Hey, everyone. Been a while & I was thinking about designs of different knives. Figure it might be useful for beginners, but if you guys have anything to add, please do.
Tantos are thought of entirely as tactical blades sometimes, but they actually can be pretty useful in other ways. If someone holds the blade by the tip (maybe with their arm through a lanyard loop on the handle), they can use the front part like a pocket knife.
Seems they were accidentally invented- swords would break at the end & they were resharpened on the ends to use as training blades, but they found it worked better in a lot of ways like that & started making them that way.
As far as results go, it seems there would be a bigger wound on the stab & maybe a deeper cut (due to that corner having something of a piercing effect like the point). The rest of the blade would work like any other knife.
Bowie/clip point seems to increase piercing ability while decreasing durability. If the back curve was sharpened (like on the original Kabar), this would add the option to backcut. Everything else seems to be the same as a regular knife, except maybe a slash is a bit deeper because there's more concentration of force on the edge at that corner-like part of the curve.
Double-edged blade with a dagger point is good for piercing & backcutting, while still being somewhat useful for regular tasks. The stab is more damaging because of the other edge cutting the tissue & it can be used for ripping after the stab (or ripping through on a hooking type of stab).
Karambit is mostly for combative stuff (the stab & rip dynamics make it pretty incapacitating from injury or pain & it can be used for hooking/hauling in disarms or as an adjunct to grappling), but it could be used for other things like cutting through ropes or tough material.
Push daggers generally have a T shape & are good for a surprising amount of things. It's easy to get a good grip on it, to keep that grip (even if someone gets hit in a way that loosens their grip- like getting hit on the nerves by accident when a bunch of people are hitting them from 5 different angles by surprise), and to use it in a versatile & potent way. It's gives a strong stab & a strong cut, so you can end a fight quickly in more than a couple of ways (besides intimidation- stabs into the heart & lungs as well as the spine, stabs to the shoulder nerve to counter that "uppercut stitching machine" that people tend to use in assaults, cuts to the bone in any of the limbs or the neck, stabbing & ripping at the abdomen).
It's also a good idea to get out of a car crash with (easy solid grip, good control of something small enough to work around a seat belt without cutting anything else, strong cut to get through a seat belt & a strong stab to break a window made of safety glass).
Opening packages & cutting tape/rope/string is simple enough & someone can still use their hands to do things like open drawers, sign papers, type a keyboard or open a door.
-The slant-handle style is more limited. Someone can get a quick grip (but it'll come out just like most other knives), they can get a more powerful cut, and they can get a strong stab from a wrist angle like with a khukuri (but it's not as strong as the T-shaped ones)- it's not something that'll stay IN the hand & that also effects all the stuff you can or can't do with it in hand.
Butcher-style (with an overhanging ledge in front & a rounded corner where the back slopes to a tip). Useful for combative stuff, but also good for cutting/carving/etc... as well as skinning & butching because that corner on the back would just ride along meat & bone when cutting the hide & meat of an animal.
Khukuri is also good for combative & non-combative tasks. The cut is deeper because the blade intersects with the material more, the chop is more devastating & also intuitive (like swinging a hammer instead of HAVING to run the edge along whatever you're cutting for it to cut deeply), the curved blade can be used to hook things like limbs or gun barrels, and the point is aligned for "outward" stabs (both making the action similar to a punch where there isn't much of an arm arc to interrupt & the wrist having less of a bend where there could be an injury or at least a droppage if something solid is hit).
The short straight part at the beginning of the blade is useful for carving, the curve can be used for draw-knife cutting, the long straight part can be used for both chopping & splitting, the front part of the blade is useable for small carving & for chipping (like small chopping strokes- good for tapering the end of something larger), the point is good for drilling & digging (since the front of the blade is fairly broad), and the back might be useful for different things- depending on if the long part is rounded (good for making cordage by bashing the stalks the fibers are on) & the short part is crisp (hard 90-degree edges for scuffing up tinder or shaving wood like a spokeshave & for striking a ferro rod).
The design tends to give it some built-in retention, since someone has to pull & bend it to get it out of the sheath (so it won't likely drag out in bushes or if someone slides down a hill into a river).
The Kabar seems like it bears special reference.
The length of the 7" blade is to be able to reach the heart from any angle (under the ribs from in front, through the armpits, behind the collarbones), but it's also useful for regular stuff. The non-serrated edge is good for carving, given that most of the carving a person does is with the first inch or so of the blade- this non-mangling effectThe back of it is completely unsharpened now, but it was originally sharpened on the back where the curve is & that would give a backcuttong option while still maintaining some utilitarian ability.
The leather handle gives a good grip with wet hands & with the blade in any position.
The pommel is fairly wide & also flat, making it good for pounding or supporting a piercing action with the other hand.
The double guard is, in my opinion, a bad I dea. While it keeps the hand from riding up the blade, it also keeps the thumb from resting on the back of it when carving & from putting the back edge against the forearm. A front guard with some width to keep it from digging into the hand would good, but a front ledge with some extra width would do the same thing & would also never rattle or catch someone's skin when the leather shrinks.
