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I have been wondering if having a recurve would be better then a straight edge for general wilderness chopping and utility? Any hard users out there have insight into this?
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recurve or straight edge?
- Thread starter Mtnclimber69
- Start date
Bill Siegle
Knifemaker / Craftsman / Service Provider
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- Oct 3, 2000
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- 6,817
I see no reason a recurve won't work in the woods. One of my favs is the old Blackjack Mamba 
Some people say to avoid recurves because they are hard to sharpen. My answer is to learn to sharpen recurves. Never understood the arguement against learning a new skill
I have made and make a lot of recurve style blades and find them very usable for camping and hiking.
Some people say to avoid recurves because they are hard to sharpen. My answer is to learn to sharpen recurves. Never understood the arguement against learning a new skill I have made and make a lot of recurve style blades and find them very usable for camping and hiking.Cliff Stamp
BANNED
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A recurve works well trapping light vegetation and can thus readily increase performance, especially on blades that are less than optimally sharp. However it also vastly hinders performance on thick wood chopping and greatly increases chances of glancing. I designed a custom recurve awhile ago, after comparing it side by side to a Valiant Golok (which curves the other way) I would *never* go back to a recurve again.
-Cliff
-Cliff
The best choppers that I have are extreme recurves - Khukuris! Bill makes a good point about learning new skills, but it does take practice.
I'm not very good at freehand, and find that a diamond or ceramic rod works best for sharpening my khukuris. Are there any tricks to using a bench stone to sharpen a recurve? Inquiring minds want to know!
I'm not very good at freehand, and find that a diamond or ceramic rod works best for sharpening my khukuris. Are there any tricks to using a bench stone to sharpen a recurve? Inquiring minds want to know!
not2sharp
Platinum Member
- Joined
- Jun 29, 1999
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- 20,466
Recurves work very well in the field.
1) They change the angle of incidents of the blade edge. The edge
hits at an angle relative to its momentum; which puts more force
on a smaller surface area and allows the blade to cut into the
material.
2) They increase your edge length per given blade length.
3) They allow you to put extra mass well forward on the blade, which
improves momentum.
4) The blade strike tends to drive the blade forward along the
curve. This is much safer then having the blade bounce back,
which can happen when you hit too far forward on curvy bowie
shaped blades. Notice that many specialist chopping machetes and
work knives have flat ends and no points.
n2s
1) They change the angle of incidents of the blade edge. The edge
hits at an angle relative to its momentum; which puts more force
on a smaller surface area and allows the blade to cut into the
material.
2) They increase your edge length per given blade length.
3) They allow you to put extra mass well forward on the blade, which
improves momentum.
4) The blade strike tends to drive the blade forward along the
curve. This is much safer then having the blade bounce back,
which can happen when you hit too far forward on curvy bowie
shaped blades. Notice that many specialist chopping machetes and
work knives have flat ends and no points.
n2s