Monarch Handle Modification

Comprehensivist, This an excellent review, and a well done modification. Photos of knives in the hand are always useful. Thank you for including them so often in your posts.

For me the monarch is the fiddleback I have tried so far that allows me to have the highest number of secure grips, four altogether. These include the reverse grip that you show with your thumb locked around the pommel, and the grip in another of your photos -- with the thumb on the top of the handle -- that you say you use the most. (See photo below.)

With my hand shape and dimensions (not much wider than yours, but longer span) the monarch works especially well with a three-fingered grip for that same thumb-on-top grip you use. (The reverse grip works me as a four-fingered grip, same as you.) In fact, the key factor of the handle's ergonomics that makes a three-fingered grip so secure for me is the flaring, angular part that you had to remove in order to make the pommel comfortable for you. (See second photo.) The taller handle is also helpful, and because of where the pommel ends on my hand, the angular pommel does not dig into my palm.

In sum --- great blade shape, four versatile and secure grips, a tall handle, and at a little under four ounces, not much heavier than a hiking buddy. Thanks again for all your excellent posts, especially for those of us just learning about Fiddlebacks.

Jim

....image.jpgimage.jpg
 
Jim,

Thank you for your well thought out reply and helpful photos. I appreciate your explanation of the various grip options that make this design so versatile to you. I agree with you that the flared pommel is both practical and attractive on this knife. My main issue was the sharp corners on the pommel point of my particular knife. Some examples of this model have more radiused corners than mine which may make this issue moot to the user. I am glad the corners on your pommel don’t bother you and actually facilitate multiple grip options for you. I am sure that is the way Andy designed it.

My intent with this thread was not to make a statement that my modification represents a design improvement. It does not. My intent was to document my personal preferences and dislikes and document how I made changes to fit my personal use of this knife. I am not encouraging anyone else to make a similar modifications. A secondary reason for starting this thread was to make a statement about the debate between user knives and keeping pristine collector examples. I have both. In this case, I wanted to show that it is a favorite user and that I am not afraid to modify a relatively expensive knife to make it a perfect user for ME. Your personal needs, wants, likes, etc. will vary and I totally respect that.

Andy did not comment one way or the other on this thread. There is no need for him to do so even though I would like to hear his comments on the various aspects of the design. Whether it was a coincidence or not, I did find it interesting that there was a Monarch in the 02/27/15 batch that Lavawood scored that appears to retain the flaring on the pommel while eliminating the sharp point that bothered me. The original fotki pictures of that knife are shown below. I would like to see more close up photos of the pommel end of that knife because it might be the perfect rendition of what my personal pommel design would be on this model. Again, that is just my preference and your mileage may vary.





Thanks again to everybody who commented in this thread. I value your opinions.

Phil
 
The pattern has not changed. It could have been a mess up in the scribe
It could have been an "oops " in the profile,it could have been crappy photos.. I was trying to highlight the racing stripes BTW
Who knows with a handmade knife
 
Vance,

I am sure that you are right about the Monarch template not being changed. I just noticed in the Fotki photos referenced above that those are two different knives. The Monarch has black pins and liners and the other one has natural pins and liners which means that is the Bushcrafter from that batch.

I apologize for the mistaken assumption on my part.

Phil
 
Phil,

I understood your intent -- modification of a user and not design improvement. Your thread prompted me to figure out why Monarch handles work so well for me. As someone new to fiddleback's I'm always looking for clues about what handles might be worth trying. It makes me wonder whether there are any threads about why different handles work well in some hands and not in others. For example I have the same trouble with a bushcrafter that you have with Your monarch. Jim
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top