recurved blades?

[W.T. Beck]

I've noticed that many expensive custom and factory knives feature recurved blades. What are the advantages of a recurved blade?

 

[Chuck289]

One that i can think of is when cutting rope or cords, it wont slip off the tip of the knife

 

[orthogonal1]

I've looked at is as providing a wedge when slice cutting.

As I pull a knife over/through what I'm cutting, a progressively wider section of blade is presented into the cut.

I like them for my daily carry knives, myself.

 

[Mongo]

I look at them as an excuse to invent new swear words while trying to sharpen them.

 

[G3]

Not sure how I feel about them. Deep recurves cut better with a pull motion. Slight recurves are a bit more versatile IMO as they seem to do better with push cuts. Not so much of a belly to roll off of. YMMV.

 

[lotus1972]

I love them for self defense purposes!

I hate them for utility purposes!

 

[Tim Galyean]

Recurves have more length in the cutting edge compared to a blade without. Pretend the cutting edge on a recurve is actually a piece of string lay it out flat and that piece will be longer than if the blade had no recurve.

 

[Artfully Martial]

I'm a big recurve fan, and I can tell you from experience that they easily outslice non recurved blades.

 

[jimmy123]

They are usually for to put more pressure on what you are cutting because of the curve.