Lets talk GEC!

The (fairly) recent #35 Cattle Knife is all steel, as is the #68 Pony Jack - at least the ones I got are. Ditto a #77 Barlow from 2018 (the most expensive knife I ever bought).

Brass and steel are both nice, but I wish the Stag knives used steel liners and pins, because brass encourages the development of verdigris, which I don't like at all.
 
dovidola said:
The (fairly) recent #35 Cattle Knife is all steel, as is the #68 Pony Jack - at least the ones I got are. Ditto a #77 Barlow from 2018 (the most expensive knife I ever bought).

Brass and steel are both nice, but I wish the Stag knives used steel liners and pins, because brass encourages the development of verdigris, which I don't like at all.
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Those #35s felt very solid too, I don't mind the weight. The steel really suited them.
 
Also, interesting fact, brass is up to about 8% more dense than steel, so to frame in the best possible light, assuming the whole knife would increase 8% in density for ease of assumptions, my #21 bull buster would increase from 3.5 oz to 3.72 oz…

… or roughly the weight of an Opinel #2…

And only a small fraction of the knife’s make is is changing. The average person wouldn’t know the difference.
 
dovidola said:
Brass is heavier than steel
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EngrSorenson said:
Also, interesting fact, brass is up to about 8% more dense than steel, so to frame in the best possible light, assuming the whole knife would increase 8% in density for ease of assumptions, my #21 bull buster would increase from 3.5 oz to 3.72 oz…

… or roughly the weight of an Opinel #2…

And only a small fraction of the knife’s make is is changing. The average person wouldn’t know the difference.
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Interesting, thanks for the education. I’ve never handled a 3 bladed 35 other than the steel cattle knife so I guess I just mentally attributed the heft vs my other GEC multi-blades to the liners and bolsters. I suppose it’s more just the knife itself.
 
A bone knife has more heft than a wooden, stag, or acrylic hafted knife. Three blades will obviously be on average a third heavier than two (especially stockman blades since they tend to be stout and broad, vs some of the more delicate secondaries on other knives. Two bolsters vs many jacks that just have one, etc.
 
GaiusJulius said:
A bone knife has more heft than a wooden, stag, or acrylic hafted knife. Three blades will obviously be on average a third heavier than two (especially stockman blades since they tend to be stout and broad, vs some of the more delicate secondaries on other knives. Two bolsters vs many jacks that just have one, etc.
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Cattle bone is on average about 40% more dense than cocobolo, and about 30% more dense than acrylic.

Steel is roughly 520% more dense than cattle bone.

So while you’re technically correct, again, you’d have to have some well calibrated hands to tell the difference. Take the 488224 jack- mine weighs 2.5 ounces.

If you’re generous and assume the scales comprise 1/3 of the mass of the knife, 40% of 33% of 2.5 ounces is 1/3 of an ounce, or the weight of 1 quarter and 1 penny.
 
Ooooh you got me going now. I just weighed two #93 ramsfoot knives, one in micarta and one in cocobolo. Canvas micarta is 23% more dense than cocobolo.

Canvas micarta: 2.5 ounces on the money
Cocobolo: 2.36 ounces.

That’s a difference of 0.14 ounces or about 1.5 pennies. 6% increase in overall weight. With a knife where covers are a big part of the construction.

Ya’ll either have some sensitive hands, or it’s in your minds.
 
MarbReds said:
Those #35s felt very solid too, I don't mind the weight. The steel really suited them.
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Another factor in the weight of the recent 35s, in typical cattle knife construction, they’ve technically got four liners. The one extra liner on the pile side to accommodate fitting the spey blade. Also, caps on each end and the main blade spring goes nearly fully around the butt end.

That’s a lot of little things that add up. I agree though, the weight feels right for the knife. A very reassuring heft.
 
Hoffmajo89 said:
Another factor in the weight of the recent 35s, in typical cattle knife construction, they’ve technically got four liners. The one extra liner on the pile side to accommodate fitting the spey blade. Also, caps on each end and the main blade spring goes nearly fully around the butt end.
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Yessir, now that’s the stuff that makes a difference. More metal.
 
I have a bone 78 and cocobolo, and my well-calibrated (lol) hand feels a distinct difference when I pick them up. In isolation it might not be too noticeable but handling both in succession it’s very obvious there’s a weight difference.

I think because traditional knives are designed for real human hands and pockets, the little dimensional and weight differences that seem like nothing on paper are often quite detectable in-hand. Why does a 3 7/8” jackknife feel huge compared to a 3 1/2”? After all, 3/8” is pretty small, right?
 
GaiusJulius said:
I have a bone 78 and cocobolo, and my well-calibrated (lol) hand feels a distinct difference when I pick them up. In isolation it might not be too noticeable but handling both in succession it’s very obvious there’s a weight difference.

I think because traditional knives are designed for real human hands and pockets, the little dimensional and weight differences that seem like nothing on paper are often quite detectable in-hand. Why does a 3 7/8” jackknife feel huge compared to a 3 1/2”? After all, 3/8” is pretty small, right?
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And yet 3/8” is roughly 12.5% of the width of your hand, so I’m not surprised someone would remark that a knife 3/8” larger would seem big.

The other thing with knife dimensions is that they tend to grow it more than one direction as they’re scaled- increasing the overall volume of the knife. Case’s stockman varieties are a good example of that. The small stockman is a small fraction of the large stockman, even though it’s length is about half.
 
dovidola said:
The (fairly) recent #35 Cattle Knife is all steel, as is the #68 Pony Jack - at least the ones I got are. Ditto a #77 Barlow from 2018 (the most expensive knife I ever bought).

Brass and steel are both nice, but I wish the Stag knives used steel liners and pins, because brass encourages the development of verdigris, which I don't like at all.
Click to expand...
Certainly agree, rather than taking the shields away from Stag knives they should have made them a brass-free zone, at least the liners. Iron, stainless steel or even NS liners (although brassy do not promote the green slime nearly as much) are my preference for Stag.
 
dovidola said:
The (fairly) recent #35 Cattle Knife is all steel, as is the #68 Pony Jack - at least the ones I got are. Ditto a #77 Barlow from 2018 (the most expensive knife I ever bought).

Brass and steel are both nice, but I wish the Stag knives used steel liners and pins, because brass encourages the development of verdigris, which I don't like at all.
Click to expand...

Good point, I have one GEC stag knife and it’ll probably be my last.
 
As for the desirable weight for a knife, that's up to the individual, but when I want ultimate lightness (multiday hikes for example) I turn to an Opinel. By preference, the #6 (big enough for what I'm going to need and the backspine will raise a good spark from a ferro rod in the closed position), the Inox (better in damp conditions than the Carbone), and Walnut (doesn't swell like the standard Beech when wet, plus it's 2g lighter). Cheap as chips, 25g (or just under an ounce to our American friends), safety lock, decent handle, easily maintainable in the field, and still a 'proper' knife. Nothing comes close for the weight (unless you can tell me different).

Otherwise, it's a GEC pretty much every time, because the day always feels that bit better when there's a GEC in your pocket.
 
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