J. Doyle
Knifemaker / Craftsman / Service Provider
- Joined
- Feb 17, 2008
- Messages
- 8,223
I’ve had some down time lately and have been reading the forums quite a bit. As signs of spring start to show in many places, it gets me thinking about and planning my excursions into the woods. This inevitably leads into thinking about knives and all the great things we can find to do with them while we’re out. Some necessary tasks and many more, unnecessary but fun and fulfilling just the same. This leads me into some random thoughts that I had about knives and how we use them.
These thoughts are just that; my own personal thoughts and opinions. This isn’t directed at anyone in particular and everyone can agree or not as they see fit. Any insight or opinion is welcome as long as it stays civil.
I think that many times, and I’m not excluding myself here, we get too much into the style and shape of a given blade for a task and what works better for what task. This isn’t always the case. Sometimes a certain type of knife is far superior for a task than another. For example, it’s pretty cumbersome and certainly less than ideal to fillet a trout with my hunting knife. I’ve done it, but it isn’t fun and I just find myself thinking, “I wish I had a fillet knife.” But for most tasks it isn’t so important.
This is more geared towards the ‘bushcraft’ tasks that we discuss here often. The older I get, and the more I use knives, the less concerned I am with convex, flat, hollow grinds and coated or not coated blades, and blade profiles. What I am more tuned in to is blade length and edge geometry. Those details, to me, are more important than what type of blade the knife is. Some of our fathers and grandfathers used knives more than we ever will. I’m sure my grandpa didn’t know the proper term for convex grinds. Nor do I think he cared. If a knife held its edge and did what he wanted it to do, it was a good knife. He had hollow and flat grinds for sure and probably didn’t prefer one over the other. The key, I think, is to know the limitations of whatever knife you have on you. And keep in mind one underlying truth: A knife cuts. That’s it. That’s all it really has to do. It doesn’t have to pry things and it doesn’t have to chop. It only has to cut.
Now obviously, if we can get other uses out of our knives and still have them be able to cut, we will. That’s a no brainer. All of mine will strike a firesteel with the spine and will baton and chop within reason and keeping in the confines of the blade length and edge geometry. That’s why I said that those two details are important to me. By adjusting those things, we can safely get our knives to accomplish more. But the grinds and profiles mean less to me all the time.
I can go out and drill holes with a clip point, drop point, spearpoint, whatever with any type of grind. I can also field dress a deer and skin it out with any of the above. Blade length takes much more focus here than profile or grind. Some will say that scandi knives carve wood better but I can do it just fine with a flat grind. Others say that convex slice much better and longer than other grinds but I have flat grinds that will outperform many of my convex grinds. All of the statements may be true but on what level? Are we talking real world, noticeable use? Or are we talking about laboratory testing, which I (and many others) don’t give two hoots about. I don’t own a scandi and have never found my knives lacking for carving traps and snares. I guess this leads into the point of all this rambling. It’s mostly about personal preference and aesthetics.
I’m fortunate enough to scratch out a living (so far) as a knifemaker. And I’m also fortunate enough to live literally 5 minutes from one of the largest wilderness areas in the lower 48 and be surrounded on all sides by millions and millions of acres of forest service land, woods and more streams than I can think of. I spend a lot time in the woods and always have. I know how to use a knife and I know what appeals to me in knife design and function.
This is by no means bashing scandis, or big choppers or sharpened prybars. I love all knives as do most of us. This is just what works for me and what I carry in the woods. The great thing about knives is there's something for everyone. How boring would it be if all our tastes were the same? Plus many of us makers would be out of business.
All that said, for me, it’s about blade length, edge geometry and a skillset and mindset that allow me to have knives that perform how I like them and think they should. Now for the pics. This is a three knife set that I have come up with for me to get by in the woods. I have an EDC with a 2 ½” cutting edge, a pretty dedicated hunter with a 3 ½” blade that I call a drop point, and a camp/utility knife that has a 5 ½” cutting edge. All are made of 1080 steel and all will strike a firesteel nicely. The hunter and camp knife will baton all day long and the camp will handle light chopping. They all have edge geometries suited to their intended tasks and all passed pretty tough testing standards prior to me finishing them out. I know that I’ll be able to count on these in the woods. If I need to go bigger, I have a very old cold steel trailmaster and numerous axes, hatchets and saws.
