Do double-edged blades have any practical purpose?

jameslee228 said:
I have heard someone on here (forget completely who it was) say that have a double edged knife with one side having a thinner bevel and one side being thicker for different types of cutting. Also I would t hink that depending on the type of cutting being done ie. Cutting a crap ton of cardboard, it could be useful to have two edges and when one is dull just simply flip the blade over and continue on. Just my thoughts
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Some Randal Made Knives are set up like that.
MarkIII said:
I think they look cool but not that practical. I remember reading that double edge knives were used by mountain men and the like back then simply because when one side gets dull they can just flip it over.
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I remember reading something similar.
 
I love the look of a dagger but it doesn't baton.
tho..................
The George V-14 dagger is so dope
 
John A. Larsen said:
COL Rex Applegate told me that on his copy of the Smatchett the little hole in the ricasso, was to tell you which edge you were using. He said he would have one edge thicker, for heavier chopping, and the other edge for everything else. John
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The smatchett is great at flipping pancakes by a campfire as a non combat bonus
 
Gaston444 said:
There is an obvious, and always overlooked, fundamental advantage to double-edged fixed blade daggers: For a given length, they are, especially if combined with a stick tang (any self-respecting dagger should always feature a stick tang), by far the lightest possible knife blade design. Some models however will ruin this huge carry confort advantage with full tangs, or a heavy metal handle like the Gerber Mk II for example.

This dagger weight advantage is extremely noticeable in some concealed carry options, especially with shoulder harnesses: No other blade design removes so much weight from the blade stock, and the advantage is so noticeable after prolonged carry that it is to my mind the premier reason to choose this blade design for self defense.

Sharpness can be marginally acceptable both ways if the blade is hollow ground, but it is usually below acceptable when flat ground. Some of the "Cutlery Shoppe" exclusive Gerber Mk IIs (with green handles) were ground thinner at the edge than the standard models, and these were acceptably sharp even though flat ground on a narrow symmetrical blade. Their green handles have a very rough sandpaper-like finish that indentifies these better made models... (Cosmetically, the centerline grind was rarely perfectly straight unfortunately, like on most/all Gerber MK IIs)

The best dagger design I have seen is the Al MAr Shadow IV, which comes dull but can take a surprisingly effective edge because it is hollow ground. The all-plastic handle capitalizes on the inherent weight advantage of daggers: This roughly 13"+ knife feels unbelievably light, almost like the weight of a Bic plastic pen... It is longer than a Randall Model 14 at a -tiny- fraction of the Model 14's weight, yet shares a similar initial blade stock thickness...

The SOG Desert Dagger is a close second to the Al Mar, but wastes weight with a very heavy pommel.

The Cold Steel Tai-Pan is probably the best and sharpest "useable" dagger currently available. At 10.5 ounces it is unusually heavy however, but worst of all the extremely bulky oval cross guard precludes serious concealed carry consideration (in my opinion). It is probably the only production dagger that can genuinely double as a using knife, but its handle has poor grip retention due to the constantly tapering shape.

The one less than obvious, but very serious, downside of daggers, never mentionned yet extremely significant, is as follows: On a single edge knife you can always widthdraw the knife from the sheath by forcefully pulling the knife to one side, rubbing the spine on exit from the sheath: This eliminates damage to the edge when taking out the knife. On a double-edge dagger (unless the sheath has "pinched" edges, like a Kydex sheath, where neither of the dagger's edges can reach the sides to dull themselves), you will, without extreme care and slowness on withdrawal, inevitably dull one edge or the other on withdrawal. The trouble is, these knives are so marginally sharp to begin with they cannot afford much dulling in the first place... The dulling process is very obvious within less than a hundred draws, if you choose to always rub the same edge...

Kydex usually solves this problem, but personally I don't like Kydex, since it often scratches blade centerlines, is noisy, hard to the touch (and thus unpleasant to wear next to the body), and it often just looks awful to my eyes.

My solution: Sharpen them once, carry them rarely (if ever), and never pull them out of the sheath... I use and fondle my single edge knives instead... Shoulder harnesses make the most sense for large daggers, since they don't get in the way, allow for longer blade lengths, and are a weight-sensitive form of carry. Large daggers are very nice to own, are uniquely suitable to prolonged carry, as some kind of lightweight "back-up", but other than defense I don't see why they should be used...

