Noob questions, what does manufacturers intend with blade length?

[coldlocus]

Just curious, do the measure the whole blade, or only the cutting edge?
Sadly I don't have a knife close by that I can compare with manufacturers stat.

 

[Esav Benyamin]

The best way to measure a blade's length is directly from the tip of the blade to the front of the handle. This would give you the penetration depth, how far the knife could be stabbed into a target.

Strongly curved or recurved blades will have a longer cutting edge per length of blade, and serrations add cutting edge in their own way. But these are not a consistently accepted measure of blade length.

 

[Kyp Degal]

Usually, when a manufacturer states a blade length, they mean the overall length, as Esav mentioned. Some, like Spyderco, list both the overall and cutting edge length.

Josh

 

[coldlocus]

Ok, didn't think about curved blades or serrated blades.
But most foldbacks I have, have 1 cm (0,39 inch) at the handle where there isn't an edge. Wondered if this is included in the blade length, but I guess it is then.

 

[Andrew Taylor]

Ok, didn't think about curved blades or serrated blades.
But most foldbacks I have, have 1 cm (0,39 inch) at the handle where there isn't an edge. Wondered if this is included in the blade length, but I guess it is then.

That area is called the 'ricasso'. It is part of the blade as it would follow the rest of the blade once the point and the rest of the blade had penetrated.

 

[Esav Benyamin]

most foldbacks I have, have 1 cm (0,39 inch) at the handle where there isn't an edge

That's known as the ricasso. Yes, it is included in the blade length.

 

[coldlocus]

Ok. Nice to know the name of it also!
Thanks for the fast replys everybody.

 

[IUKE12]

I have a Ranger RD6, advertised with a 6 inch blade. It is about 6 inches of cutting edge, but if measured from tip to handle more like 6.75"

 

[Gollnick]

There is a standard established by AKTI on their website, www.akti.org. It's fairly recent, though. It's also,of course, entirely voluntary. So, not all manufactures follow it.

 

[Cougar Allen]

You'll often see different lengths given for the same knife at different dealer websites. Sometimes the only way to find out for sure is here on the forums -- the guys here will tell you how they measured it, not just a length.