Do you like em thick or thin?

For folders, thick looks outstanding. For practicality, thin is better to carry in your pocket.
 
Both, though primarily thin knives for actual use and thick, hunks of steel for making me grin when I whack something with 'em. ;)
 
I seem to prefer thinner for knives 3" and under, something in between for 3-4" and thick for anything bigger than that. I prefer the thinner blades and handles to go with it on the 3 and under for EDC use or simply smaller size in packs or other storage places. Opinel is too thin for my preferences but I do like the knife for the nostalgia. There are exceptions, like fillet knives.
 
Thin most definitely anything over 1/8 inch is just not a very good cutting tool imo. If your worried about chipping or breakage then just get a knife with M-4 steel. I strip out alot of copper wire at work and ive chipped tons of different steels. M-4 steel just seems to do amazing things in real life scenarios. I run my spyderco mantra with a 20-25 degree bevel and put a 30 degree micro on it and it will hold up to hard use all day long. S30v for example simply doesnt cut it. Ive tried putting 30 degree with 40 degree micro on s30v and it still chips every time I would never use it if it werent on so many knives I love. Back to the point, the only time I would want a blade to be thicker would be if I was splitting wood but a thin blade can do that also, just not quite as good so why carry a knife that sucks at everything else just so you can split wood alittle faster every now and then?
 
Thin. I use my knives to cut things. If I need thick I can use an axe or hatchet. Heck even machetes are thin. You don't hear of machetes breaking too often.

In fact, I think most people would probably be surprised at how much abuse a thin blade can take.
 
Absolutely thin, unless you're talking about a "large chopper," in which case you're replacing an ax. (Which is fine by me, don't let me stop you.)

I keep looking at the Bark River lineup, liking the designs, then wince when I'm reminded that they're 4mm thick.
 
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In short: as thin as possible, and as thick as necessary, with the thickness behind the edge being more relevant to performance than spine thickness.

When I was first forming my knife habit, I gravitated toward thicker blade stock, succumbing to the "more=better" fallacy.
Over time, however, I realized that my use almost never justified anything thicker than about .125"/3mm, and my Opinel was (and still is) my best pure cutting tool.

Some uses certainly are better served by thicker blade stock, but these tend to be secondary to the main function of a knife, which is to cut.

Appropriate thickness for a blade depends greatly on the grind. A good example is the Mora Knife:
I loved my Companion so much, that when they came out with the Heavy Duty I just had to have it. Why not? it was the same, but more, therefore better!
Not in this case. Scandi grinds, it turns out, do not lend themselves well to thick stock.
Which makes perfect sense: The Scandi grind is basically a wedge, and with the grind angles the same (about 24deg inclusive) on both Companions,
the thicker stock produces a wider bevel. Which means more contact with the medium, more friction, more deformation and wandering of the cut.
God forbid you try to slice salami with a Companion HD.
This is why I'm very interested in the new Kansbol, and not at all in the Garberg.

On a folder, anything over .125" starts to be a turn-off for me, unless it's a very high flat grind.

Now, as for my Heavy Duty Choppers...
2mm at the handle...tapering to 1mm at the tip... over the space of about 14"-18"...
 
Thin, for most woodcraft and carving. I'd say 95%. Thick for that rare abusive prying. Thick looks cool though.
 
For a fixed blade, I prefer .187-.250" at the spine with approx .020-.040" behind the secondary bevel with a 20 DPS edge.
 
Opinel is too thin
Click to expand...

I'm curious why you say that. Is it because it doesn't have enough weight to chop with ?
Or that the blade seems like it would break under force?

I'm not a big Opinel fan because of the dang pivot binding with a drop of water on it.
I will say I took a #12 once, the one that is as long as your foot when it is open, and I intentionally bent the blade side ways while it was clamped in a steel vise trying to break it off. I couldn't do it. It didn't bend either. Went right back to straight after bending it way, way over.

Oh I forgot to mention I had taken an abrasive cut off wheel and ground a groove half way through the blade where I wanted it to snap off. I finally broke it off after about six tries bending it further over each time with some big old channel lock pliers.

That was an eye opener.
Keep in mind that is a $17 knife of plain old high carbon steel.

After that I don't worry about breaking a thin blade for the work that I do anyway.



PS: I have a use for a knife like this so I modded the Opinel.
PPS: I just measure the blade thickness where I broke it off :
2.4 mm (0.094 inch)
Blade width there 24.5 mm (~ 1 inch)
 
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singularity35 said:
Is there anything that a thin knife can cut that a thick one can't?
Click to expand...

I think that is the philosophy the guys I work with go by. Which is why they are constantly asking to borrow my knife when trying to cut through a tough material.
 
singularity35 said:
Is there anything that a thin knife can cut that a thick one can't?
Click to expand...

Cutting thick cardboard is more comfortable with thin full flat blade.

I and some buddies did cutting performance test on very dense piece of rubber, industrial waste. Rubber is used for coatings like that on the handle:
BM-160SBT-Benchmade-Tether-Black-Combo-Blade.jpg


Opinel and some traditional Spanish navajas win.
[video=youtube;NpepXgYhxtM]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NpepXgYhxtM[/video]
 
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Cutting smaller pieces on the table like with PM2/Navaja was easier - more stable base.

For comparison Paramilitary 2 on the table, and bigger piece on the floor
[video=youtube;i3YZCiXlegc]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i3YZCiXlegc[/video]
[video=youtube;j_NwFs0n5AU]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j_NwFs0n5AU[/video]

And CS Voyager 4" Clip Point on the floor.
[video=youtube;Y8MIXp-dupk]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y8MIXp-dupk[/video]

I can't make measurements on the particular PM2/Navaja but my Voyager is 0,7 mm thick above bevel.
 
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