Is the Camillus EDC Recurve Blade Really Useful?

Peter Atwood

Peter Atwood

Joined
Oct 26, 2000
Messages
2,468
I think the title says it all. Do you really find that recurve blade shape to be useful? I don't. I tried to remove some plastic wrappers from some VCR tapes yesterday and couldn't even get the thing to cut through it. And my blade is SHARP. A razor blade proved much more useful for this task.

I've tried it for many other everyday chores as well. Don't get me wrong, I think it is one of the sexiest LOOKING blades out there. The design of the knife is one of the best I have ever seen. The price is definitely right too. The knife itself is a little too small though even for my small hands.

SO I guess my beef is with that upswept blade shape. It's not so good for things where the object is to scrape or lightly pry as you might need to do in whittling for example. And rather than giving you extra slicing action, I find the recurve portion to just be limiting especially when using the knife for scraping type tasks where you want more of the edge in contact with a surface. Not good for cleaning fingernails either.

What's your experience?
 
I had an EDC that I sold because I couldn't dig the blade shape. The point was very high and thick, and the big fat belly got in the way more than it helped slicing. Other than that it was a great knife.

I can understand the appeal of a recurve in a larger knife, but on a 3" folder it might be overkill.
 
I find the EDC’s recurved blade to be quite useful. No, it doesn’t perform every single task beautifully, but I find it to accomplish most urban tasks better than a straight blade. It’s a trade-off though. You lose the precision work for very small jobs, and gain quite a bit of cutting performance on large jobs. The opposite of the recurve might be the wonderful wharncliffe style blade. Wharncliffes are a walk in the park for precision work, but I’d easily bust the tip off a wharncliffe doing some stuff that I do with my EDC. I guess you might call the recurve and wharncliffe to be somewhat specialized and extremely styled blades, while the clip and drop point are a nice middle ground.

All in all, I like the EDC’s recurve. It packs a lot of power into a very small package. I might not prefer or need so much recurve on a larger knife, but love it on something the size of the EDC.
 
Personaly I dig CUDA EDC blade shape. It looks nice, and cuts nice too.

Usualy I use it to open boxes, envelops, packages and stuff, and it do nice (now I prefere my new Kersaw chive for all opening task :)

but EDC still always with me (this weekend I helped my friend to repair my car, and we needed to cut air conditioning hoses it did the jub nice and easy :)
 
It really depends on what you want to do with a knife. I have never used an EDC, but have used a couple of other knives with recurve blades. For long cuts and recurve works very well because of the fact that there is more edge. For precision work you probably want a finer tip. Another problem for doing precision cutting is when the blade has a big, fat belly with a steep drop from the point. With this kind of blade it is hard to get the point involved in the cut.

Peter, I don't think your problem is necessarily with the recurve as much as it is with the tip geometry.
 
For this size of knife I think the Spyderco Delica has a more useful blade shape.

Allen.
 
I like those EDC's but I like a much pointier tip as most the time I use a knife its for jabbing into stuff then cutting. plus I like cleaning my fingernails w/ my knives. ;)
 
It's hard to tell whether this is about recurved blades, ora combination of recurve + blade size.

Recurved blades will so easily outslice a "regular" blade, in many materials, that it can be a great choice. The downsides are that recurved blades are trickier to sharpen, and for some uses where you want the entire edge to be cutting at the same time (e.g., food prep) it doesn't work as well. So generally speaking, recurved vs. not-recurved boils down to what your uses are -- and for a number of uses, recurved will easily outperform non-recurved.

That said, for what I personally use a small (3" or less) blade for, I concur with allenc, I like an incredibly sharp tip and rather straightish edge, so the delica works great for me (plus I love the opening hole).

Joe
 
Peter, the reason your EDC didn't work as well as you expected to remove the plastic wrappers wasn't because of the recurve, but because it doesn't have a pointy tip. Some knives, like the 710 and Carnivour, have small recurves and pointy tips. Some knives, like the Sifu and Kershaw Boa, have big recurves and pointy tips. Some knives, like the Emerson Commander and EDC, have big recurves and not pointy tips. What you needed was a pointy tip, the recurve didn't have anything to do with it. Same deal with cleaning fingernails.

