recurve blades

tidefan

tidefan

Joined
Nov 23, 2004
Messages
1,081
Just curious as to what you think of recurve blades. Not extreme recurves, but something like the benchmade 710 or the TOPS urban defender. Do you find it more useful and more of a hindrance? Just curious...Jim
 
I personally don't care for them. I have a few knives with recurve blades. I don't find them as easy to sharpen (for me, might be different for others) and I don't see any value to a recurve style other than maximizing cutting area. I would rather have a shorter cutting area on a more standard cutting edge shape. I think that they look cool, but that's where it ends for me.
 
Dylside said:
I personally don't care for them. I have a few knives with recurve blades. I don't find them as easy to sharpen (for me, might be different for others) and I don't see any value to a recurve style other than maximizing cutting area. I would rather have a shorter cutting area on a more standard cutting edge shape. I think that they look cool, but that's where it ends for me.
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+1

Unless you're talking extreme recurve, like a khukri, I don't see much difference in performance.
 
Yes, khuks are a different story. Their blade shape definitely provides a specific performance because of it.

Edit: After thinking about it for a minute, I don't even really consider khukris as recurve style blades. I think khuks are kind of a class on their on. You can't lump them in with machetes or recurve knives.
 
I like how they tend to "hold" whatever it is your cutting in the recurve a little but the trade off is not worth it to me. Trying to sharpen them on a bench stone is on my not so fun list of things to do.
 
yea...sharpening is a real chore on a small diamond stone which is what I would have in the field.
 
I agree with all that was said. I tend not to buy a recurve especially in a folder.

The spyderco day hiker series is something I would NOT buy and I am way into spyderco as a company. They have a Fixed blade problem. There has only been 2 FBs that they made which I love. The rest are not for me.

You would think, if you were only going to design 1 camp knife series, it wouldn't be soley recurve blades.

The statement in bold is to emphasize I am a fan of the company.
 
Ditto. I held off buying a Kerchaw Chive because it looked difficult to sharpen with a bench stone.
 
I have a Benchmade 201+ Activator and I love it. It has a bit of a belly, cuts well and looks nice while doing so. Hmmmm I know someone who fits that same description.
 
Recurves work well for large camp knives used for chopping. The khuk's curve is a bit extreme. I actually think the sweet spot on a khuk for chopping is just in front of the curve toward the point.
Scott
 
20AKSweetspot.jpg


The sweet spot on a kukri is between I and II. The width of the angle between them increases as the medium that you are cutting gets softer, and the angle decreases as the medium being cut gets harder.

For soft vegetation, it's easiest to cut by having I be your striking point, and "running" the blade through to II. Same thing with harder vegetation like woods, but the angle is less, but the key is, even there, there should be some "run" to the stroke, they aren't that efficient in a straight-on chop.

As for a recurve in a smaller blade, I don't see it as being real useful, but there are guys that like the tiny 10 and 12 inch kukris (which only give 6-8" of actual blade).
 
I'd thought of the "sweet spot" in a khukuri being a little further back--actually, starting about at the place you call "I", and continuing back toward the handle from there, about the same length as the part you describe as the "sweet spot". If I remember correctly from some photos posted in the Himalayan Imports forum, their blades have their greatest hardness right between the curve and the point you designate as "I".
 
I know Im in the minority but I love recurves. I don't find them that hard to sharpen and IMO they slice alot better than a straight edge, much more belly. The actuall recurve part is great for cutting rope, cardboard, cloth etc. because the blade is forced down upon the material you are cutting.
 
CanDo said:
I don't see what a recurve can do that a serrated edge can't do better.
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Oh boy here we go:D:D:D

Come to think about it, I would really love a serrated khukri with a tanto point.
I would just hold it and giggle once in a while and only wisper sweet words to it.

Actually I don't like recurve, it must be the look because I have never really used one my self ( They are proberly just as good as any other knife shape)
 
If I may amend my statement. I like recurves on small blades for 'indoors work'. Opening boxes and the mail, that sort of thing is facilitated by a recurve. The LM Wave blade is a favorite partly because of the shallow recurve. In the Wilderness, however, they just make things more difficult.
 
I like the looks of recurves and I never had a problem sharpening them. In the field it may be a bit more difficult but as long as the recurve is not extreme it shouldnt be too bad.
 
Aesthetically speaking, I like recurves a lot, but I don't own any because they are annoying to sharpen (can't use a flat stone) and the recurve aspect doesn't add much to performance.

khukries are another story but it is rather the cutting angle than the "recurve" aspect that creates performance.
 
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