Short handle?

[mjn]

I have a 15" Diktel Special-great knife in general. I was using it to clear brush the other day and the handle felt too short. In fact, I quickly developed a hot spot on the heel of my hand from the base of the handle.

Now, I'm 6' tall and wear XL-XXL gloves. Are my hands too big for this knife or is there a problem with my technique?

 

[EricTheRedBeard]

Are you keeping the handle grip ring between your middle and ring finger? If you are, and you are flicking your wrist when you cut, you are probably doing it right. Are there and pointy or sharp parts on the edge of the pommel? If so, you could take light grit sand paper and smooth it out.

 

[ndoghouse]

Hold your knife like you are about to use it and send us a pic. I bet we can fix you up! Not likely the handle is too short unless you got some really traditional Thamar made handle or of the like and there are a few (not for me tho. Thamars handles are the best (IMHO)! Most HI handles are made for westerners. I prefer the traditional handles myself and they are harder to find for this reason. As Eric mentioned if your trying to avoid the ring rather than take advantage of its intended purpose then it and other features are most likely going to get in your way. Some put the ring between your index and ring and some put it between pinky and ring? Both work but depends on your style. Biggest problem with most folks is learning to rotate the mass of the knife around that point and using the pinky or last two fingers on that end of the hand to accelerate the blade at the end of the stroke to get the job done. If you have to pick up your elbow above your head then likely your not taking advantage of its intended purpose. Force = Mass X Acceleration. Heard that somewhere? Hmmm? Since you cant do anything about mass cause you only weigh so much then the only factor you got to improve your cutting style is acceleration. There gives rise to the effectiveness of the flick of the wrist. Good knife balance and a ring to prevent slippage during rotation really does work! Its really that simple. Harder in practice tho.