Clip blades across the board

[mrknife]

Any one got a big collection of the various clip point blades? Which one is your favorite?

 

[bleh]

When I started in traditional knives, I hated the clip point primarily because of it's ubiquity, but after maturing a bit and starting to look at more and more knives, I grew to appreciate it a great deal more. I am, however, picky about my clips.

Right now I have 4 modern and 2 traditional clip points. Moderns consist of a Lanny's clip (my personal favorite), the 77 forum knife. I also have a #82 cocobolo clip and a Timothy LaCombre custom which are actually intransit right now. I also have a vintage Camillus swell center and a Camillus #14 vintage jackknife with a really nice clip too.

Lanny's:




77 forum knife:


83 Cocobolo (stock image)

Custom:



Camilluses? Camilli? one Camillus and another Camillus. Plurals are hard:




Can you guess my qualifications for a clip point I'm interested in?

 

[mrknife]

When I started in traditional knives, I hated the clip point primarily because of it's ubiquity, but after maturing a bit and starting to look at more and more knives, I grew to appreciate it a great deal more. I am, however, picky about my clips.

Right now I have 4 modern and 2 traditional clip points. Moderns consist of a Lanny's clip (my personal favorite), the 77 forum knife. I also have a #82 cocobolo clip and a Timothy LaCombre custom which are actually intransit right now. I also have a vintage Camillus swell center and a Camillus #14 vintage jackknife with a really nice clip too.

Lanny's:




77 forum knife:


83 Cocobolo (stock image)

Custom:



Camilluses? Camilli? one Camillus and another Camillus. Plurals are hard:




Can you guess my qualifications for a clip point I'm interested in?

whoa im digging that 77! double bolsters too, right up my alley. long swedge? thanks for sharing!

 

[bleh]

whoa im digging that 77! double bolsters too, right up my alley. long swedge? thanks for sharing!

I like clip points where the edge is nearly parallel to the spine, preferably with a prominent swedge. I like a nice convex curved long clip, somewhere between 50 and 60% of the blade length. And I like either a long pull or a large nick that butts up to the clip. I personally think the Lanny's clip is the perfect clip blade design, and a lot of my qualifications for a clip come from that.

I (currently) can't stand straight or concave clip blades, and I really hate when the nick or pull is in the swedge or forward of the clip. But tastes are fluid, it only takes one knife for me to totally become a hypocrite.

 

[mrknife]

I like clip points where the edge is nearly parallel to the spine, preferably with a prominent swedge. I like a nice convex curved long clip, somewhere between 50 and 60% of the blade length. And I like either a long pull or a large nick that butts up to the clip. I personally think the Lanny's clip is the perfect clip blade design, and a lot of my qualifications for a clip come from that.

I (currently) can't stand straight or concave clip blades, and I really hate when the nick or pull is in the swedge or forward of the clip. but tastes are fluid, it only takes one knife for me to totally become a hypocrite.

Yeah I was doing some research and found Im partial to specific clip points as well. I think there was an old bladeforums post but it just had a diagram something like this http://d1oig1atgy3as2.cloudfront.net/wp-content/uploads/Types-of-Blades-1.png

 

[black mamba]

I guess you could say I really like clip blades. Numbers 4, 5, 9 and 10 are my favorites.

1. GEC's Muskrat Clip #48

2. Case's Mini-Trapper Clip

3. Moore Maker California Clip Stockman

4. S&M Long Pull Stockman Clip (with wrap-around cut swedge)

5. Bulldog Traditional Trapper Clip (larger version of a Peanut Clip, with nick under the "peak")

6. Bulldog Stockman Matchstrike Long Pull Clip

7. Tuna Valley Railsplitter Wide Long Pull Clip

8. Northfield Short Clip with Long Pull (a regrind)

9. Schrade Walden Long Pull Clip (with extra pointy tip)

10. Northfield Mini-Hunter Long Pull Clip (with parallel spine)

11. Rough Rider Folding Hunter Saber Clip

 

[bleh]

10. Northfield Mini-Hunter Long Pull Clip (with parallel spine)

That's staggeringly gorgeous! Did you do anything to the stag to get that color? That's making the wait for my 83 that much harder.

 

[george65]

I like most clip points.. sowbelly clip is one of my favorite styles

 

[george65]

I guess you could say I really like clip blades. Numbers 4, 5, 9 and 10 are my favorites.



