thick knife vs. thin knife

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OmegaA

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Feb 13, 2004
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Hello, guys,
I found this article on internet: http://www4.gvsu.edu/triert/cache/articles/t1/outdoorsknife1.htm
Basically, this article argues that thin blade knives have a lot of advantages over thick blade knives, therefore thin blade knives are better for outdoor. I found this article interesting because usually on forums we often discuss expensive knives with thick blades.
I personally prefer thin blade knives, but I have thick blade knives too - Busse BA3 (even though I selected it specially because it has thin 3/16" blade), Muela and a few military ones. I like thin blade for reasons explained in the article. And it seems to me if we use thick blade knife it contradicts to three knives concept (large blade, medium and mulitool) because it works as thick blade knife and medium size knife.
My question to you is what do you prefer to use, thin blade or thick blade? Please give your opinion, I am on the market for a knife again. :D
Regards,
 
The only reason I can think of for having a really thick knife in the wilderness is for a pry bar/bone breaker/ax

For that I have my Spec Plus SP-8 Survival Machete, chop, hammer, dig, pry, all for about forty dollars.

All around outdoor/camp/utility, definitely a thinner blade.
 
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A high-performance thin blade, for pretty much everything but chopping and similar woodwork. When I go camping, all those goober who only brought thick knives constantly come by to borrow my Deerhunter or TTKK.

I couple that, when needed, with a bigger knife sized for appropriately -- could be thick, but in some areas, a machete (thin) works better.

Joe
 
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The only fixed blade knives I own these days are the Mora's. I've been camping, backpacking and woods rambling for about 40 years now and a thin blade is the way to go.

In my misguided youth I had some of the big bad thick bowies like a Randall #14, but thank the lord above I did get smarter as I got older. Not to mention I had to lighten my load. I sold off most of my knives and kept only the most practical. I still like to collect knives, but they have to be a real using tool for me to be interested.

The little red handle mora is my favorite knife, and I have one in my truck, in my canoe/kayak bag. The stailess Swedish Army knife is also a good carry knife. If i need a heavy duty cutter thats what they make small hatchets, and 12 inch Ontario machetes for. Nessmuck had it all figured out long before my daddy was born.

Another good thin blade for the outdoors is to get yourself a carbon steel Old Hickory or Russells butcher knife and make a simple leather sheath for it.
 
Thin blades for knives, thick blades for hatchets.
However, there is a much-loved Busse Basic 9 in the door-slot of my truck, so take my opinion with a small grain of salt. ;)

Seriously - for 90% of outdoor needs a thin-bladed knife and a hatchet / folding saw is what you want, for the same reasons that a hammer makes a lousy screwdriver.
 
I tend to agree with a thin spine long knife for camping or rather woods camping. I have the UC SEAL machete that is 3/16" of spine and works great. Wouldn't want much thicker of bigger. I also carry for the most part a small folder or sometimes a CS MasterHunter in Carbon V. I like to have the correct tool for the job at hand. Which if anything usually means a axe of some sort and a smaller knife. I don't do much primitve camping but did a bunch when younger and that usually meant a buck folder and hardware store axe with a hickory handle. Made out very well with these two especially in jr and sr. high when I worked a pretty big trap line with a buddy of mine.

For an edc I tend towards a 3.5-4.0" bladed folder. Which in my collection can mean anything from a Case to a BM etc. etc. For a really rugged knife that is bullet proof I don't think you can beat the Buck/Strider folders. Took to carrying the large when bowhunting this year and pried a lot of judo point out of stumps with it with no ill effect.

If I had to rely on one knife though to get me through an extended stay in the woods not through my own choosing, you know emergency type of thing. I would have to choose my UC machete. It is big enough to chop easily, it has ATS34 steel that is RC'd right at 58 so it sharpens easily but isn't brittle, and the spine extend out to a broad point so you can use it for a bunch of different survival tools. IT even spreads peanut butter but my finger works a bit better than the knife does :D keepem sharp
 
I prefer thin. So do people like mors kochanski, rustrum and other people who know what they are talking about and who lived it.
 
For me, 3/16-inch is an extremetly thick blade. I only buy one if I can't find the features I want in a thinner blade. I use a hatchet for chopping and knives for cutting. Thin cuts better. For me thicker blades are toys for playing gladiator.
 
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i usually carry a busse bm-e so i am one that falls into the "gladiator" type woodsman :p i have found this knife can do most of what i want in one tool as opposed to taking along several different tools that will require alot more maintenance such as sharpening.

admittedly though i always carry a sak huntsman to whatever tool i might have in the woods which of late has been a atc rr spike hawk and a busse public defender
 
The author of that article, Dr. Trier is an excepetionally gifted outdoorsman, and a staff writer for Tactical Knives. His articles are some of the best I have ever read. They have a true "real world" feel to them, from a man who has truly "been there and done that."

