The point of it all

dawsonbob said:
Obviously, I've failed in how I asked the question. We all — including me — know that a nice pointy tip is important for some things.

Let's all assume that we have the small knife of our choice, with an excellent point, along with us for removing splinters or whatever.

Now that we have that out of the way, how much do you actually need a pointy tip on a knife with an 8 inch blade? How much would you actually be using the point, as opposed to using the sharp edge for cutting? Remember that this is a knife WITH AN 8 INCH BLADE meant for woods/survival use, not a pocket knife for use in the city.
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Well...as long I have a good pointy small knife along then I am fine with...and would prefer actually... a chopper something like this.

DSC01911.jpg
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However it seems that no matter how often I hit the woods with a multi-tool combo I just can't get my head to permanently wrap around that concept and I still choose my knives based on being down to only it. Therefore I still want some point to pierce with. Being stuck with a round-nosed Golok would drive me absolutely insane! I'd be taking a hack saw or file to it...wedging it between rocks and breaking it if I had no other choice... just to give it a usable point of some type.
 
mistwalker said:
Well...as long I have a good pointy small knife along then I am fine with...and would prefer actually... a chopper something like this.

DSC01911.jpg
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However it seems that no matter how often I hit the woods with a multi-tool combo I just can't get my head to permanently wrap around that concept and I still choose my knives based on being down to only it. Therefore I still want some point to pierce with. Being stuck with a round-nosed Golok would drive me absolutely insane! I'd be taking a hack saw or file to it...wedging it between rocks and breaking it if I had no other choice... just to give it a usable point of some type.[/QUOTE]

Thanks, Mist. Good answer, because it lets me know some of your thinking on the 'why' of it.
 
I would think that a knife of that size would benefit from a point for digging into a stump for grubs and insects for food or bait.
 
Hi guys, Im pretty new here and mostly just hang out trying to learn a little bit. I have been giving alot of thought about this topic lately. I recently found a knife that had no point except for the toe of the blade. Cut off flat with only a slight angle. It has a four inch blade about 1/8 " thick and 1 inch witd. It is obviously an industrial knife of some kind but I had never seen one before. After cleaning it up and putting an edge on it I found it had a very good carbon steel blade and took a scary sharp edge. It is an inexpensively made knife with a round wood handle, metal gard and the only marking was R Murphy. I googled R Murphy knives and found they made several different kinds of knives and this one was intended for the leather and, or, rubber industry. After using it on a few outings it has become my "rambling" light bushcraft knife. At least for now. It has performed equal to my Mora and sells for about the same price. I do carry my SAK soldier and have not missed having a point on ths one. This may be old info for most here but I just thought Id pass it on.
TDP
 
I agree with the side that not haveing a point is okay only if you have another small knife to do detail work. Another point (no pun intended) that I could make for a 8-10 inch knife with a rounded or squared front edge is safety. When I was a teenager, I had a larger knife on my belt, and slipped going down an incline. The knife tip was forced through the end of the sheath in into my leg. Of course this hasn't stopped me from carrying belt knives with sharp points but I could see the safety advantage in rough areas where one might be prone to falls. The smaller knife is easier to secure in such a way that the point would be "safer" during a fall.
 
Stabbing: almost never
Piercing, "digging", precision work: very often.

As already pointed point is very useful on small knives.
A lot less useful on choppers/big blades: the length of blade make them quite complicated to use safely.
The only use I could see is as a stabbing tool to finish wounded animals, but that's mostly very specialized daggers.

Real world choppers generally don't have much tip: see natas, axes, machettes to some extend...
 
Brutane said:
When I was a teenager, I had a larger knife on my belt, and slipped going down an incline. The knife tip was forced through the end of the sheath in into my leg
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Somewhat off topic, but this is one of the reasons why Magnussen (Rick) always places a metal rivet off-centered to the tip of his sheaths. He did a bunch of testing with knife blanks, placing the sheath/knife in a clamp and hammering them down the tang to try and produce a puncture through the sheath. Also hammering the tang to the sides to try and produce a lateral cut through the sheath. This one rivet was found to do as much good as multiple rivets.

