Practical knife width discussion for outdoor knives

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Bumppo

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Jan 27, 2006
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Other than "personal preference", which knife width is the most practical for given outdoor tasks? In the most simple of terms, which is better for the most common outdoor tasks, and why? Using lesser or greater than one inch as a median standard. Thickness might be interesting as well.
can you cut a fire board with a .25 inch thick knife? How wide is too wide for a universal outdoor knife, and how thick is too thick? The traditional USMC KaBar as the median design would seem practical to use as a comparison.
 
From my personal experience and preference, 3/16" is maximum thickness and about an inch and a half wide is ideal.
 
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I'm not quite sure of your question ( just come off night shifts !). There are many other factors that affect a knifes cutting performance such as type of grind, edge angle etc.For example a blade that is 1 1/2" tall outta 1/4" stock is going to cut better having a full height hollow grind than one the same spec but with a sabre grind.
 
You mean thickness of the spine? I always considered blade width to be measured from edge to spine. I've got some half inch thick khukris that will slice all day long, and it seems that the weight and thickness only come in handy when chopping. As stated, blade geometry, grind etc always make a big difference, as does the intended role for the tool. I don't mind weight to my blade, and a thick spine gives better purchase for detailed carving. If the grind gets thin real fast, then cool.
 
I've noticed that I prefer a knife to have at least 1 inch in width. This makes it easier to use my weak hand thumb to push on the spine and make fine/shallow cuts in wood. Think fuzzing up a small stick or piece of fatwood. Under that width and my thumb starts to come into contact with the wood and makes it more difficult. For instance I find my Izula 2 easier to use for fine carving then my SAK. As for thickness I've noticed that either thick or thin are fine. Most carving is done with the first, oh let's say 1/2 inch of blade so the overall thickness of the knife doesn't come into play. Here the type of grind and how the bevels are formed is where the real performance is achieved. As for splitting wood a thick knife wedges the wood apart while the thin one cuts through the wood. Even though they're acting differently when splitting IME they both do the job equally well and with the same effort. All said and done I gravitate to a two blade system where I carry a thin(3/32") knife for food and either a thick knife(5/32") for batoning if I'm going light, or a chopper if I'm going heavy.
 
the more leverage you have as well-with a wide blade, when you're carving wood and you use the meat of your off hand to pry against, the more leverage you have the easier/more efficient it is.
 
Alot of this dimension has to do with the individuals hand/finger size so it's gonna be an individual preference to a degree.

I prefer a 2-blade system - one 'larger' knife for light chopping/batoning/larger wood-processing tasks. This knife would have a wider blade - 1 1/2" minimum and closer to 2" is optimum. With a wider blade, i can use different holds on the blade and if necessary, have the ability to cross-cut through 'deeper' material (again, with a baton). Also, the additional weight adds some momentum for chopping tasks like splitting rib-cages/large joints on game.

The other knife is a smaller, narrower blade that allows for plenty of slicing ability, but with enough 'belly' to help in skinning/caping-type tasks.
 
fmajor007 said:
Alot of this dimension has to do with the individuals hand/finger size so it's gonna be an individual preference to a degree.

I prefer a 2-blade system - one 'larger' knife for light chopping/batoning/larger wood-processing tasks. This knife would have a wider blade - 1 1/2" minimum and closer to 2" is optimum. With a wider blade, i can use different holds on the blade and if necessary, have the ability to cross-cut through 'deeper' material (again, with a baton). Also, the additional weight adds some momentum for chopping tasks like splitting rib-cages/large joints on game.

The other knife is a smaller, narrower blade that allows for plenty of slicing ability, but with enough 'belly' to help in skinning/caping-type tasks.
Click to expand...

Like you I like a 2-blade system. For the heavy tasks I usually like a knife no thicker than 1/8" with a WIDE blade. Over 2" in fact. My Baryonyx machete, which is my go-to these days, is a whopping 4.6" wide at its widest point! :eek: but it retains a tapered tip for when fine cuts are needed. :)
 
As part of my "One Year One Knife" project I am using an 8" blade that is 1/4" thick and 2 and 3/8" wide at its widest point. I recently used it to carve an extremely crude spoon. During this process I learned A LOT about how to make a big knife work for small knife chores. For large knife usage I believe having an ultra-wide blade is required.

