. Sometimes you want heft and weight behind a knife.
 
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