I sure wish they'd stop making great knives that have RECURVE blades

I like recurves a lot. They pack a lot of cutting power for their size... usually. I don't have a problem sharpening them at all. I just use a big ceramic rod and a strop. If it gets really dull, I use just the corners on the sharpmaker. I take a ceramic stick sharpener with me when I go campin' etc.

Since I didn't have the right tools to sharpen recurved blades, I improvised. The cutting ability and good looks are too good to miss out on!

Here's a good example of one too good to miss out on:

LEO+3.jpg
 
I always wondered about recurves, then I got an amphibian. Yeah Baby! Boy does it like to cut. As to reprofiling in the field, who actually does that? I've never found myself out for so long and with my knife so abused that I needed to reprofile the edge whilst traveling. For quick and easy maintainance, Gatco makes a small pocket sharpener that has two different grits of ceramic rods for around $10.00 that easily fits in your pocket. Mine lives in my laptop bag and goes everywhere with me. I can't count the number of touch ups I've done for other folks with that thing. Every knut should have one.

John
 
I love recurved blades. In fact I like them so much that I got my large TNT with a recurve. Sure sharpening on a flat stone is difficult to impossible, but isn't that why we have round or triangle stones? I have no problems keeping my recurves nice and sharp on my Sharpmaker.

So why do I like the recurved blade? Well first of all a well done recurve knife just has a lot of eye appeal, to me anyway. It is also a very useful blade shape for many tasks. Sure if you are at a disadvantage if you want to use it for cooking, but you could always use another knife for cooking. And if you don't have one a recurve will be able to work, just it isn't as optimal as say a drop point. I will have to agree with jmxcpter about reprofiling in the field. With the steels used today that seem to hold an edge forever I can't see needing to do a severe sharpening job in the field. As long as the edge is kept up as it should be a reprofiling job will never really be necessary.
 
I'm pleased to hear that so many of you don't like recurves...that leaves more of them for me! :D

I firmly believe that the various blade shapes each have their strengths and weaknesses. The recurve incorporates elements of several different popular blade shapes. That makes it less optimized than any of its components, but also more versatile. My choice for a carry blade is always going to be as generalized as possible, since I don't know what I will need it for at the time I select it.

My EDCs, along with my common alternates, are nearly all recurves.

--Bob Q
 
I love recurves. They look sexy and are high performance cutters. I have found that, especially with today's wonder steels, I don't have to reprofile when I'm "in the field".
 
I like recurved blades.

I use a Gerber diamond rod that I bought at Walmart for $6. It works very well at touching up any style of blade. I have even reprofiled a blade using it, and it worked great.

Get the right tools to maintain your blades, practice using those tools, and the blade shape or type shouldn't matter.
 
Another vote for recurve blades. They slice a lot easier. Not that you often use a big recurve like a Randall Sasquatch, Busse Mr. Mojo, HI AK Bowie, or Robert Hankins Bear Slayer for slicing a leg of lamb, but it is sure a lot easier. :)
I haven't had trouble sharpening recurves, not even my JW Smith mini-Scimitar folder. I've only had to use a Lansky dogbone to touch it up. I've used Arkansas and water stones on my Mojo and Bear Slayer, and ceramic rods on my Sasquatch. It just takes patience.
I like the way recurves look, and I like the way they slice. The belly just seems to cut through things faster than a straighter blade, like a Sebenza, Battle Mistress, etc. Plus on a large blade, a recurve helps with chopping.
 
Originally posted by NGK-Webmaster
I just can't consider the 710 a recurve there is just not enough there, maybe a little but not enough to be a recurve, atleast to me anyway.
Click to expand...
:) Your own website calls it a "Drop Point w/Recurve"! Owned! :p
 
I agree that recurves are generally more trouble than they are worth. I have a couple long kitchen knives with distinct swollen bellies that serve special purposes such as slicing turkey off of a carcass, but I generally avoid recurves. They really don't like to mate with flat surfaces like cutting boards which reduces the utility of the base region of the blades. They are also a pain to sharpen.

I own two Camillus EDC's. I like the size and the construction and I got one with the 154CM alloy blade and the other with D2 alloy. I was not satisfied with the factory edge on either one of them (well truthfully I am never satisfied with a factory edge) so I bought an oval cross-sectioned diamond sharpening rod just to reprofile the edge on those two knives. Even with improved edges I am not seeing any benefit to the recurve shape of those blades.
 