2. Case's Mini-Trapper Clip

also one of my favorites! :thumbup:

 

[mrknife]

also one of my favorites! :thumbup:

interestingly, i can appreciate them separate, but not together, hoping to win a sheepsfoot gec on ebay soon

 

[Joe58]

Here's two different styles. The Dr. T has a pretty standard types wedge on it, then the Queen doesn't have any at all. It just narrows down to the point of the blade. Which is very pointy. I'm not sure if the extra pointy is from the lack of a swedge or not. But it is noticeably pointier than the Dr. T for example.

But I like them both. And really don't have too much preference as to a spear or clip main blade if I'm considering a purchase. Depends on the knife it's in.

 

[black mamba]

Thanks, Sean, it's a red stag #72, not an #83.

 

[Jack Black]

I took this pic for a similar thread 2 or 3 years ago, must have 4 or 5 times that many clips now, maybe more!

 

[pertinux]

I took this pic for a similar thread 2 or 3 years ago, must have 4 or 5 times that many clips now, maybe more!

I like how this guy put it, back when (and this picture):

I was looking through my collection the other day, and it struck me how much I like the clip point. It's easily my favorite main-blade shape, and it's kind of amazing how much variety such a simple shape can provide:


When you think about it, there's really only a handful of variables at work here:
1) Ratio of spine-length to clip-length
2) Angle of clip relative to spine
3) Angle of blade to spine (how much the blade seems to be 'reaching down' from the spine)
4) Size of the 'belly' of the blade (physical size and the degree to which it's curved)
5) The angle at which the clip and the edge meet

It might be silly to put so much thought into the aesthetics of the blade's shape, but it's interesting to me, how much these factors can change my perception of the knife. The trapper and peanut seem fragile and needle-like (muskrat and toothpick blades even more so, but I don't have any of those), where the Buck on the right seems almost comically blunt even though, if you look carefully, it's got a narrower point than a lot of the blades in the middle of the picture.

My favorite changes (that's half the fun of having a collection, right?) but with them all laid out side-by-side like this, I'm struck by how much I like the GEC and the Kabar -- they balance out rather well, I think. How about you? Do you have a favorite clip point whose lines are just-so, or do you tend to pick your favorites more from the handle end of things and leave the blade to distinguish itself only by how well it does its job?

--Mark

Mine own clip blades and thoughts at the time:

I didn't have things set-up to take better ones of my own knives, but that doesn't always stop me:

Like you, my favorites change. The clip blade on the #26 is comical in its foreshortened form; I like it because it makes me laugh. If I had to pick just one for visual proportion and balance, I'd go with the clip on the Teamster Jack (a #66) The clip on the red Case stockman is possibly my second choice, but don't quote me on that.

One thing I've discovered is that I really like small clip blades, but not on tiny knives. The swoopy little secondary clip blades on the #25s (as seen at the bottom of the first picture) are a favorite, especially when paired with a wharncliffe main. I like the proportion of blade-to-handle, much more than if a similar blade were on a smaller knife.

Likewise, the Pemberton is a very nice combination, the substantial-for-size clip blade with enough handle to hold onto.

I forgot to get a close-up of the top four knives, one of which clearly sees a lot of use (in addition to the Russell, which has seen a lot of use, before it was in my hands). For me, that amber TC barlow just works, figuratively and literally (heh); even though its blade shape might not stand out to me visually when compared to others, the knife as a whole really comes together for me.

Hmmm, time to revisit my selection, with updates.

A knife with a clip main remains my default understanding of "jack knife," for reasons of functionality and looks.

~ P

 

[Jack Black]

Hmmm, time to revisit my selection, with updates.

I've been trying to resist doing that, since I should be getting on with some work!

 

[mrknife]

I took this pic for a similar thread 2 or 3 years ago, must have 4 or 5 times that many clips now, maybe more!

Very nice collection! hope to see a more updated pic!

 

[mrknife]

I like how this guy put it, back when (and this picture):


Mine own clip blades and thoughts at the time:



Hmmm, time to revisit my selection, with updates.

A knife with a clip main remains my default understanding of "jack knife," for reasons of functionality and looks.

~ P

im a sucker for nice clip point blade. so far thats mainly what my collection consists of. its probably one of the most viable blade shapes imo. thats why im alwayss on the hunt for a single blade trapper with a good clip point