Although I do not have the experince that Dr. Trier has, I agree 100% with his conclusions.
 
I have been hunting, fishing, camping, hiking, and generally kicking around out in the mountains and woods for 55 years, and have never had any real need for a thick bladed chopping knife. Thin bladed knives are best for me, although I certainly don't begrudge anyone for any knife he/she wishes to carry and use. I do not find a thick bladed knife to be useful on gutting and cleaning and skinning or caping big or small game or fish.

For me, when I need a chopping tool, I use my old Plumb axe, or Plumb (B.S.A.) hatchet. My old 30" bow saw makes pretty short work of firewood, too.

If one were figuring on "surviving" TEOTWAWKI, then perhaps a really large knife would be in order... along with a good Stockman style pocket knife for the usual chores. But I am not worried about TEOTWAKI, so I'll stick with my thin bladed 4" knives to take apart whatever animals I kill out in the woods/mountains.

I will say that I marvel at and truely admire so many of the beautiful Bowie style knives I see the custom bladesmiths making... but to me, they are just a bit too big for my use.

To each his own, I say.

L.W.
 
I have many Big Knives but have decided that I will never use them, I small knife and Hatchet seems to be the way to go.
 
Everyone likes different features in their knives and that's great, and personally I prefer the heft, chopping power and extreme durability I get with a very thick blade.
Downside is the heavier weight, but let's be honest, is the extra weight really going to collapse you like an old crippled woman, unless you actually are an old crippled woman?

Thin knives are great slicers. No doubt.
I VERY often carry an opinel around the house for certain things. Outside though for edc and in the wilderness I can't take a hundred and twenty knives with me, so I take a thick strong blade along that can do ANYTHING I ask of it, even slice, albeit not quite as easily as my opinel. It's a balancing act, but I prefer my way.

To be honest if I wanted a knife to be able only to slice as well as a good kitchen knife, I'd just take one of my kitchen knives along with me and call it a day.
There's a lot more I need the knife to be able to do.

Sure, in my travels I'll probably never need a knife that can break through concrete, or pry using my full body weight, or digging, or even as make shift emergency rock climbing bolts(yes, I've seen that!), but hey I like knowing I have that option should I need it.

Oh, and when I go boar hunting(with dogs and a knife only), the knife breaking is not an option. Hence I need something a bit thicker.

To each his own.

BTW, the Italian Naval Commandos commisioned Mad Dog to make them a custom knife with a 10 inch long blade and 3/8 inch thick.
While I have no love lost for Europe, those guys are no goobers or playing gladiators. It costs 900 dollars US and has been extremely well recieved by them.
 
I think it all comes down to due you want to have a blade that will be there in it hits the fan or due you want to have something that will slice real nice like a kitchen knife, I have had alot of people that wanted to learn from me say that they do not like wearing that big thick blade all the time in the woods but I tell them to get over it, it is alot easier to do that than to be with out it when you really need it,heck I wear my bowie, a leatherman wave and a mora everday around my farm and it never seems to get to me but it takes doing it everday until it becomes second nature so as you can see I have a thiner blade as well but I do carry both.
 
For most of what I do in the wilderness a 12 inch Tramontina or Ontario machete and a small fixed blade knife will do just fine. The small blade I carry more than anything else anymore is a Newt Livesay NRGS neck knife. I've used this knife in large and small game and a dozen other little tasks and it always surprises me how well it does.

It is not a thick blade but it has a good spine and won't break easily. I think this is the main drawback to only having a thin blade knife along is the possibility that you might break it. If you have an axe or machete along then a heavy bladed 7 inch knife is really redundant. You already have a heavy hitter and if you have a small blade you can do all your detail work. I like my small blade to have a really decent point to it. I find myself drilling holes in stuff quite often and the machete can't do that. Mac
 
Interesting posts. Do a search, this one has been beaten to death time and time again.

I've seen "experts" on both sides of the fence. Go to the jungle, machetes rule. Go to Nepal, khukuris rule. They all have their place. There are tradeoffs either way.

My current favorite is a Swamp Rat Bandicoot whose edge I *greatly* thinned out. This baby is nice and strong, and outcuts (and the edge outlasts) all of my Moras, hands down. I'm very impressed. I don't know if you would call it thick or thin, it just works.
 
For thick stock blades I like to see enough blade width to get a nice taper to the cutting edge. This will give decent chopping that will be a nice overall user as well. My go to camp knife is 3/16" at the spine. Its all in the grind hieght I think.
 
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