Spey vs. Sheepfoot

I almost never use a sheepsfoot. In fact, I just pulled my sheepsfoot/caplifter out of my everyday carry because I realized that I only used it as a bottle opener. I love trappers with their clip/spey combo, and the spey gets used a ton. I'm not saying that the sheepsfoot is a bad blade, just not my cup of tea. They're also usually pretty uncomfortable in hand when using the other blades on a knife. GEC's forum knife proposal is appealing to me because it's a stockman without that annoying blade that rides really high and makes stockmen so uncomfortable to use. ;)
 
Cory Hess said:
....and the spey gets used a ton.
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For what? Aside from skinning/spaying animals and spreading butter on bread (hopefully with different knives! :p ), I haven't come up with many uses for the spey blade. Since I don't use a pocket knife for either of those tasks, the spey blade is my designated scraper (I think someone else said the same). And that's mostly just so that I don't ruin the edges on the two more useful stockman blades. Please enlighten me so that I can find a new appreciation for the spey blade.

Cory Hess said:
They're also usually pretty uncomfortable in hand when using the other blades on a knife. GEC's forum knife proposal is appealing to me because it's a stockman without that annoying blade that rides really high and makes stockmen so uncomfortable to use. ;)
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The knife proposed by CSC will have both blades level (2nd revision). The blades are also level on my modified Moore Maker and it is very comfortable to use either blade. So it's not necessary for the sheepfoot to ride high when that useless spey blade is removed. ;)
 
On a knife with a main blade that has a belly like a clip, I generally prefer a sheepsfoot or straight edge secondary blade. It doesn't even have to be totally straight either. Picture a Zulu or Tribal spear blade shape but the size of a secondary blade. It works just as well for me. I generally don't use a small spey blade. If it was a full length spey, then that's something I can use.
 
For me, the Spey blade is the most sacred of them all, while I barely use it...there is something cool about the blade and what its intended use was for. I have an old one floating around that says "flesh only"(I think, hard to read) on it. I'll use mine for taking care of a few fish here and there, but mostly I keep it sharp and appreciate it for what it is.

that being said...Sheepsfoot all the way for everyday tasks.
 
I use the Sheepsfoot 95% of the time as it just gets the job done no matter what it is or where I am at as when most people see what I am cutting with they will ask where I got the Knife or where they can get one and what a nice line the blade has.!**
You just can't beat a Sheeps.***
Easy to sharpen and keep sharpened !
Looks good to most people.*
Feels good to most user's in every way.!*
There ~~ I have said it all.!!*
 
supratentorial,

Cory Hess said:
The spey has a long, flat portion for times when you need a flat blade, a curved belly for when you require that, and it's full width for most of it's length which makes it a very strong blade for hard use. I'm in the small minority in that I find the spey to be the most versatile blade I own. The only thing it doesn't work for is any job that requires a pointy tip. When it's paired with a clip, like on a trapper or stockman, I find that I've got all of my bases covered.
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That's part of a post I made back in October in a thread asking the same questions. For any cut that starts at the edge of a material, the spey works wonderfully. As Frank pointed out, if you're starting a cut in the middle of the material a sheepsfoot would be preferred, but I guess I don't do that as often as most. When I do, the clip works just fine. The sheepsfoot is great for clamshells, but I don't regularly use it for anything else and I don't encounter clamshells frequently enough to justify carrying the sheepsfoot. I think the spey's best feature is that dramatic belly right at the end of the blade. It allows for the blade to be full width all the way to just before the very end, which I like a lot. My spey gets used for everything from scraping to food prep to cutting wrapping and packaging to whittling to ???. It's kind of hard to answer what I use it for because I use it for just about everything. Maybe this stems from the fact that I use my knives more for outdoor activities than work related activities? I don't know. I can't think of a time I'd prefer my sheepsfoot while camping, which is when my knives get the most use. I'd put the sheepsfoot in the same category as the hawkbill. They're great knives to have sitting in the garage, but there's no reason for me to carry one with me every day.

I agree that the CSC prototype did a great job of getting that sheepsfoot down. I actually strongly prefer the CSC proposal to the GEC one. I'd just like it more if it had a spey instead of the sheepsfoot. That's the only factor that I prefer about the GEC. I guess we're both in the same boat in that we prefer the stockman with only two blades, we just differ on which secondary we prefer.
 
For usefulness, I would pick the sheepfoot every time. In the kitchen, a sheepfoot variation (Santoku blade) is my most used Wusthof knife. It is by far the best selling kitchen knife model, for good reason. ;)
 
That's the best answer that I've heard in support of the spey blade! Thank you for that! I enjoyed reading it. Everything is a good answer. But the sheepfoot is still better (teasing) ;)

Like you, I'm currently located in WI but I lived in Maine for several years and could harvest shellfish from my backyard (I miss it!). I used a small fixed blade but I could see a spey being handy.
 