Gaston
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That is very interesting information about "daggers". I picked this knife up today from a local maker as a gift for my father in-law. I only chose it knowing that he likes big "sword" type stuff. The maker spoke a different language than I do so some might have been lost in translation. But he said he designed it for a customer who was slaughtering sheep. He referred to it as a "dagger". It does have a stick tang and is incredibly light considering the 13" blade. also it is sharp, but not as sharp as his other knives. I dont know if that is part of the design or if just needs a little touching up. I am not saying it is a proper dagger. it is just a fun knife to me. But interesting how much of what you said is in the design and that he called it a dagger.
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An unsharpened spine lets you push on the blade for carving or cutting. So, a single edged blade has a side for peace, and a side for war. A double edged blade is a single minded implement.
 
dogstar said:
An unsharpened spine lets you push on the blade for carving or cutting. So, a single edged blade has a side for peace, and a side for war. A double edged blade is a single minded implement.
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Maybe not a consideration for some, but a crispy 90 degree spine also lets you use firestarters. Useful for camping. Some Mora knives have this feature. If I’m not mistaken, this is also possible with the Spyderco hole.
 
DangerZone98 said:
Maybe not a consideration for some, but a crispy 90 degree spine also lets you use firestarters. Useful for camping. Some Mora knives have this feature. If I’m not mistaken, this is also possible with the Spyderco hole.
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... with a file or stone, you can sharpen any spine to throw sparks from a ferrocerium rod. I do that to any knife I might rely on in the great outdoors.
You can also use one edge of your dagger to do the same, though ;)
 
dogstar said:
... with a file or stone, you can sharpen any spine to throw sparks from a ferrocerium rod. I do that to any knife I might rely on in the great outdoors.
You can also use one edge of your dagger to do the same, though ;)
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Using the knife edge for that?! 😮 It ought to be a crime! Kidding, lol.
 
Last year I made one for a deserving buddy....
It was extremely stressful getting the timing of the angles just right, but still it turned out beautiful......

He keeps the knife in his car, and uses the sharpened swedge to cut large pretzels at the beer garden.

Thanks "brand" Fixed

Some time ago I asked about knives I liked, and what style they might be classified as. I posted pictures from various makers here, and other manufacturers....... I didn't really get any solid answers. What I'm realizing is here on the forum, what I like is basically grouped as "Traditional"...
www.bladeforums.com www.bladeforums.com
 
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idaho said:
REAL daggers where very large knives. Larger than most bowies. In blades this size two cutting edge are an advantage if combat. But in small "tactical knives" - not really.
And no benefits for utility. Or I cannot think of any, except for some very rare occurrences.
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Depending on the century, a "dagger" could be as large as a Roman Gladius. During the Three Musketeers era in the 1600s, the "left-handed Dagger" was used in conjunction with a long Rapiere Sword for blocking and parrying. An opening scene in thew older TM movie (the one with Raquel Welch and Charlton Heston) shows the technique and style of fighting using the dagger with a sword.

In earlier centuries, the dagger was used almost exclusively for stabbing, often merely a pointed blade without edges at all. They were used against fully armored knights to penetrate the joints of plate armor.

While many Viet Nam vets swear by their Gerber Mk-II dagger, most warfighters in today's frontline units do not have a need for a dagger . . .or any other "fighting knife" either.

Personally, I would not carry a double-edged knife for EDC. Great wall-hangers though.
 
Eric "Bill" Sykes and William "Shanghai Buster" Fairbairn, a.k.a. "Delicate Dan" to his friends, and "Mister Murder-Made-Easy" to himself, developed the the classic 8" commando dagger for British commandos they trained in hand-to-hand combat. There's a fascinating chapter about them in Churchill's Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare by Giles Milton.
 
Brad the butcher said:
Other than self defense or sticking animals there is not too much practical purpose but for those purposes they are ideal.

When sticking a couple pumps on the handle after insertion will sever a lot of tissue and vessels easily, we used double edged sticking knives with a full D handle in the slaughterhouse.

The romans banned leaf shaped double edged daggers at some point in history I recall because they created a wound that would not close.

I own two, a peacemakerII and a Taipan
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What source do you have for that comment about the Romans banning double edged daggers? I know they seem to have stopped using pugios by the 3rd century AD but I never found an explanation. I thought it was the ease of manufacture and versatility of the barbarian single edged blades was what killed the dagger until medieval times.
 
maximus83 said:
I realize that many folks will carry a double-edged blade for defensive carry purposes, and I have considered that myself but currently don't. Interested to hear others' thoughts on a couple of things:

1) Whether a double-edged blade REALLY has any practical usefulness even for defensive carry,
and
2) Whether a double-edged blade has any OTHER practical uses.
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#1: Yes , but that's Prac/Tac territory .

#2: Yes , not great for some things of course , but very useful for other special tasks .

a.) Killing or sticking knives for slaughter or hunting . For all the same reasons they work for fighting / SD .

b.) Dive knives

c.) Digging , garden knives

d.) Duct knives (used in installing ductwork )

e.) Knives that benefit from having one serrated and one PE , or two different grinds or sharpening angles , or just a spare sharp edge . Etc .
 
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