How great a slicer does YOUR regular EDC need to be ?

I really depends on what's on my plate for the day. Around the house and in the woods or hunting and fishing, I prefer slicey. Usually slicey is okay at work but if I am building a network or working a rack in a datacenter, I need something with a good point on thickish stock for cutting zip ties and stripping ethernet jackets - and for ethernet, I need very sharp but not too slicey so I don't nick the insulation on the conductors. I try to carry something that fits the day's tasks.
 
Excellent...95% of my EDC use is food or cardboard/paper so I highly value slicing/ability to take a keen edge over most other traits.
 
I rarely have need for a knife that's not a good slicer. Slicing ability is usually one of the first things I look for in a knife, followed closely by grip comfort for my hand.
 
Shaving sharp is a requisite. I mostly prep food, cut cardboard or shave wood to start the fireplaces. The thinner the faster the fire start!
 
Pomsbz said:
It's not me, I wish I had that guys knowledge, humour and strength! I was mentioning my own Opinel in reference to his video.
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His videos are utterly charming. I love watching him build a shelter with a slip joint, as well as with Opinels and other knives. Also, he is honest when things don’t work out. There’s one where he uses a Case Trapper, I think, and bails out in the night as the shelter just isn’t good enough to cope with the rain. Knife gets a thumbs up, though. Well worth watching his videos. And he doesn’t rate Ganzos, so in my view he is winning on every level. ;)

Also, the videos give a great view of the bloody weather we put up with... ;)
 
vwb563 said:
Must be a slicer blade for me. I have no use for a splitting maul.
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Same here. I don’t quite get the thick pocket knife thing. I use my knives to cut though. Some people just need a “metal scrapey wedge” type thing and that’s cool. It’s just not how I use knives. That said I don’t reprofile my edc’s to make them more slicey. My factory ground hap40 Delica is about where it’s at.
 
sharp_edge said:
Try your delicate slicers on those tough/hard plastic straps that hold toy pieces in the factory boxes, you'll understand why thin and slicing is not always the best choice. Even for food prep, a stout knife can excel sometimes, like dealing with squash, for which slicing does not always get the work done (i.e., chopping is needed)
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I have had the exact opposite experience. The best knife for squash I have is less than 3/32 with a very thin concave bevel. Made from something just north of pot metal. Plastic strapping also better with thin knives IME. Moras in the woods too. I actually believe that thin knives are best for everything except prying. I can’t see any reason to ever go back to thick bladed knives. Even my axes and machetes have thinner blades than some of the prybars out there. We must use knives different.
 
The old Espada is probably more slicey than you gave it credit for. It has a wide blade and hollow ground, I think.

I cut food probably 50% of the time with my EDC, so I want it to be an at least an 8/10 in sliciness.

My current favorites are Spyderco Native and Spydiechef. Native is questionable as to whether or would go straight across an apple; might have to take it apart radially...

Is that a good enough reason for me to buy a Manix2? o_O
 
I'd rather two knives for two jobs than one knife that does neither. For my EDCs that's all slicers, and for most of my other other knives its the same. Odd things for odd jobs. If I know I'm going to need a certain knife, I take it with. There is little reason for me to have a short heavy chopper for anything. Aussie timber being what it is, I would either need a machete for the vines or a saw for the wood, nothing really in the middle would be efficient where I am. So that handle the bushcraft side, and in an urban environment, what am I going to need a chopper for?
 
I usually carry multiples for different tasks. Thicker for fighting off ninjas.... a thinner blade for apples, and a few in between.

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A thinner knife for me means less drag when I cut something. Sometimes it doesn't matter if the blade is thick or thin. A good utility knife cuts like nobodies business, but the blades are short and brittle. I don't like those break off utility knife blades. Besides, a thinner blade for me cuts better dull than a thicker blade.
 
reppans said:
in other threads) a longer blade can handle smaller tasks better than vice versa, .
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This is often repeated here, but it's completely false. The longer blades have terrible tip control, compared to the shorter ones.
 
Smaug said:
This is often repeated here, but it's completely false. The longer blades have terrible tip control, compared to the shorter ones.
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Its a matter of preference. All things as a compromise, I'd rather a knife I can choke up on if I need to do something delicate with the tip, rather than try to work on a large knife task (dismantling a watermelon with a Vic classic just to be absurdist) with a tiny knife. But that is just me, obviously not everyone does. In general a smaller knife is going to need more care and skill to be as useful (within limits of course) of a larger knife, for a given task (in broad strokes). One aspect of knife usage doesn't invalidate an adage of knife usage, which contains unspoken caveats.

Also this boy gets in trouble if the knives in the house get too dull, so lets be careful with the generalizations. I've personally met more men who made comment of dull knives being safer than I have women, and I know more knife wielding females than I think is average.
 
sharp_edge said:
Try your delicate slicers on those tough/hard plastic straps that hold toy pieces in the factory boxes, you'll understand why thin and slicing is not always the best choice. Even for food prep, a stout knife can excel sometimes, like dealing with squash, for which slicing does not always get the work done (i.e., chopping is needed)
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I use my slicers on those straps often. Most often slices right through with an easy push.
 
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