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Normally, my ESEE-4 sheath has retention screws in it both at the top and I also keep one lower in the sheath for added protection even though it serves no purpose to tightening the sheath. It does however keep the blade from sliding out of the kydex. Here was you can do by banging your hand sideways on the tang without the retention screws.

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Again there is a very simple fix for the above and ESEE recommends that you always keep a retention screw in. I suggest keeping two screws in for maximum safety. Most folded kydex sheaths are riveted at blade end and are inherently safe. I think more makers should consider using safety rivets in leather pouch sheaths.
 
dawsonbob said:
It's really not, although I can see why you would think so. I had never seen a Russian machete until long after this thing was shown. It actually grew out of a WW 2 USMC Hospital Corpsman's knife that got modified more, and more, and more. Page 6 of the Ugly Stick thread gives the evolution.
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Here are a few more

http://www.rusmilitary.com/images/machet_saro.jpg

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_7Htr-oLF0...ADrg/WLH8oGBFi-Y/s400/spetznaz_machete-sm.jpg

I like your model MUCH better
 
In a true survival situation I would have to have a point on my chopper. For whatever reason it may be your only blade. For every day screwing around the small blade gets the point used and the chopper does what it really wants to do, chop and baton. For actual stabbing with a big blade probably only into a stump for grubs , brown rot tinder or for a last ditch defense against large wild animal attacks. The main use for the point would be drilling and starting a inside cut. Plus I'm so used to having knives with points anyway.
 
WILLIAM.M said:
Here are a few more

http://www.rusmilitary.com/images/machet_saro.jpg

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_7Htr-oLF0...ADrg/WLH8oGBFi-Y/s400/spetznaz_machete-sm.jpg

I like your model MUCH better
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Thank you, sir. There must be a reason that whomever did the Russian machete came up with a design very much like mine, or vice versa: perhaps because it really is practical.

With so many people thinking that the Russian knife was so similar, I was on the verge of just letting it go, and moving on. As it is, Ethan Becker and KA-BAR are the ones who would make the decision in any event, and my phone hasn't been ringing about this so far.:D

I really do think that it would be a good addition to the line, though — an 8" blade somewhere in between the TacTool and a short bolo (with a square end). Obviously, it's not meant to carry around town and open blister packs: in the bush, though, it could really shine. It was meant to be part of a self contained system, with the knife itself, a modular sheath, and a small companion knife (with a point).

It's not Russian, though — it's an American knife made by KA-BAR. A good, solid knife, at a good price point.
 
try opening plastic food packaging like bacon and hot dogs without a point, point is a lot easier
 
adamajc said:
In a true survival situation I would have to have a point on my chopper. For whatever reason it may be your only blade. For every day screwing around the small blade gets the point used and the chopper does what it really wants to do, chop and baton. For actual stabbing with a big blade probably only into a stump for grubs , brown rot tinder or for a last ditch defense against large wild animal attacks. The main use for the point would be drilling and starting a inside cut. Plus I'm so used to having knives with points anyway.
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Well, actually, it does have a point: it's just not in line with the handle like most knives you're used to. It being your only knife in a survival situation is kind of the point of the whole thing; it was designed expressly for that purpose.

The point — at the bottom front, where the main grind meets the squared off front grind — can be used while holding the handle, but it can be used with more finesse by holding the blade by the top front (which is flat/unsharpened for batoning).

Remember: that flat front portion is sharpened, and just made for stabbing into a stump when searching for grubs, and is also made for prying, digging, scraping, tending a fire, etc.

And all this is why I asked the original question of how much do you actually use a point for sticking into things, as opposed to using the edge for cutting?
 
akthor said:
try opening plastic food packaging like bacon and hot dogs without a point, point is a lot easier
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There is a point, and it will slice open your bacon or hot dogs just fine. You don't honestly think I'd leave you out there without a way to open the necessities of life, do you? I am a civilized man, after all.:D
 
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