These thoughts are just that; my own personal thoughts and opinions. This isn’t directed at anyone in particular and everyone can agree or not as they see fit. Any insight or opinion is welcome as long as it stays civil.
I think that many times, and I’m not excluding myself here, we get too much into the style and shape of a given blade for a task and what works better for what task. This isn’t always the case. Sometimes a certain type of knife is far superior for a task than another. For example, it’s pretty cumbersome and certainly less than ideal to fillet a trout with my hunting knife. I’ve done it, but it isn’t fun and I just find myself thinking, “I wish I had a fillet knife.” But for most tasks it isn’t so important.
This is more geared towards the ‘bushcraft’ tasks that we discuss here often. The older I get, and the more I use knives, the less concerned I am with convex, flat, hollow grinds and coated or not coated blades, and blade profiles. What I am more tuned in to is blade length and edge geometry. Those details, to me, are more important than what type of blade the knife is. Some of our fathers and grandfathers used knives more than we ever will. I’m sure my grandpa didn’t know the proper term for convex grinds. Nor do I think he cared. If a knife held its edge and did what he wanted it to do, it was a good knife. He had hollow and flat grinds for sure and probably didn’t prefer one over the other. The key, I think, is to know the limitations of whatever knife you have on you. And keep in mind one underlying truth: A knife cuts. That’s it. That’s all it really has to do. It doesn’t have to pry things and it doesn’t have to chop. It only has to cut.
Now obviously, if we can get other uses out of our knives and still have them be able to cut, we will. That’s a no brainer. All of mine will strike a firesteel with the spine and will baton and chop within reason and keeping in the confines of the blade length and edge geometry. That’s why I said that those two details are important to me. By adjusting those things, we can safely get our knives to accomplish more. But the grinds and profiles mean less to me all the time.
I can go out and drill holes with a clip point, drop point, spearpoint, whatever with any type of grind. I can also field dress a deer and skin it out with any of the above. Blade length takes much more focus here than profile or grind. Some will say that scandi knives carve wood better but I can do it just fine with a flat grind. Others say that convex slice much better and longer than other grinds but I have flat grinds that will outperform many of my convex grinds. All of the statements may be true but on what level? Are we talking real world, noticeable use? Or are we talking about laboratory testing, which I (and many others) don’t give two hoots about. I don’t own a scandi and have never found my knives lacking for carving traps and snares. I guess this leads into the point of all this rambling. It’s mostly about personal preference and aesthetics.
I’m fortunate enough to scratch out a living (so far) as a knifemaker. And I’m also fortunate enough to live literally 5 minutes from one of the largest wilderness areas in the lower 48 and be surrounded on all sides by millions and millions of acres of forest service land, woods and more streams than I can think of. I spend a lot time in the woods and always have. I know how to use a knife and I know what appeals to me in knife design and function.
This is by no means bashing scandis, or big choppers or sharpened prybars. I love all knives as do most of us. This is just what works for me and what I carry in the woods. The great thing about knives is there's something for everyone. How boring would it be if all our tastes were the same? Plus many of us makers would be out of business.
All that said, for me, it’s about blade length, edge geometry and a skillset and mindset that allow me to have knives that perform how I like them and think they should. Now for the pics. This is a three knife set that I have come up with for me to get by in the woods. I have an EDC with a 2 ½” cutting edge, a pretty dedicated hunter with a 3 ½” blade that I call a drop point, and a camp/utility knife that has a 5 ½” cutting edge. All are made of 1080 steel and all will strike a firesteel nicely. The hunter and camp knife will baton all day long and the camp will handle light chopping. They all have edge geometries suited to their intended tasks and all passed pretty tough testing standards prior to me finishing them out. I know that I’ll be able to count on these in the woods. If I need to go bigger, I have a very old cold steel trailmaster and numerous axes, hatchets and saws.
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My name is Iboschi and I am a knife lover.
