Harpoon blade knife question

[Robdigi]

I like the look of harpoon blade knives and if you look around there are plenty of makers Tops, Hinderer, Kabar Olamic, WE, just to name a few who make harpoon blade knives,
but I was wondering other than the aesthetics...what is the functional purpose of a harpoon blade.

I did a little researching and found the blade was designed in the 19th century for the whaling industry and has been used for spear hunting by tying the knife to a pole of some kind by many different people for a long time.

But other than you like the aggressive look of the harpoon blade, does the blade have any particular functional advantages as a EDC, Camp Survival or Defense knife ??
I've haven't read anything that makes any sense of it other than if you intend on doing some spear fishing or hunting it might have the advantage of being harder for your prey to shake loose of...but for all other purposes why would you want a knife that if you stick it all the way in something, it will be harder to pry out ?

 

[shane45-1911]

Just for looks, and I do like the looks of some of them.

If I really had to stretch for a functional reason for them, the shape makes a nice resting place for your thumb on top of the spine.

Here's my 'poon:

 

[ferider]

Makes the tip stronger; helps flipping in folders (Hinderers in particular).

 

[comis]

I too agree it is mainly there for aesthetics. Never has the need to harpoon anyone and anything, and judging from the shape of the harpoon, I kinda doubt most EDC knives with the pattern is really intended to used as a real harpoon.

 

[Wild Bill 1]

You may sharpen the upper blade and have twice the cutting blade edge.

 

[P.C.E.]

I have 3 that are or could be called a harpoon:





Even if it's nothing more than a deign element I do like it.

The Umnumzaan top at the tip is sharp, I did not know this until I had it in hand.
It's not honed like the blade edge but sharp and could do light cutting tasks and has great piercing capability, living up to that harpoon profile...

 

[unclekurty]

View attachment 1594102

 

[SALTY]

I like trailing point blades and really like harpoons. In fact, the Becker BK18 now competes with my BK15 as my favorite "Tweener" sized Becker.

Besides the obviously benefits of a trailing point, a harpoon style does afford a handy place for a finger to provide that extra control for close work.

Also, as for the need for harpooning things, I've harpooned steak of the grill, Vienna sausages out of the jar and other such worthy functions that lesser knives would struggle, at best, to accomplish.

 

[brownshoe]

The harpoon shape makes a bigger hole when you stab something, but allows for a lighter blade since the widest part doesn't continue to the tang.

 

[eveled]

The Randall Astro has a “harpoon hump”.

 

[JR42]

They look pretty damn cool- that's all I've got. I haven't been running the hamster wheel much in the last 5 years or so and this seems to me like a fad. That Becker looks interesting, though...

 

[afishhunter]

The back of the "harpoon" isn't barbed (a barb is more than 90 degrees on the end ... I'm pretty sure it's more than ... At any rate, no hook) so it shouldn't be any harder to pull out.

I dunno ... if they have enough belly they might be good for peeling a critter ... or is the blade too stiff?

 

[DocJD]

I have only one .

I actually tested to see if I could tell any significant difference in the difficulty to withdrawal the knife after stabbing deeply into various media .

For my particular knife , I detected very little difference . Nothing that would be a problem for SD / fighting , IMO .

Totally non-scientific and based only upon my experience and subjective judgement . So YMMV !

It's the little one in pic :

 

[Dr Heelhook]

I think they're mostly for looks, but also, since you're raising the back end of the clip offset from the spine, it means you won't have to remove as much material as far back when you're grinding in the swedge.

Not the best image in the world, but in figure 1, the grind line of the swedge needs to go way further back than in figure 2. You can solve the issue by cutting the swedge short, like in figure 3, but then you need to grind a plunge line into the spine.

 

[eveled]

The back of the "harpoon" isn't barbed (a barb is more than 90 degrees on the end ... I'm pretty sure it's more than ... At any rate, no hook) so it shouldn't be any harder to pull out.

I dunno ... if they have enough belly they might be good for peeling a critter ... or is the blade too stiff?

For some reason your post made me think about blades with “gut hooks”. They are not that far off from being a “Barb”. Also not that far off from being modified into a harpoon shape.

 

[shane45-1911]

I dunno ... if they have enough belly they might be good for peeling a critter ... or is the blade too stiff?

My BK 18 pictured above works nicely at skinning and dressing game. There is a generous belly, and although the blade is "stiff", it is relatively thin. I would prefer a full flat grind on this knive, but it works well.

 

[ferider]

Just wanted to add that - while I don’t believe in knife SD for myself - there are some tactical uses for a harpoon or Persian (Szabo and Keating, for instance).

 

[Crag the Brewer]

Just wanted to add that - while I don’t believe in knife SD for myself - there are some tactical uses for a harpoon or Persian (Szabo and Keating, for instance).

What are those said uses...?

 

[Crag the Brewer]

I don't understand the fad that says they are popular now?

It makes sense for some swords and choppers to want more weight at the tip......

but on a small knife? just seems weird to me. Very Mall Ninja/Tactical Goofy

(btw.... I LOVE me some trailing point)

 

[ferider]

What are those said uses...?

If I understand right, Keating puts the spine of the knife against his forearm. Szabo, uses the "hollow"/gap between harpoon and grip to push away attacker arms, among others.

Again, not applicable to my knife use at all, just what I remember reading.

Roland.