Some Ramblings on Blade Thickness

[cross creek]

I know I'll probably be blasted outta here for this, but I was just pondering, while I looked at the few responses to my post on William Henry Sprite vs Kestral (see below), how popular heavier knives have gotten these days. It made me think back to the early 70's when custom knives were taking hold and so many were made of 1/4 in stock, while most factory blades were closer to 1/8 in. People soon found out that the thick blades just didn't slice so well, even if they were strong (and heavy). Several years ago, I was stationed in a Persian Gulf country and had ownership of an air base there that was used periodically when Navy, Air Force, Marines, or allied groups needed it (actually I was CO, but, when no one was there, that amounted to glorified caretaker--I did have other responsibilities in country, for those of you worried about your taxes). Anyway, I carted a boxload of cutlery over there to see what really would work. The one knife I ended up using the most turned out to be the BM 350 (Mel Pardue design, double-ground, ultra-lightweight and flat). That blade was so thin that it would just slice through anything that didn't need sawing or hacking, and was so light that it was a breeze to carry, even when the air temps got to be 130 and everything you were wearing felt like lead. I must have cut through 500 yards of sand-encrusted, ratty old canvas while I was there (derelect old aircraft hangars) and I don't know how many MRE packages I opened for hot meals while waiting for some C-(12/21/130/9/5) that was 4 hours overdue. I never twisted it, pried anything with it, hacked with it, or stabbed 55 gal drums, but it did a fine job of killing the leader of a feral dog pack that had me in a less than advantageous position one evening. When I left the Middle East at the end of that tour, that 350 was beat up and scratched to hell, but it was still working just fine--I gave it to a friend. I have since replaced it with a BM 530 (the new design). Actually, I got two, because I know they will eventually drop it--it's too lightweight to be kept in the lineup for long. Anyhow, the point of all this rambling is, thin, light blades cut really well, and well-made ones, like the BM 350/530 and WHK line, can take a lot more real-world use than you might think--and don't wear holes in your pockets. Cheers.
-AJM

 

[djolney]

No arguments from me. Unless I want to hack things to bits a thin bladed Swamp Rat Safari Skinner or Busse LMS will slice through anything.

 

[jackknife]

Your right on the money!

In the 70's I was a fan of the heavy duty knives like the Randall 14 I carried. But I guess I grew up and by the time I was in my 40's I was carrying real world knives with nice thin blades. One of the best cutting knives I ever had was an old Gerber Shorty, with the thin tool steel blade.

To put things in perspective- the old mountain men who had to survive in the wilderness for a winter carried what was in essance a large kitchen butcher knife. The old Green river knives had blades about .090 thousands thick, and the run of the mill machete is less than .125. Less than 1/8 of an inch.

 

[Joe Talmadge]

Yes, fixed blades thickened up, but seem to have rationalized again -- easier to find a variety of blade thicknesses, and people picking their knives not based primarily on blade thickness.

I could be imagining it, but I think blade thickness -- no, strength overall -- is reaching another peak with folders. In my opinion, Strider has turned the folder industry inside out in a way. They're getting people to spend $400+ dollars on folders that don't have the best finish, and often some finicky problems based on which particular run. And people completely overlook that, because they're strong, and they've got the buzz. To some extent the industry is reacting to this. You want to sell this kind of knife, you compete to a significant extent on strength, or you have trouble competing with Strider.

And, of course, it's reflected in our posts here as well. We've always had posts about strongest locks and strongest folders, etc., but does it seem like we have more than ever now? It does to me.

Joe