Single blades vs Multi-blades

Single blade because I am just not that interesting :) Seriously, its basically because it is what I am used to.
 
Today and for some time, I am carrying a 2-blade Case 6292 "Texas Jack" in my right front pocket and a single blade Buck 501 Squire lockback in my left front pocket. Plenty of blades to handle any situation. And thennnnnnn there is the Leatherman C2 Juice with multiple blades in a sheath on my belt but I carry it mostly for the pliers.
 
Production slipjoints, I like multi blades, but carry a few single blades. Mohawk Valley easy open jack, Queen Dan Burke barlow, Queen Mountain Man, Remington R1303 1984, ever present Case backpocket. I have been carrying a black alox Pioneer, Case peanut and a Queen Dan Burke small barlow recently.

I have been thinking about getting a custom slipjoint for some time now, years actually, and have only been looking at single blade models (backpockets, sodbusters etc).

Basically, whatever mood I'm in that day. Most of the time I prefer something like a SAK or scout knife.
 
Very interesting thread.

Would love to hear more from the multi-blade fans about the specific cutting tasks that lead them to prefer different blades. I'm not doubting it nor debating it. It would be an eye opener for me though.

I'm in the single blade camp and strongly so. I'm biased in this direction on a lot of fronts though - knives, backpacking gear, Nordic backcountry skiing equipment, bikes... I almost always prefer one single thing that is versatile to handle most situations over multiple things that deal with different situations perfectly.

Ok... go ahead and ask me how many pairs of skis I have. Or bikes. Cough. Cough. Or single blade knives. Cough, cough, cough, cough.

I tried to carry a 2 blade peanut/stockman type knife for a long time. Never took to it.

My big heavy Buck 110? Love it. My Opinel #8? Really love it. It's in my EDC rotation. My Schrade 5OT lock back. Totally love it and it's in my pocket nearly everyday.

I should add that I do carry a 4 "blade" Ulster camper knife quite frequently. But, I think of that a single blade knife with a very useful beer bottle opener and 2 more thingies that I could frankly do without for day-day life but what the heck, I carried that kind of knife as a kid so I can live with it. But, if I could find a single bladed double-end knife for a reasonable price, I'd jump on it.

In design, as in all things, perfection is attained not when there is nothing left to add, but when there is nothing left to take away. - St.Expurey
 
Mostly single blade knife person but in a traditional knife I like two blades. Trapper or a Copperhead with two blades and then there is the hard to beat Sod Busters. My traditional knives all carbon steel. For a modern type knife I like the Benchmade Min Grip in 154 CM. One blade usually does the job but it is nice to have two now and then.
 
I like multiblades more than singlebladed knives.

Why?!

Well, thats easy to say; I use my knives for food preparing and also for other cutting practises...

The multibladed knives make both possible.
Today I carried my Vic Spartan :eek: (no traditional, I know), the main blade was used for food. The small one was used for everything else...

Kind regards
Andi
 
Hi,

I have always been a multi-blade guy. I grew up carrying only Stockmen. But as I have gotten older and frankly, heavily influenced by the enabling community here, I have noticed that my EDC knives have changed a bit. The Stockman only has given way to a Case Canoe and a Boker Barlow with either an old Schrade 34OT or Buck 303 filling out my normal rotation. But as summer has worn on, I have noticed that the Stockmen aren't in my pocket very much at all anymore. Rather a RR1021, a small single blade San Mai lockback, has replaced the Schrade and Buck. At the start of this summer, I would have told anybody they were daft in the head to think I would be happy carrying a single bladed knife in my pocket. Yet it gets an inordinate amount of pocket time.

Dale
 
I slightly prefer a single bladed knife to a two blade knife, and easily prefer those two configurations to their counterparts with 3, 4 or even 5 blades. Whatever is in my pocket, I tend to use it for everything reasonable that a knife might be called upon to do. With my single bladed knives, I have no qualms about using them to cut open a box at 10 am, then cutting up my lunch at noon, and then using them for more utility work that same afternoon. I clean (rinse) my knives after each use and keep them sharp. And generally speaking, I think I prefer the 1 or 2 bladed knives because they are a bit less bulky in my pockets. The funny thing is that I will often carry two or three knives at a time just because I love them, so I am not sure how much weight I am really saving at the end of the day. :rolleyes::p
 
I guess I prefer multiple blades in a pocket knife.

I always have my Vic Farmer and another multi-bladed knife of some sort as well.
I use the Farmer's main blade for utility cutting (tape, packages, etc.) and the other tools come in handy quite often as well. I use the other knife for cutting food and maybe some impromptu whittling.

I've never really gotten into single bladed folders, in an average pocket knife size I find them too limiting and I don't really need a larger one for heavy duty work because I can just carry a fixed blade. (some of GEC's single bladed knives do tempt me though...)
 
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I like 1, 2 and 3-bladed knives, and carry all three kinds depending on my mood and the situation I'm carrying them into.
Seems like I use single blades about 50% of the time, with 3-blade stockmen around 30% and 2-blade jacks the other 20% of the time.

