Design feedback on a general purpose survival. Now WIP. Done! :)

Ha, you beat me to it. I was looking at a round file today. That would solve two problems at once. The diameter right the still feels a tad to small, I have gone back to the knife that i used as a model and it feels to small on that one as well. Your solution looks better than mine as a thought about losing the closest pin and crating a semi-choil before the under sized integral guard.

Feel free to get on my back any time. :)
 
I use many guardless knives. In the kitchen. On the job. Used with attention and skill, they can work just fine.

I have no use for a guardless survival knife. By definition an emergency knife is used when things go wrong. When you suffer from shock, blood loss, sickness, hypothermia, hyperthermia, dehydration, broken bones, concussion, you are not at your best. When you are not at your best, mistakes get easy.

This is a bad time to slide your hand past the guard that isn’t there.

It’s not as though you don’t have enough problems.
 
@Don Thanks.

@Raymond I see what you mean. When I send these knives to HT, I will send my emergency (pic) knife that is designed to fit my work kit (hence the odd shape). Its made for prying and the forbidden stabbing motion and it will have a huge brass guard. 1"x2" before filing. Going smaller than that is in my opinion a cosmetic guard to fend of the taught of fingers slipping across the edge more than anything else IMO.

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Back to this one. When filing whit a rest the the hight of the bevel is also an indication of how close to the center line the knife the crude edge is. So by dragging a measurement tool in wet inc across the top of the bevel on both sides an checking the thickness of the edge. You can actually work out how much material needs to be removed and on witch side to keep the edge centered and even. I know my explanation is probably lacking but the precision is just amazing. 1/128" variations is easily spotted and adjusted.

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Adjusted "semi integrated guard". There is some ink on the top blade witch makes the edge lock funny close to the "guard".

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Modified sanding jig. Back hands stretches the paper so that it wont bulge.

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[video=youtube;UlgU8DQNJiQ]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UlgU8DQNJiQ&feature=youtu.be[/video]

There is 5 hours of sanding differing those blades. This is slow work. :)

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Nice designs, but while any knife can be used in a survival situation, non of them are what I'd consider a hard use survival knife. As a general use knife, I really liked "A". But for survival, "C" would be more to my liking. But to me a survival knife needs at the bare minimum a large and healthy guard, after all it's designed to be used when the adrenaline is pumping, makes for great gross motor skills like running for your life, not so much for fine skills like wood carving or delicate skinning and butchering. And no I don't mean the Rambo type knife either. Think something like the K-bar on steroids, but about the same blade length.

On the other hand I'm interested in seeing what you come up with and how it's finished.

Just my .02 cents.
 
I am not entirely sure this knife and its uses if I'm honest. But there are one way to find out about it, to finish it. :)

I draw on v2.0 right now and I think that a guard must be rather big for it to do a good job. Almost bigger than you can cut out 2d with a water jet. A 5mm big brass plate would do the job but it is such a precision job to get it right. And I'm not sure how to fasten it.
 
One way to do the brass guard is to cut a small notch out and slot a piece of say 3/4" by 1/2" or so brass stock and slid it into the notch, and drill and pin to the blade. Kinda like this http://www.knifekits.com/vcom/product_info.php?cPath=2_78&products_id=437 Though I don't recommend the notch being that deep, and it's a good idea to chamfer the sharp edges to prevent a stress riser. Nothing that cant be done with a file guide and some patience. As for the slot, the first ones I did with a hack saw and a lot of time with needle files.

Don't worry about what it's best used for, make what you like. I've made a lot of knives that don't have a specific use, though I do generally shoot for a solid purpose nowdays.
 
I was afraid of such a solution would be recommended. :( Handtooling one of those would take rest of the summer. Butt whit a 3,5mm metal router bit and a ground brass stock... :D That will have to wait thou. :)
 
You'd be surprised at how fast it goes with good files. I can do a notch in maybe 20 minuets, and slot the guard on a bandsaw and use needle files to open it up and have it ready in an hour or so.
 
@tryppyr
I have done bolsters in 5mm and it is a pain if you ask me. :( Hopefully one day I will master it. :) But i actually think i got the first hints of gray in my beard when fitting this one.

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This is where the madness starts.

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I think I have about 10 hours more on the coarse stone. :eek:

This step has to go from my method.
 
I think a secondary bevel on geometry like that might not be the best way to go. Just typing out loud.:)
 
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