Here is my blog entry detailing my thoughts:

Big Knife Thoughts

-Stan
 
Nice knife Stan!!! I love the Parkerization and hope the hollow-grind works for you.

I read your blog and it was really interesting. Do you have plans to take it your knife on some outside adventures (in understand being a parent restricts that somewhat)? While domestic adventures can provide some great challenges (i thought the pallet-deconstruction was very interesting!), the 'Great Outdoors' is where it's at!!!
 
I love your modified bullnoser! Heck of a knife. Personally I'd slim down the stock to .2 inches and stick with a full flat grind, but she's a beast! Pricepoint doesn't appear to be too bad either. How do you like that cordura sheath? I don't think you could have picked a better 'one knife' design.
 
The question only works for me if I say what I carry:
A slipjoint
A sheath knife
An axe
A saw

So the fixed blade that works for me:
3/4" to 1" wide
1/8" thick
less than 4" long

The grind is:
Best is a scandi grind
Second is a flat grind

Then
Best is a hatchet less than 15"
Second is a small axe at 20"

And a folding saw

The slipjoint can be a Alox SAK, a 4" Stockman, or a 3 1/2" Barlow
 
If the discussion is about the spine to the edge measurement I'm not sure what I prefer.

To me the more narrow might be better. The only problem is with me if you get much smaller than an inch or 3/4 inch then the handle can wind up being a little too narrow near the blade.

For instance when I did this knife the handle would have wound up being too narrow near the blade if I had evenly ground the handle.

Yet if I had centered the blade on the handle then (for me) there would have been an unacceptable distance from the bolster to the edge. More like a blade with a guard on it.
So Instead I made the edge closer to the edge of the bolster and then the spine sets in further from the edge of the bolster>



lauri.jpg



lauri3.jpg
 
Hollowdweller,

A very lovely knife and best shows what I want in a knife


Mircata handles?
 
Like earlier posters, I use a 'system' as well. Folder, multi, fixed and, sometimes, an axe or saw. In this context the fixed blade is 0.25" thick and 1.5-2.0" edge-to-spine. Length of the blade is between 4.5" and 7". I usually carry an 'extra' knife (usually one that I made and want to try out or torture test) that can be any pattern or size.

If I go one knife, the thickness per se is not so important to me as much as the length, geometry and quality of the blade. I have used .25" to 0.125" thick and everything in between. What I favor more is the steel (carbon), grind (full flat or high sabre), point on the centerline of the handle and being long enough to baton, if necessary and a high quality sheath.

Mark
 
neeman said:
Hollowdweller,

A very lovely knife and best shows what I want in a knife


Mircata handles?
Click to expand...

Yeah a Lauri progressive tempered blade and a block of micarta for the handle. I had never seen a partial tang scandi knife with a micarta handle so I thought I'd give it a try.

Unfortunatly I couldn't find any blocks of green.
 
fmajor007 said:
Nice knife Stan!!! I love the Parkerization and hope the hollow-grind works for you.

I read your blog and it was really interesting. Do you have plans to take it your knife on some outside adventures (in understand being a parent restricts that somewhat)? While domestic adventures can provide some great challenges (i thought the pallet-deconstruction was very interesting!), the 'Great Outdoors' is where it's at!!!
Click to expand...

fmajor007 -- I am glad you like the blog. I am 100% locked on to a weekend camping trip in October. Between now and then I don't know. My wife's cousin owns 40 acres, much of which is wooded, and I plan to get out there as much as I can during the summer. I am an obsessive-compulsive dad and if I am not at work I am with my daughter. I literally count the minutes. Most of my blog thus far has been conducted during her naps. :D I am working best I can to make sure the blog is not just me cooking in the kitchen. :thumbup:

PayetteRucker said:
I love your modified bullnoser! Heck of a knife. Personally I'd slim down the stock to .2 inches and stick with a full flat grind, but she's a beast! Pricepoint doesn't appear to be too bad either. How do you like that cordura sheath? I don't think you could have picked a better 'one knife' design.
Click to expand...

PayetteRucker -- I am glad you like the knife. Understood on the .2 and FFG. However, I went with what Ted at Mineral Mountain does best which is .25 and a hollow grind. I LOVE the cordura sheath. Dan Hirayama at Semper Paratus Tactical is the ONLY person I trust to sheath knives that I both intend to use and will not fit into a factory Spec Ops Brand sheath. Thank you again for the compliments. I really like this knife.

-Stan
 
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