Pull, Bail, Sharp and Spey

M

mrjefe2u

Joined
Oct 19, 2010
Messages
253
How does someone measure pull strength when opening a knife?
My nail broke, it must be an 8.

Bail half loops, like 'em or not?
My 1992 Camillus USMC Knife is the only one I have? I cut the ring eyelet off my Vic Farmer.

Do you have a traditional knife that you just can't sharpen?
Old USA Buck 305 is duller than this thread. Might be that it is so small to mess with.

Spey blades, what do you like about them?
I'm fresh out of livestock these days. Food prep, maybe?

Pick one or all four and share.
 
Spey blades are funny, I think they are more of a nod to traditional blade shape much like the patterns. I use the spey blade with the "hump" down to cut from underneath the material, or to scrape etc... Anymore, I prefer single blade or a wharncliffe secondary. I find the spey blade to be a tough "beater" blade though.

Bails.... I could care less, I think they look very classy on some knives and make a good lanyard attachment point.. Most of my knives are bail-less.


I've had a couple hard to sharpen blades, usually stainless or something that had a really steep angle in the first place. I like to use a diamond stone to edge stuff now and clean it up with a stone and strop. This Queen D2 is a pain for my low level skills..



Pulls...... i was scared of a hard pull at first, now I kind of appreciate it. I like a 7.
 
I like a soft pull. I don't want to struggle with a small piece of sharp steel. I want the knife to open or close without undue force.

A spey blade makes a good scalpel for splinter removal etc. But I'd rather have a pen blade than a spey.

I rate Victorinox as a 5 and go from there.
 
I thought the Spey blade had no pointy tip so that you would not accidentally poke or stab or cut the cow.


Now, after rounding up 250 or so calves and branding, banding, tagging, injecting, and cutting them, I know why the spey blade has no pointy tip.


It is because the buggers really don't appreciate all that. While you are cutting them, they are trying to kick you in your own testicles, to return the favor. While you have a knife in your hand, and are trying to cut a little tuft of skin, they are trying to kick, and fight.


That said, the spey blades are also my favorite for food prep. The clip points and especially the drop points I have just have a nasty pointy tip. Occasionally I poke my self while cutting up food.



Pull scale, if it breaks my nails, It must be a 10. I like an 8.
 
I use the spey blade for food mostly. Works well for steaks all the way to tomatoes, especially on a standard trapper.

Don't own very many with a bail and I don't miss it.

Pull is a matter of preference. If it breaks a nail to open I would give it an 8-10. I like it around 6-7 relatively tight but not a nail breaker. I like a good snap and solid spring lock up.
 
knarfeng said:
I like a soft pull. I don't want to struggle with a small piece of sharp steel. I want the knife to open or close without undue force.

A spey blade makes a good scalpel for splinter removal etc. But I'd rather have a pen blade than a spey.

I rate Victorinox as a 5 and go from there.
Click to expand...

I also prefer a pen/spear blade, which is why I just tonight reprofiled the spey blade on my new mini trapper into one:
http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php/1101717-Rough-Rider-Mini-Wharncliffe-Trapper

Another fan of light pulls here. I consider a nailbreaking pull to be a manufacturing defect.
In my opinion, the backspring is there to keep the blade either open or closed, not as a safety feature to stop it closing on your fingers. There are locking mechanisms for that.
 
Pull--I like medium. No nail breakers please, nor worn out springs.

Bails, usually not. But I have a Camillus-made A. G. Russell Premium Scout I take to Scout Camp each year with a bail that I love! Tie it with paracord to my belt and it's doesn't go missing. I have a GEC Conductor with a bail. Don't love it, but like it well enough on that knife.

Spey--don't use, would prefer a pen on Stockman pattern.

On sharpening--once I sharpen all the way to the edge they are sharp. Some take longer than others. D2 and S30V I break out the diamond stones.
 
The only think I like about spey blades is if you are cutting a meal on a paper plate, you are much less likely to cut through the plate with a spey blade.
 
On pulls, a good firm 7 is my pref. Firmer only if it is completely pinchable. Less than a 5 . . . nooooo, not for me.

When I see a bail, I bail. Also not for me.