Whenever I carry a modern OHO (which is not too often), I nearly always carry a multi-bladed traditional as well.
 
I prefer single bladed knives, but that's because they tend to be thinner than multibladed ones. The additional blade (or any other attachment) is not worth the extra thickness. However, I like some double bladed knives if they have a single spring. Say, a wharnie with a smaller pen blade is a great combination.
 
I'm a dyed in the wool multiblade guy.

I grew up in an era where a man's pocket knife had two blades. All the grown men I admired and mentored me carried the standard knife of the day, a serpentine two blade jack. There were only two other kinds of knives that had a single blade back then that I saw around; the hunters and outdoorsmen carried the stacked leather handle Little Finn sheath knives, and the ducktail wearing punks had the eye-talion style switchblades like a James Dean wanna be. Knives were tools, and two or more blades gave you more tools to use. The older men I hung around and tried emulate, looked down on the single blade lockers as "punk's weapons." Maybe a lot of that old time outlook has hung on to, as I see the modern stuff the same way.

To me, a working mans knife will always have at least tow blades, if not three like a hard working stockman. Or one blade and tool like a TL-29.

I like to have one blade as a dirty deeds blasde, like shoving Platic wood in a hole, or peeling old weather stripping off a window frame. The main blade on my knife I'll keep sharp for general use. More blades=more options.

Carl.
 
In my mind, I prefer a single blade - for the elegance

In actual fact, I prefer a stockman - for the pragmatics
 
i like 1-3 blades. i like single blades if the handle is thicker like on sodbusters, buck 110/112. stockmans and whittlers are fun to use. i don't have too many 2 bladed knives oddly, but they're fine to.
 
pinnah said:
Would love to hear more from the multi-blade fans about the specific cutting tasks that lead them to prefer different blades. I'm not doubting it nor debating it. It would be an eye opener for me though.
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I have always carried a two blade trapper, partly for tradition and partly for function.

Tradition: Every working cowboy I've ever know has carried a trapper. My grandfather gave my dad a trapper when he was a boy and taught him how to sharpen and care for it. My dad did the same thing for me when I was eight.

Function: The reason we carry these trappers is branding and castration of calves. The spey blade is for cutting the sack open and severing the cords that connect the nuts. The design of the blade is perfect for this because it is extremely easy to get very sharp. If you have a large quantity of bulls need cutting you have to sharpen your blade every ten or so to make it easier on you and the animal. You need a knife that you can sharpen very quickly so you don't hold up the operation sharpening you knife. The rounded or sometimes blunt end of the spey blade also prevents you from stabbing your help, the calf or yourself. I know quite a few hands who don't sharpen the rounded end since it's bad form to stab the guy holding the steer down.
The main blade is used for cutting ear marks, lancing abscesses, opening up an udder and other general cutting and stabbing where there isn't a risk of poking another person.

This is how I use my multi blade knife and have seen countless others use theirs over the years.

Ben
 
Wow- castration by knife? Around here we use a dedicated plier-like tool that fits around the scrotum and doesn't break the skin, and that's tough enough. Hard to imagine doing a real surgery on a reluctant calf.
 
ranchmanben said:
I have always carried a two blade trapper, partly for tradition and partly for function.

Tradition: Every working cowboy I've ever know has carried a trapper. My grandfather gave my dad a trapper when he was a boy and taught him how to sharpen and care for it. My dad did the same thing for me when I was eight.

Function: The reason we carry these trappers is branding and castration of calves. The spey blade is for cutting the sack open and severing the cords that connect the nuts. The design of the blade is perfect for this because it is extremely easy to get very sharp. If you have a large quantity of bulls need cutting you have to sharpen your blade every ten or so to make it easier on you and the animal. You need a knife that you can sharpen very quickly so you don't hold up the operation sharpening you knife. The rounded or sometimes blunt end of the spey blade also prevents you from stabbing your help, the calf or yourself. I know quite a few hands who don't sharpen the rounded end since it's bad form to stab the guy holding the steer down.
The main blade is used for cutting ear marks, lancing abscesses, opening up an udder and other general cutting and stabbing where there isn't a risk of poking another person.

This is how I use my multi blade knife and have seen countless others use theirs over the years.

Ben
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wow, thats a hell of a response.
and a hell of a good reason to carry a two bladed pocket knife!!
 
MacCairnie said:
Wow- castration by knife? Around here we use a dedicated plier-like tool that fits around the scrotum and doesn't break the skin, and that's tough enough. Hard to imagine doing a real surgery on a reluctant calf.
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We "cut" our calves. I personally don't like using a burdizzo or banding. I guess we're western around here.
 
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I carry single blades mostly. I prefer them because I find them to be slimmer and more comfortable, and since none of the traditionals i have have pocket clips, i want the least amount of weight resting at the bottom of my pockets. I also just like the aesthetics of single bladed traditionals more.
 
I grew up and lived most of my life in Europe. Except of the SAKs, the pocketknives I knew and used were single blade ones.
In the US I discovered the “exotic” multiblades, and now more often than not, I carry multiblades (mostly stockmans).
In the end, I like and use both types.
 
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