Fiddleback Bolsters

D

dmourati

Joined
Aug 22, 2011
Messages
58
Pardon the noob question but what is the purpose of the bolster on Fiddleback knives?

I ask because I see most bolsters in steel which I presume is meant to improve the knife's strength. Fiddleback bolsters appear to be part of the inner handle material so I'm a bit puzzled.

Thanks.
 
Aesthetics of the handle. No difference than using expensive burl wood scales on what is purposely designed to be a bushcrafting knife.
 
I would think that a micarta bolster would be tougher than some of the wood handle options, so in theory they could act as a protectant.

In practice, probably just because they look good.
 
Yeah, they look cool! And micarta is certainly stronger than whatever it is on top of, so there is some increased durability.
 
Yeah, they look cool! And micarta is certainly stronger than whatever it is on top of, so there is some increased durability.
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What if it is on top of adamantium?
 
I thought unobtanium wasn't mined any longer. I recall something about a dispute over a mine and a housing project. Ok, enough of the thread hijack. Back to the bolsters.
 
I had some of the earliest ones with bolsters. Because of their differences that made them rather rare, a couple have been retired and passed on to friends. One was sent to a friend in the UK who is a nurse and former Royal Marine medic, who does free bushcraft classes for youths in his spare time to give them something to do besides wander the streets. Nurse salaries there are nothing like here, and I thought his actions deserving of a better quality tool. I personally get a kick out of a British bushcraft instructor using a Fiddleback knife to teach classes. Personally I love the aesthetics of them still, and the Bushcrafter Jr. I currently carry and use in my experiments is bolstered with evergreen burlap. But also to me the bolsters offers a better level abrasion protection for the front of the handle during my wilderness skills experiments and when doing bushcraft workshops with a knife that has wooden handle. The repetitive uses in both just increase the chances of damaging the handle, so I prefer the bolstered models when I can grab them.
 
Other than the aesthetics as was already mentioned, I have always viewed the practicality of a bolstered knife to be exactly as Brian pointed out. Micarta or SHadetre protects the wooden scales from scratches and dings. If it is a micarta bolster with shadetree scales, or some other combination of the two, the aesthetics reign in my mind, and the practicality is minimal to non existent.

This guy used a Fiddleback near Ijevan, Armenia in a feral hog trapping experiment that we were conducting on his land. Andy might be surprised where his knives are in service.

 
This knife is to me very beautiful, but for how I intended to use it, the bolsters were definitely a functional factor for me.

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McVeyMac said:
Other than the aesthetics as was already mentioned, I have always viewed the practicality of a bolstered knife to be exactly as Brian pointed out. Micarta or SHadetre protects the wooden scales from scratches and dings. If it is a micarta bolster with shadetree scales, or some other combination of the two, the aesthetics reign in my mind, and the practicality is minimal to non existent.

This guy used a Fiddleback near Ijevan, Armenia in a feral hog trapping experiment that we were conducting on his land. Andy might be surprised where his knives are in service.

Click to expand...

Looks like a great place to study blade function and performance Mac!
 
McVeyMac said:
Other than the aesthetics as was already mentioned, I have always viewed the practicality of a bolstered knife to be exactly as Brian pointed out. Micarta or SHadetre protects the wooden scales from scratches and dings. If it is a micarta bolster with shadetree scales, or some other combination of the two, the aesthetics reign in my mind, and the practicality is minimal to non existent.

This guy used a Fiddleback near Ijevan, Armenia in a feral hog trapping experiment that we were conducting on his land. Andy might be surprised where his knives are in service.

Click to expand...

This guy looks to be the genuine 'most interesting man in the world.'
 
Bamboo said:
This guy looks to be the genuine 'most interesting man in the world.'
Click to expand...

He's standing in a road that's covered with sheep turds .. i dunno .. but .. not really all that interesting. lol
Where's his Fiddleback!?!?
 
Bolsters definitely protect woods such as different types of burls from chipping in the area where your knife would tend to get banged around the most.

I had 2 BRKT blades with some burl woods for the handles and they both chipped at the front of the handle - probably from getting banged into something. BRKT replaced them for free, but still... if they had bolsters on them the micarta would not have chipped like the burl woods do.
 
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