Well, welcome to WI. You won't find much seafood here, but you'd be hard pressed to find a better place for freshwater fishing or hunting. My sister's family frequently vacation in Maine and they love it there. I've never been. :thumbdn:

I think you nailed my thoughts on the spey. It's a step away from a fixed blade because it's so stout. Especially the stockman version.
 
I think the bottom line is each blade may have had a specific purpose, however each person may favor what he is more comfortable with. To me it's easier to eat rice with a fork, but I know a few people than can eat rice easily with chopsticks. I'm just not that comfortable with it. I personally would love to see a knife with a spear, pen, sheep/coping combination.
 
In this forum, wharncliffe, sheepsfoot and spey blades wax and wane in popularity, depending on who decides to champion their attributes - and when. There was a lotta love for the spey blade when the TC Barlow Day's Work came out, just like there's a greater appreciation of the sheepsfoot just now.
I don't undertand those who say that they can't use a spey blade because they don't plan on castrating anything, anytime soon. The blade is useful for much more than its original design parameters required - it's not limited to emasculation. Its uses are limited only by imagination - or the lack thereof. It'll cut anything that needs cutting and is better for some tasks than others, like any other blade design.
Some may have an aversion simply because it's not as easy to get sharp (from one end to the other) as a purely straight-edged blade.

Good discussion about the spey blade in this thread:
http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php/1038931-The-Spey-blade?highlight=spey+blade
 
I really like both for different purposes. I probably like the spey a touch better as I'd rather have some belly in a blade than not.
 
First, I prefer the look of a sheepsfoot over the Spey. I also find them more useful in day to day use, and as an added bonus they are easier to sharpen!
 
deskil said:
I don't undertand those who say that they can't use a spey blade because they don't plan on castrating anything, anytime soon. The blade is useful for much more than its original design parameters required - it's not limited to emasculation.
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I'll second that. Especially when the poster follows that statement up by listing the virtues of a blade that was designed to clean the hoof of a sheep. :confused:
 
Cory,

Well written treatise on the Spey blade! I love the Spey and Sheepfoot and find them both great. The reason why the Stockman is my all-time favorite pocket knife!
 
Ive never gotten too into the trapper pattern and a big reason is the long spey blade. I like the straight edge blades pretty well. In forcing myself to carry and use a trapper for a while, I did learn that the spey is fairly useful in whittling in scooping out areas, the belly at the tip is just good for that. Better on a short blade. But that is one somewhat unique utility of the spey.
 
In the past, I am sure I feared the Spey blade. Something who's sole purpose (or so I believed) was to remove one of the essential functions of masculinity just gave me the Heebie-jeebies!!!
:eek:
But then I found some beautiful knives that combined a Spey and a Sheepfoot, and were designed for procreation!!
:confused:
Of plants that is!!
;)

Budding and Grafting knives, they were called, and they were apparently very good for those jobs, and this has proven to be true in the real world.

I'm not much of a farmer, although I have grown a few vegetable in my time, and prune my apple tree regularly. A B&G is a handy tool.

And then I found that when kitchen cutlery was not available, those blades were useful for camping and picnics. Neither is usually good for long term food prep though.

How about a single spring knife with a Spey and a Sheepfoot?? Then you could compare their relative usefulnesses??
:D
 
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supratentorial said:
But you didn't articulate why you like a spey? :)
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I didn't articulate a preference because I don't really have one.

On the knives I own with spey blades, there is also a sheepfoot, so I've never had to make a choice. In my experience, the spey is the more delicate and precise of the two and the one more likely to be razor sharp. That belly at the tip gives it a lot of precision. The sheepfoot is assigned the heavier tasks and doesn't need to be as sharp.
 
Primble said:
For usefulness, I would pick the sheepfoot every time. In the kitchen, a sheepfoot variation (Santoku blade) is my most used Wusthof knife. It is by far the best selling kitchen knife model, for good reason. ;)
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I'm with you there Primble! The Santoku is a kind of giant Sheepfoot, here's mine in Dam.stainless from Japan

IMG_2884.jpg


The other thing is, personally I just don't like he look of Spey blades that much. They tend to get turned into Pen blades on my knives.

Regards, Will
 
I'll tell you what a Spey does well (besides whatever they did originally) and that is cut a cone shaped plug out of soft materials. What do you use your Spey blades for (I mean you guys that don't do regular gelding). OH
 
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