RC5 With Sawback in the future????

LMT66

LMT66

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Jun 18, 2008
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Will we see a version like this if interest is shown? It's certainly the right knife for it!
 
It seems to me that the .25" spine is a bit too thick for a functional sawback. I also think that the blade should be longer for a sawback.

Just my $0.02
 
Ya there really is no point in a stubby sawback IMO. Though I do agree that it'd suit the knife but wouldn't be so practical.
 
If the saw was actually functional, it would be pretty cool. The RC-6 might be a little better suited for it though, being slightly longer.
 
Id buy one. Sawback like on the old Robert Parrish knives worked.
 
caine said:
Id buy one. Sawback like on the old Robert Parrish knives worked.
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OK, let me rephrase that a bit.

I hear stuff like that alot, this one worked pretty good or that one, but they're almost always custom knives with hand done saws on the back of them.

I mean, if your going to take the time to replicate a real crosscut saw blade on the back of a quarter inch thick knife, more power to you.

The mass produced saw backs that are economical to make suck pretty bad.
 
The Kershaw Model 1005 is about the same size as the RC-6 and it has a sawback that rips. One of my favorite features of the knife, right up until I try to sharpen it...:/ But it does add a level of usability to the blade.
 
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MrCoffee said:
The Kershaw Modeel 1005 is about the same size as the RC-6 and it has a sawback that rips. One of my favorite features of the knife, right up until I try to sharpen it...:/ But it does add a level of usability to the blade.
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I'll have to check that out, never seen one before.
 
In the Chris Reeve knives, they say that their sawback knives are specifically for cutting through the side of an airplane and that they work pretty well for that.

I've never tried.

As for wood saws (the only ones that would appeal to me) I've not handled one that worked well on the back of a knife.

I would think they would have to be hand cut after the knife is hardened so as not to create micro fractures in the steel in the heat treatment.
 
My leatherman saw works pretty good because the saw gets thinner toward the spine. Thats not what most knives do.
T
 
I don't think a sawback on any blade is a really good idea. Particularly on a quarter inch think chunk of steel. I am sure it would sell well, but in the general scheme of things, it likely wouldn't be the quality of RC that we see with the knives. IMO they make knives, not knives with sawbacks :)
 
The only reason we would consider something like that is what okbohn said above-- cutting through aircraft skins. The blade is really too thick and short to be an effective saw for wood. But if we were to get the contract for something like the Air Force Pilot's survival knife then we would consider adding the crash survival feature of being able to extract the pilot through the side of the aircraft using a saw like back. I believe we could do a much better job of it than the current contract holder-- whoever that is.

ANother feature that is often put on knives that does not work is a parachute cord cutter. Usually notched into the spine of the knife. I know of at least one company that incorporates this feature on a knife. WHen it was pointed out that it was totally useless since it wouldn't cut a kite string much less a parchute cord the reply was a shrug and "But the feature is there". This is the kind of crap that makers in the industry have been doing for years and a lot of the public has simply accepted it because they have been told that is the way it is supposed to be. Even the military and law enforcement has become, to an extent, jaded to this practice of putting useless features on a product that don't work but are there because a spec called for it or it was simply a 'value-added feature' like putting a thermometer in a compass. We will never add a feature to a knife that does not do exactly what it is supposed to do. Next time a maker tells you their knife is cool or great cause it's got 'this' or 'that' ask them what the hell that has to do with the intended use or does it actually work.
 
I had a pilot's survival knife when I was a kid, and it didn't saw wood very well at all. It was designed for thin aluminum aircraft skins and I think it was more of a ripper, plier, and pryer than a saw. You sure wouldn't want to grab sheet metal with your hands, this gives you something to hook and rip it with. They did a review of the knife at knifetests.com and actually tried to saw through some sheet metal with very limited results. People always try to use the flat of the spine to saw, but I recall tilting the knife to the pointed edges of the spine's corners worked much better. You weren't going to saw a deep channel in wood that way though.
 
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