Flippin' Recurves...

[Courtland]

Just out of curiosity, how many of you who have poo-pooed recurves have actually carried and used one for any significant period of time? How many of you have assumed that you could, or should, use them in exactly the same way as you use a straight edge?
You don't use a warnclif the same way as you use a deep-bellied drop-point, why would anyone assume that you should use a recurve in the same way?
Saying you don't care for it is one thing, and is just fine. Saying it provides no advantages is simply demonstrably not true and makes you look foolish.

my $.10

 

[trimcut123]

Foolish naysayers..
But for real.. The recurve on my 0300, blur and a bunch of others in the past work great...
It really adds to the cutting power of the knife..

 

[richard j]

i dont have anything against recurves except for the fantasy type with an exaggerated recurve. i sharpen recurves and hawkbills with the paper wheels easily. i sharpened a superhawk for gunmike1 and he said it was sharper than factory. i have a custom recurve thats wicked for cutting.

 

[GRIM 62]

If I can't sharpen a blade on a flat stone it's not worth a squat to me.............

 

[Courtland]

You CAN sharpen a recurve on a flat stone if you know what your doing. it is of course much easier to do it with rods, or on a sharp-maker, but then its easier to sharpen EVERYTHING on a sharpmaker (thats kind of the point).

my $.10

 

[GregS]

I must say, great responses gentleman, they are appreciated. I also must say I'm shocked, I figured the NO's would win by a landslide, interesting to say the least.:thumbup:

 

[Fargus]

Saying it provides no advantages is simply demonstrably not true and makes you look foolish.

I suppose it depends on an individual's usage as to whether a recurved blade provides an advantage or not. For myself, a recurved blade does not provide any real advantages and has a huge downside as it is not a design for general usage. The only real advantage that I've found to a recurve is on pull cuts to a flexible material like rope. Then again, if I were cutting rope-like material all day, I'd get a hawkbill or karambit. Outside of that, my experiences haven't led me to find that a recurve offers any advantages over a non-recurved blade, just the opposite in fact.

 

[Courtland]

Again, I would ask, have you ever carried a recurve for any serious length of time? Did you try to use it in the same WAY (as in with the same technique) as you do a more straight edged knife? Would you approach a wharny in the same way?
The assertion that a Recurve is not made for general use is simply not true. A recurve can easily perform any cutting task that you do with a straight blade, the difference is in YOUR technique. It's perfectly fine that some people don't like recurves. But stop kidding yourself: it IS an issue of personal preference, and not anything wrong with the blade design, or its intended uses.

my $.10

 

[dmonay]

I love my little Kershaw Scallion recurve. Plus I'm hot to get the new ZT 0350 as soon as funds are available.
I also have other blade styles and I like them also so no prejudice toward one or the other blade type.
As long as I keep them sharp they ALL cut well.

 

[Fargus]

Again, I would ask, have you ever carried a recurve for any serious length of time?

Define "serious". Several years qualify?

Did you try to use it in the same WAY (as in with the same technique) as you do a more straight edged knife? Would you approach a wharny in the same way?

No.

The assertion that a Recurve is not made for general use is simply not true.

I feel it is a true statement. That fact that you disagree doesn't alter my opinion.

A recurve can easily perform any cutting task that you do with a straight blade, the difference is in YOUR technique.

But it can't. Take for example a cooking chore like dicing. Sure a recurve can do the job, but not as well as a non-recurve blade. Try anything where the blade should make full contact with a surface (like dicing), the recurve physically can't make contact along the entire length of the blade. Also, I didn't find skinning easier with a recurve. I find a drop point works much better. How many hunters do you see opting for a recurve over a simple non-recurve drop point? Not very many, at least from my experience.

It's perfectly fine that some people don't like recurves. But stop kidding yourself: it IS an issue of personal preference, and not anything wrong with the blade design, or its intended uses.

I am not kidding myself. I'm not certain where all your aggression is coming from. I don't dislike recurves, I just don't find them to be all that you are making them out to be. I don't find them to be as efficient in general usage as say a non-recurved drop or clip point. Your experiences are obviously different, but that certainly doesn't invalidate the experiences of those who disagree with you. Nor does it mean that everyone who holds a differing opinion hates recurves. I think they are an okay situational design, just not something that floats my boat on a daily basis.

 

[Tonie Nichols]

Wow, some of you guys who like recurve blades really take opinions other than your own personally. You take this so personally it's actually kind of entertaining.

Not one of you has even tried to produce one shred of objective support, like the results of an actual comparison test, for your preference. Instead, like TJ you immediately become threatened by other peoples opinions and start sniping at them. Or you come up with ludicrous comparisons with things like a supposed example of a bronze age sword, I'm sure that TJ has made a "scholarly study" of the bronze age recurve sword in relation to modern recurve blade knives and their comparative cutting ability. And then he insulted me for mentioning a true knife culture where recurves don't exist.

Even if I have no use for a recurve blade I would appreciate some kind of objective study that had been done from somebody who wasn't insulting and attacking me.

I've had several recurve blades, a Fer de Lance, a Vaquero Grande with a serrated edge and a Medium Vaquero with a plain edge. I've set up comparative cutting mediums like leather jackets stuffed with poly fill, card board and rope and in all my usage of them I found that they did not cut as well as a standard blade.

So if my opinion threatens you...grow up!

 

[allenC]

For myself, a recurved blade does not provide any real advantages and has a huge downside as it is not a design for general usage.

I believe that it depends upon the severity of the recurve design.

Clearly, something such as a "kris knife" might not be designed for general use, but there are plenty of other recurve knives that are designed specifically as a general use utility folder, such as: the Kershaw Boa, the Boker M-Type, the Benchmade 710, and the Camillus CUDA EDC.

 

[Fargus]

I believe that it depends upon the severity of the recurve design.

Sure, to a degree. I'm not familiar with the other models, but I am with the BM 710 and the CRKT Anubis. Then again, with such slight recurves, any perceived benefits from the curve would be minimal to nonexistent. The Boa doesn't really seem like a true recurve to me, but I'm not going to quibble over terminology.

While I'm sure that some recurves, like the BM 710, are decent general use blades, I still don't find them as good as a non-recurved blade for my purposes. If someone finds that they do a spectacular job for what they need to do, that's great. Personally, I've never noticed that a recurve does a better job at what I usually need to accomplish. As I stated previously, if I were doing work where I would consistently need the benefits a recurve conveys, I'd get a dedicated hawkbill or karambit.