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- May 17, 2006
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The Most Comfortable Knife Handles I have Reviewed
As a knife collector I have many different knives for many different reasons. Some were gifts and some were hard earned. Do you remember the first knife you really wanted? Drooling over any pictures you could get your hands on and waiting impatiently for the brown truck to enter your street? I remember looking out the window waiting so long for my TOPS knives; the neighbors must have thought I was a jack-o-lantern. You know the feeling!
Grown Up Now?
Well these days now that we’re all grown up, at least that’s what everyone else thinks, some of us are a little more patient. Maybe that feeling has diminished a bit or maybe we are still looking. I have noticed my taste in cutlery (along with some other things) has changed drastically in the last few years. The more I use knives the more I need them to be…simple. As an avid hiker, backpacker, woods bum, I’ve had plenty reason to keep a knife on me. I am sure we all have our selection process as to which knives get to go and which ones get left behind. This is serious business to us knife geeks, weighing the many situations we may find ourselves in. Fantasizing about the end of the world, spaceships landing, “I better get my knife out and cut something”, survival situation. Yes, serious stuff here. Well for me it’s a little different. Think about this for a minute, whether it’s a walking stick, hiking shoes, backpack or underwear, we want something comfortable. So why should our knife be any different? In my opinion if the handle of a knife isn’t comfortable it doesn’t leave the case. If it is real uncomfortable is gets put in “The Basket”. Let me tell you about “The Basket”. Think, Pleasure Island from Pinocchio, where all the bad knives go and do whatever they want to do. It is a place where silly knives with saws attached to them go. You can also find some other top of the line knives from exotic places like Pakistan and China there. Remember those gift knives I was talking about?
You’re Invited
Here are some knives that I’ve had the pleasure of using at home and out on the trail. I feel these knives are very comfortable and user friendly.
ML Knives Kephart
I think the Kephart style handle is the king of the hill in my book. It is round and smooth with a small guard built in as part of the handle. The wood scales did not absorb much heat in my hands while using in the desert.
This is an original style bush knife as simple as they get.
Handle Length-4 3/16”
Thickness-13/16”
Tiger Maple
RAT Cutlery RC-4
Call me crazy but I see some similarities in both the Kephart and RC-4, simple comfortable with a more pronounced guard and exposed tang. Rounded micarta scales nearly indestructible.
Handle Length-4 5/16” with choil 4 7/8”
BLK Micarta
Breeden Kelly Knife
G-10 scales nice and round. A small cut out that serves as a guard. This handle gives lots of freedom for the user. There is no way a person could ever get hot spots with this knife, or lose it.
Handle Length-4 1/4”
Thickness-5/8”
Orange G-10
As a knife collector I have many different knives for many different reasons. Some were gifts and some were hard earned. Do you remember the first knife you really wanted? Drooling over any pictures you could get your hands on and waiting impatiently for the brown truck to enter your street? I remember looking out the window waiting so long for my TOPS knives; the neighbors must have thought I was a jack-o-lantern. You know the feeling!
Grown Up Now?
Well these days now that we’re all grown up, at least that’s what everyone else thinks, some of us are a little more patient. Maybe that feeling has diminished a bit or maybe we are still looking. I have noticed my taste in cutlery (along with some other things) has changed drastically in the last few years. The more I use knives the more I need them to be…simple. As an avid hiker, backpacker, woods bum, I’ve had plenty reason to keep a knife on me. I am sure we all have our selection process as to which knives get to go and which ones get left behind. This is serious business to us knife geeks, weighing the many situations we may find ourselves in. Fantasizing about the end of the world, spaceships landing, “I better get my knife out and cut something”, survival situation. Yes, serious stuff here. Well for me it’s a little different. Think about this for a minute, whether it’s a walking stick, hiking shoes, backpack or underwear, we want something comfortable. So why should our knife be any different? In my opinion if the handle of a knife isn’t comfortable it doesn’t leave the case. If it is real uncomfortable is gets put in “The Basket”. Let me tell you about “The Basket”. Think, Pleasure Island from Pinocchio, where all the bad knives go and do whatever they want to do. It is a place where silly knives with saws attached to them go. You can also find some other top of the line knives from exotic places like Pakistan and China there. Remember those gift knives I was talking about?
You’re Invited
Here are some knives that I’ve had the pleasure of using at home and out on the trail. I feel these knives are very comfortable and user friendly.
ML Knives Kephart
I think the Kephart style handle is the king of the hill in my book. It is round and smooth with a small guard built in as part of the handle. The wood scales did not absorb much heat in my hands while using in the desert.
This is an original style bush knife as simple as they get.
Handle Length-4 3/16”
Thickness-13/16”
Tiger Maple
RAT Cutlery RC-4
Call me crazy but I see some similarities in both the Kephart and RC-4, simple comfortable with a more pronounced guard and exposed tang. Rounded micarta scales nearly indestructible.
Handle Length-4 5/16” with choil 4 7/8”
BLK Micarta
Breeden Kelly Knife
G-10 scales nice and round. A small cut out that serves as a guard. This handle gives lots of freedom for the user. There is no way a person could ever get hot spots with this knife, or lose it.
Handle Length-4 1/4”
Thickness-5/8”
Orange G-10
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