I've found that recurved blades work better for whittling than non-recurved blades, because the recurve "hugs" the wood, giving a larger contact area between the blade and wood.

Straighter blades do scrape better, and a tanto will be the best scraper of them all.

The EDC might not be the best knife for you. It does have a thick, not pointy tip. I think the EDC is a great knife, but I don't carry mine. For something of that size I more often use my Native or Forum 705.

Overall, I think the most useful and versatile blade shape for me would be something with a big recurve and a pointy tip. Unfortunately there aren't many of those out there.
 
Sounds like it just doesn't fit your needs, but at least it gave you some things to look for (or avoid) in your next knife. Never know how well something will work for you 'til you try.
Most of my personal use for an EDC knife is slicing, so I really like recurves. My carbon fiber EDC has a similar blade, and is a great slicer. The belly comes in handy for small straight cuts, and the tip has been fine for anything I've used it for.
It opens anything from plastic wrap on DVDs to large 1/2"+ thick carboard shipping containers as if they had a zipper in them.
The blade width makes it awkward for peeling fruit, and whittling (the recurve will remove alot of wood in a hurry, but doesn't offer the control a straighter or narrower blade will), but that's ok with me. I carry an SAK for stuff like that.
I haven't tried the Camillus EDC. Maybe your tip is just ground thick, or rounded off. I've got a bad habit of rounding off tips with my quickie Sharpmaker technique, and am sometimes left disappointed with my tips when it comes to little stuff. It was suggested to me that I try using a little "finesse" with my knives, so I've been being more careful:)
 
Yeah, it's probably more of a tip issue than anything. I prefer more of a modified wharncliffe or spearpoint shapes for everyday work. I have been finding the Strider AR or knives of my own making to be much better workers. It's just a little frustrating to me since I do find the EDC to be so visually well designed.

Also, I have handled several of forumite 92Degrees' custom versions and they are a much bigger knife and more comfortable in the hand. I still think they are gorgeous designs, just wish they were a little better suited to my purposes.
 
Originally posted by Peter Atwood
It's just a little frustrating to me since I do find the EDC to be so visually well designed.
Click to expand...
A while ago there was a discussion in the Camillus forum about the possibility of a bigger EDC, with Ti handles and a really good blade steel. The forumites wanted it, the management didn't :( but it hilights the fact that the EDC is very well designed, and with some modifications could appeal to a lot more people than it does at present. Oh, well, I wonder if anyone could make me a custom EDC?
 
Perhaps you should look at the Outdoor Edge Paragee. Very similar construction to the EDC. Both were designed by Mr. Ralph. Fit and finish are excellent. And it has a more pointy tip.
 
Good call on the Paragree. A very nice knife for the money, and AUS-8 is plenty tough for a blade that size.
 
I was actually more drawn to the Paragee than the EDC when I first them. Nobody around here carries them though, so I couldn't try one out first hand. Has anyone here actually owned one?
 
The Paragee is just the production version of the Apogee custom. Which was the forerunner of the EDC. I had an Apogee, but have not had an Paragee. If they are very simular, then it is a good knife. Less recurve than the EDC, more tip. might have to get myself one.
 
Peter, I have got to agree that the handles of the EDC are not long enough. I had one, but I sold it because it would just not fit my hand, and I have average size hands. I love the design, materials, workmanship, and pricing, but I believe Camillus just missed on the handle length. I could live with longer handles at the same blade length it is now. The frame lock and the slim profile is exactly what I am looking for in a knife.

I just recently bought a Spyderco Dyad Jr. FRN double lock back. The plain edge flat ground blade has a point on it that just want quit, and the blade thickness is very thin. It will cut the plastic wrappers with ease. I have opened decks of cards, bolonga wrappers, luch meat wrappers, picked a splinter or two with it, and shaved some hairs with it. It might not be the "EDC", but would be a good back up to one. If you are left handed, forget it because it was designed for a right hander. If you are right handed, it is easily opened with one hand, and the Spydie drop works perfect to open it. Overall, the shape of the flat ground blade has to be the best I have come across for the really small tasks. I picked up a NIB Dyad Jr, here on the forums for $32.00, and I have been loving it ever since.
Big D1
 
I have a Paragee and carry it quite often. Same overall size and construction as the EDC but less recurve and more of a point. I like it.
 
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