How to design a fighting knife?

C

Casey Conley

Joined
Oct 25, 2022
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I've been looking and researching, reading and watching videos. I've seen James Keating, Robert Redfeather, Bill Bagwell, Lynn Thompson etc. My question I guess is what makes the perfect fighting knife? Is it largely just a matter of opinion? I've seen the Natchez and the Laredo, the hells belle, fairbairn-sykes, the smatchet. I watched some of Bagwells videos where he states his knife blades have 5 (I think) different tempers in the blade. I watched another video where a guy reviewed his paired hells belle bowies, a lefty and a righty, where Bagwell supposedly accounted for things like shoulder drop, skeletal leverage, and growth disparities between two sides of the body when making the knives and figuring out the edge geometry. Does anyone actually sit down and try to account for these sort of things when designing a knife or is it just BS? If it's true, how do you go about tailoring a knife to someone's body and what aspects or design elements go into creating the perfect custom fighter that performs well at it's job. Obviously I'm not looking to get into any knife fights, and I have no delusions of grandeur about fighting off swordsmen on the sandbar. In today's day and age you can just carry a gun bug I thought it was interesting none the less.
 
I would think the variables are so many it comes down to personal preference and opinion. Bowie, smatchet, dagger, or karambit, they're all fighting knives.
 
It is almost like asking "What type of rifle is best". It depends on the use and size/type desired. It also depends on your equipment and abilities.

As far as a generic answer, a Bowie is probably the most common "fighting knife". Bowies have many shapes and sizes to fit different uses.
 
Very Easy to do....but first you need to define "fighting knife"

Then, I'll tell you how it's Supposed to be.


*ps I think you answered your own question
 
-Are you talking duelling? That's romantic and FAKE now a days.
-Are you talking sentry removal? Even rarer
-are you taking self defense?
-are you talking prison survival?
What???
 
The vast majority of fighting knives are for posing. talk to the person you're making it for and work out the details with them. if it's for you make something you think looks cool :P
Look into various daggers too; roundels, tantos, dirks ect.

IMO, based on the fighting i've been taught:
heat treat more for toughness, i would go with 5160 as default. humans are pretty squishy
not too tall a blade, a lot of bowies are too tall imo. 20-30cm, good balance with distal taper. it's for stabbing and a bit of slashing, not for heavy chops
tailoring to a specific person is only necessary if they really know what they are doing, and in that case talk to them about it
 
mooniesdl3 said:
To a point yes but it needs to be balanced properly. Even a heavy knife can feel light if balanced properly, a tip heavy knife will feel heavier than it actually is
Click to expand...
This tends to be a very common problem with modern CNC machined knives. They often have zero distal taper, and those overweight full profile tangs, also with no taper. Ive seen some so called "survival" knives that are as heavy as some swords. They must feel like swinging a crowbar around, absolutely insane.
 
I'm definitely in the "what kind of knife fighting" camp. Ask a Tanto-jutsu guy and a Escrima guy what they think the perfect fighting knife is, and you're going to get very different answers.

That being said, anything sleek, shiny and dangerous looking, with a handle that feels like it's grabbing you back is a good start for a modern "fighting" knife.
 
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Not a “fighting” knife, more of a defensive knife. This would be my choice for a knife to have in a bad situation with a bi pedal problem
 
I designed the Death Fang 3000 for just this kind of thing.
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Big and black, with teeth is always popular...the R.E.K.A.T boys definitely had fighting in mind and Al Mar made the design even larger😂
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“Fighting” knives are pretty personal really. What’s perfect for one isn’t even close for someone else. Take some lessons and find out how a knife is used in combat. Experience will guide your design. Of course the more skill you gain in fighting arts/skills, you’ll discover that it’s really not the knife that is important. A skilled person in combat tactics can use ANYTHING sharp more effectively that an unskilled user with the “best” knife. I have found some common themes though in the top designs, fast and accessible are two attributes most martial arts types look for.
 
Keep in mind that for most of history, the best design for a fighting knife was to put it at the end of a very long stick.

But aside from pole arms, swords and such; back when people still carried and relied on fighting knives, they tended to be BIG. Look at Bauernwehr knives, Dirks, Rondel Daggers, gaucho knives, khyber knives, Kukris, even historical bowie knives. All huge. All massively murdery. All awesome.
 
First you have to be actively fighting, whilst drawing your design!
Left handed, canted blades, super ring guardy hooks are very cool.
But most fighters are in essence pretty simple, thing sharp broomstick. To much specialiastion can make a knife clumsy.
A lot of makers miss the importance of a good sheath and carry sytem for fighters, if its not comfortable you wont carry it, if its not simple it might not work.
Look at videos of combat systems that use knives and think like a knifemaker not a ninja.
 
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