New old guy - blade width question.

Houlahound said:
Cool pics, I think I mean edge to spine or "height". The sharpness explanations make no sense. A box Knife, a scalpel or a old time barbers shavers are the "shortest" from edge to spine blades around and the sharpest.

I am looking at a general purpose knife to make for general use, camping, edc etc.
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Right but stock thickness is narrow on those tools to begin with. Razor blades and scalpels are what 1/16” thick where as a typical knife is 3/32” or more. Take a 1/4” thick Bowie and give it the same height as a scalpel and you’ll see how much it resembles a door stop than a cutting tool that has to pass through the thing being cut.
 
A Bowie was designed when steel was lower quality than today so it had to be thick to take the same beating.

I am trying to understand the design arguments for a modern knife that is both thick e.g. 1/4, and high from blade to spine.
 
I’ve asked that about busse knives and never got an answer. If they’re as great as they’re hyped, why not halve the stock thickness to make them good cutters? My guess is that newer steels may be tougher but not by enough to make that much of a difference.

You also need to take into account that sometimes it’s not a matter of function at all. Some people like thick knives regardless of if they need that strength or not. Same with wide blades and if it sells then that’s what gets produced.

In the end, your knife needs to be as thick as your needs dictate. If that’s a 1/16” paring knife super slicer then that’s the thickness for you. I’m with you in that a slim and thin knife is more useful to me for edc but I go thicker and wider on fixed blades. I see fixed blades as a light hatchet and a thicker knife can be a benefit.
 
Agree on many points, I however would never cut trees or branches with a knife ie use a knife as a hatchet. To me that is a sin.
 
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