Hardest traditional to sharpen for me has been thick bladed ATS-34 on S&M knives. Worse than their D2, even with diamonds.
But if you keep at it, they will come around, and then they last and last.

With their blunt tips, spey blades are good for food prep, and their tight radius belly makes a good scraper, too.
Definitely a special purpose blade for me, not a regular EDC.

In line with the spirit of this thread, a couple other points of discussion for me are double pulls and easy open notches.
I don't care for either one, as two pulls makes no sense to me, and EO notches wreck the lines and the grip.
 
i have no use for a spey blade plus i don't like the way it looks. i won't buy any knife with a spey blade on it.
 
I don't care for nailbreaker pulls, and I don't particularly like square joints (half-stops), and I really dislike the combo of both in the same knife.

I don't have any knives with bails and I am not looking for any. I don't keep knives on my key ring. I can see certain circumstances where you'd want a bail, maybe to clip a chain to your belt so you couldn't drop and lose the knife, like on a boat or working up high.

I haven't had a problem yet with sharpening any of my traditionals. Between diamond bench stones in 3 grades, a Spyderco Sharpmaker, and a strop I've always been able to get them sharp enough for my needs.

I don't have a problem with spey blades, especially the full length ones. They are sharp pieces of metal that cut things. They make for real good slicers. They are also good for vertical cuts when you are pulling straight down with the blade extended in front of you, and you want a smooth slicing edge instead of a sharp point doing the cutting work, makes it easier to control the depth of cut.
 
mrjefe2u said:
How does someone measure pull strength when opening a knife?
My nail broke, it must be an 8.

Bail half loops, like 'em or not?
My 1992 Camillus USMC Knife is the only one I have? I cut the ring eyelet off my Vic Farmer.

Do you have a traditional knife that you just can't sharpen?
Old USA Buck 305 is duller than this thread. Might be that it is so small to mess with.

Spey blades, what do you like about them?
I'm fresh out of livestock these days. Food prep, maybe?

Pick one or all four and share.
Click to expand...

Email me.
Send me your knife and I'll get it sharp for you.
 
Bails, it depends on what I am doing. When I was working on the antenna systems on a ship, a bail with a lanyard attached to my belt was very critical. I had a GI issue Camillus scout knife with about 3 feet of line from the linethrowing attachment on the M-14.

My dad always kept the spey blade on his stockman as sharp as possible and rarely used it except for minor surgery on livestock.
 
Bails I avoid. Only knife I semi regularly carry that had one (Wenger SI) removed it and replaced with leather lace. Speys I also avoid, not a useful blade shape for me, plus the nail nick is typically so far forward on the blade that there is little or no room to reshape the blade. As far as blade pulls I agree with Frank as far as Victorinox being a 5, typically something in the 5-7 range on this scale is perfect for me. I have a small Eye Brand half congress (approximately peanut sized) that just flat out refuses to get sharp.
 
black mamba said:
In line with the spirit of this thread, a couple other points of discussion for me are double pulls and easy open notches.
I don't care for either one, as two pulls makes no sense to me, and EO notches wreck the lines and the grip.
Click to expand...

I agree completely!

- Christian
 
I hate heavy pull's. I was advised way back when I was a kid, that I may have to open that knife with cold and/or wet hands under less than good conditions. Light to medium pulls for me. Now that I've been carrying and using friction folders, I'll take a light pull. I don't need to have a spring to keep the knife open, the dynamics of cutting will do that. To me and the way I was taught, a heavy pull that you have to struggle with, is an accident waiting to happen.

I have no use for spey blades. The only time I had one was on the stockman I carried for a long time, and I made it my "everything that will screw up a blade" tool. Spread putty/plastic wood for a repair, poke and lightly pry with, scrape with.

I like a bail, and wish more knives had them. I consider them invaluable if you are around boats, which we are from spring to fall. I once lost a knife overboard because it was not secured and did not have a lanyard. I wish Case would put lanyards on the peanuts. The little knives would benefit more from a bail or keyring.

Carl.
 
Echoing jackknife sorta, I wish GEC would put bails on the pembertons. Big fan of bails.
 
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