SAK's with two blades: why?

T

Thirteenth Star

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Apr 1, 2004
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525
Why are there a good number of SAK's with both a large blade and a small blade, of the same basic style? Since the sizes of these blades are similar, I can't imagine a situation where that one can be used but not the other.

One can argue that two blades, whilst alternating cutting chores, stay sharper than one and therefore justify a desire for two blades. However, there's an extra weight cost incurred by having two blades, and besides, why not at least make the second blade serrated rather than plain just like the other, or perhaps make the edge straight for slicing, rather than tapered?
 
On my EDC Tinker, I use the large blade for most things, reserving the small blade for finer work that requires a really sharp edge. The large blade is sharp, the small blade is sharper.
 
I've always wondered this myself.

In all fairness, the smaller blade is also thinner, so it can take a very fine razor sharp edge. But really...why bother?

I used to have a rather old V'Nox that had a fully serrated main blade and a hawkbilled small blade, which I found very useful (although nearly impossible to sharpen on the flat benchstone I was limited to at the time). I wish they'd put that blade instead of the small drop point that comes standard.
 
I look at it like Mike above...as a scalpal like object, a small blade as seen on your standard kit scalpal is most of the time small for very accurate cutting. My SwissChamp wouldnt feel the same with just one blade, the large blade is the work horse and the small blade the skilled craftsmen.
 
on the old 3 blade trappers, one common set up was to use the large bowie/drop point as a work horse, the wharncliffe as a beater, and the (cant remember the name... the type where its almost rounded like a butter knife, so i t has a very wide end curve) as a scalpel.

the regular blade would be sharpened as such, not to sharp but no to thick, the wharncliffe would be almost dull most of the time from breaking bailing twine and removing nails and staples, and the scalpel was used solely for operations on farm animals.

though there are a lot of other ways to use the 3 blades seperately.
 
There are lots of knives with multiple blades, some, like a Congress or a Muskrat may have two identical blades, there are basically two reasons for multiple baldes in a knife:

1.- Diferent use for each blade, a typical example would be the three blade Stockman, a Clip long blade for slicing, a Sheepfoot straight edge for utility and a Spey, designed for castrating animals.

2.- Equal blades, so that when one gets dull, you use the other one, no need to stop to sharpen, a typical example would be the Muskrat, designed for skinning small animals.

Luis
 
So, is the smaller blade of a two blade SAK typically thinner than the larger blade? Also, does the smaller blade feel sharper right out of the box?
 
I bought a SwissChamp yesterday (which is what i mentioned in my previous post) and the smaller blade IS thinner than the large blade and the smaller one is far sharper than the large blade. The large blade is still razor sharp (from the box) but the little one has that real wicked edge that could do heaps of damage to a stray finger that got in the way...
 
Keep the smaller blade wickedly sharp. Unless you're going to resharpen it, don't use it. Spare the edge incase of an emergency.

kee
 
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