Originally posted by Boink
Who goes "into the field" and cuts so much that they dull the recurve blade anyway? What are you doing that you cut so much "in the field" that this has to be a concern? How far away do you go, and are you walking all that way and very secluded so that you couldn't, for example, have a nice sharpening system sitting in your car?
Click to expand...

I just got a mini-commander, and I can't sharpen it up to shaving sharp. yes, when out in the field - my 3 week backpacking/paddling trips in places where I fly/ship to, I don't have the benefit of a sharpening system like the sharpmaker etc. In fact, the only thing I carry is a self-made small leather strop made out of an old wallet I cannibalised.

I love recurves but hate sharpening them.
 
Well, I have an oval shaped diamond sharpener, so I've never had a problem sharpening recurves. Ya'll need to git one and quit whining.

The one I have is kinda shaped and used like a steel, but it's about 1 1/2" wide, oval in cross section, and diamond coated. Got it for $20 several years ago and have never seen another. However, a quick search yeilded some results that might also work well.

Wusthoff diamond 'steel'

oh, here's a whole page of 'em
 
ive got a Rampage (RJ Martin)and that things got a recurve from hell...RJ suggested a spyderco sharpmaker and so far no problems...ive also got a Mamba and it works great on that as well.....respects.
 
Originally posted by jmxcpter
I always wondered about recurves, then I got an amphibian. Yeah Baby! Boy does it like to cut. As to reprofiling in the field, who actually does that? I've never found myself out for so long and with my knife so abused that I needed to reprofile the edge whilst traveling. For quick and easy maintainance, Gatco makes a small pocket sharpener that has two different grits of ceramic rods for around $10.00 that easily fits in your pocket. Mine lives in my laptop bag and goes everywhere with me. I can't count the number of touch ups I've done for other folks with that thing. Every knut should have one.

John
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Wow. I haven't done an actual count, but it seems like we're kinda split on this. It's not a blowout, like, ohhh, blade holes versus studs. ;)

I'm just wondering if anyone really claims that recurve makes that much difference in "cutting power." I mean, if you take that pic on page two of this thread: if you "straightened" that curve out, how much more linear edge would you have over the same blade without recurve? I'd say if you got an 1/8 of an inch that way, it'd be a lot.

I was not saying that someone would really come to need to do major sharpening in the field. But I know that some people do bring a stone with them: some sheaths have space for a small rectangular stone. You can't fit a rig to sharpen recurve in that, can you? And if no one's gonna sharpen afield, why have the stone in the sheath?

I will grant that some knives look a lot cooler in recurve. I just don't like the impracticality of them, so in that way I'm split on them. I'll tell you, though, I will not be buying any more of them. I used to like my Mini Pit Bull a lot more than I do now, because when I got it, I didn't think about recurve. I was a newbie about that. Once I realized that I couldn't sharpen that part near the um, what is that, hilt? That's when I decided it was not 100% a great knife for me. (Plus it's not a great steel.)

Surprised at the response this thread got!

---Jeffrey
 
Not all recurves are great but some certainly have a charm of their own.

I treat recurves on a case-by-case basis. :)
 
Originally posted by spyken
I just got a mini-commander, and I can't sharpen it up to shaving sharp. yes, when out in the field - my 3 week backpacking/paddling trips in places where I fly/ship to, I don't have the benefit of a sharpening system like the sharpmaker etc. In fact, the only thing I carry is a self-made small leather strop made out of an old wallet I cannibalised.

I love recurves but hate sharpening them.
Click to expand...

OK, so you're living off the land and making your way hacking through a jungle. You bring the appropriate knife and sharpening system. Still no reason to wish as the thread title does, "I wish they'd stop making great knives with recurve blades" with the primary reason being field sharpening. Is there anyone here who has only one knife? :)
 
If I carried a recurve into the field and had a small stone on the sheath it would not be a major problem. I would take the hone and round the edges and smooth the sides by rugging lengthwise on smooth sidewalk cement. To do my field sharpening I would use the sides of the hone rather than the wider top and bottom sides. This will fit the curve adequately. If it was a dual grit hone I would use the hone edge on the fine grit to finish with.
 
I can do without recurve blades too.
I even question the notion that you gain any real slicing advantage.

The vast majority of kitchen and butcher knives are not recurves and they are designed primarily for slicing.
And have you ever seen a recurve fillet knife or fruit knife?

Allen.
 
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