Looking for a good "traditional" knife

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flyxguydom

Joined
Aug 18, 2016
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So I want something small and ergonomic. Blade size between 2 and 4 inches with good steel, preferably something with a good carbon content, I'm not to keen on stainless
 
How many blades? What blade pattern(s)?
I'd suggest looking at a Case website to get an idea of the patterns available and what looks good.
 
flyxguydom said:
So I want something small and ergonomic. Blade size between 2 and 4 inches with good steel, preferably something with a good carbon content, I'm not to keen on stainless
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I don't have a good suggestion other than please take note that traditional knives are usually measured by closed length. Rarely will you see the blade length noted on the dealer's website but it does happen sometimes.

Also please note that a traditional knife with a 4 inch blade won't be a small knife.
 
Railsplitter said:
I don't have a good suggestion other than please take note that traditional knives are usually measured by closed length. Rarely will you see the blade length noted on the dealer's website but it does happen sometimes.

Also please note that a traditional knife with a 4 inch blade won't be a small knife.
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^^ What Rick said.

A traditional knife with a 4" blade will be anything but small. A Buck 110 has a 3.75" blade and that thing is a monster; great knife, but I can't imagine carrying one in a pocket, it'd be like hauling a brick around with you.

There is an incredible variety in traditional knives, and plenty available in non-stainless. So much variety that I think you really would need to narrow down your criteria before any good suggestions could be made. Take a look around the "What Traditional are ya totin' today?" thread to get an idea, ask specific questions about knives you see there (most of us are happy to talk more about the knives we post when given the opportunity :D).
 
'Ergonomic' for a traditional knife to me means single blade. It also means big handle. My recommendation would be a sod-buster pattern. Maybe a Case Sodbuster in CV steel slipjoint or maybe a new Great Eastern Cutlery Cody Scout #72 lockback with 1095. I am not a fan of traditional lockbacks so my personal choice would be the Case Sodbuster.
 
To kind of build on what's been said above, a 2.5" blade length would be somewhere around average for a traditional. That's why combining the criteria of 4" blade with a small knife makes it tough to offer a good suggestion. I myself started off with really big traditionals and have worked my way down to more average sizes. The first that I carried for any length of time was a GEC 23, which has 4" blades, but I'd hardly consider that a small knife. Quite the opposite, it's big and heavy.

I'd suggest that you start out looking at dogleg trappers. They're long, but slender. If you grab a single blade variant they carry very easily and are quite ergonomic. The Texas Toothpick is another pattern that has a long blade but carries very easily and is comfortable in hand. I'd grab a Rough Rider or similar brand so that you can figure out if you like the pattern before spending a ton of money. That's what I did, and it helped quite a bit.
 
right, 2.5'' or a little bit more would give you the GEC 15, which has a blade length of about 2.67''
 
Also, if you're coming from the modern world especially and are nervous about not having a lock on your knife (not that you should be if you're using it correctly), I'd recommend the GEC 72 or 73, same model but different locks (I think). It's VERY comfortable in my hand, at least, has a nice longer blade than what you'd find on many other traditionals, and it comes with a backlock (73) or linerlock (72), and looks nice also.


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The Case medium copperlock is a good option, and there are also lost of good small Barlow's from gec.
Also just remember that the most comfortable knives in hand are ones that don't really try to be ergonomic 👍 ( Barlow's, and equal ends like cigar patterns allow you to hold the knife however you want )
 
Yeah, I just looked into those Texas Toothpicks and they are beautiful. I'm gonna pick up one now thanks a lot.
 
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