Folders aren't really a major area of forte for me, but the thumbhole style is good for ambidextrity & for opening it even when wearing work or winter gloves. The projection it can make could work like a Wave, where it snags on the pocket as it's being dragged out & unfolds so it's open right when it's out of the pocket. This effect can be had by cutting/filing/grinding the thumbhole or the blade to make a hook, putting a cable tie through the hole (thumbstuds are usually unscrewable & the blade can also be drilled through), or running that cable tie through the hole & through a nut that's placed flat-to-flat against the blade so it won't spin like the cable tie might do.
The Triad lock seems like it's one that starts great & STAYS great as it wears over the years. The lockback is good, at the very least ambidextrous & won't typically come open from the grip on the handle in itself (like a linerlock isn't & might).
Crooked Knife or Mocotaugan. Almost no combative applications, but a great woodworking knife. Bent toward the flat of the blade to make a J & that curve makes a wood gouge to make spoons & bowls, while the straight part works for a drawknife. It can be also used in a pushing way instead of a pulling way to round handles & make notches.
Tantos are thought of entirely as tactical blades sometimes, but they actually can be pretty useful in other ways. If someone holds the blade by the tip (maybe with their arm through a lanyard loop on the handle), they can use the front part like a pocket knife.
Seems they were accidentally invented- swords would break at the end & they were resharpened on the ends to use as training blades, but they found it worked better in a lot of ways like that & started making them that way.
As far as results go, it seems there would be a bigger wound on the stab & maybe a deeper cut (due to that corner having something of a piercing effect like the point). The rest of the blade would work like any other knife.
Bowie/clip point seems to increase piercing ability while decreasing durability. If the back curve was sharpened (like on the original Kabar), this would add the option to backcut. Everything else seems to be the same as a regular knife, except maybe a slash is a bit deeper because there's more concentration of force on the edge at that corner-like part of the curve.
Double-edged blade with a dagger point is good for piercing & backcutting, while still being somewhat useful for regular tasks. The stab is more damaging because of the other edge cutting the tissue & it can be used for ripping after the stab (or ripping through on a hooking type of stab).
Karambit is mostly for combative stuff (the stab & rip dynamics make it pretty incapacitating from injury or pain & it can be used for hooking/hauling in disarms or as an adjunct to grappling), but it could be used for other things like cutting through ropes or tough material.
Push daggers generally have a T shape & are good for a surprising amount of things. It's easy to get a good grip on it, to keep that grip (even if someone gets hit in a way that loosens their grip- like getting hit on the nerves by accident when a bunch of people are hitting them from 5 different angles by surprise), and to use it in a versatile & potent way. It's gives a strong stab & a strong cut, so you can end a fight quickly in more than a couple of ways (besides intimidation- stabs into the heart & lungs as well as the spine, stabs to the shoulder nerve to counter that "uppercut stitching machine" that people tend to use in assaults, cuts to the bone in any of the limbs or the neck, stabbing & ripping at the abdomen).
It's also a good idea to get out of a car crash with (easy solid grip, good control of something small enough to work around a seat belt without cutting anything else, strong cut to get through a seat belt & a strong stab to break a window made of safety glass).
Opening packages & cutting tape/rope/string is simple enough & someone can still use their hands to do things like open drawers, sign papers, type a keyboard or open a door.
-The slant-handle style is more limited. Someone can get a quick grip (but it'll come out just like most other knives), they can get a more powerful cut, and they can get a strong stab from a wrist angle like with a khukuri (but it's not as strong as the T-shaped ones)- it's not something that'll stay IN the hand & that also effects all the stuff you can or can't do with it in hand.
Butcher-style (with an overhanging ledge in front & a rounded corner where the back slopes to a tip). Useful for combative stuff, but also good for cutting/carving/etc... as well as skinning & butching because that corner on the back would just ride along meat & bone when cutting the hide & meat of an animal.
Khukuri is also good for combative & non-combative tasks. The cut is deeper because the blade intersects with the material more, the chop is more devastating & also intuitive (like swinging a hammer instead of HAVING to run the edge along whatever you're cutting for it to cut deeply), the curved blade can be used to hook things like limbs or gun barrels, and the point is aligned for "outward" stabs (both making the action similar to a punch where there isn't much of an arm arc to interrupt & the wrist having less of a bend where there could be an injury or at least a droppage if something solid is hit).
The short straight part at the beginning of the blade is useful for carving, the curve can be used for draw-knife cutting, the long straight part can be used for both chopping & splitting, the front part of the blade is useable for small carving & for chipping (like small chopping strokes- good for tapering the end of something larger), the point is good for drilling & digging (since the front of the blade is fairly broad), and the back might be useful for different things- depending on if the long part is rounded (good for making cordage by bashing the stalks the fibers are on) & the short part is crisp (hard 90-degree edges for scuffing up tinder or shaving wood like a spokeshave & for striking a ferro rod).
The design tends to give it some built-in retention, since someone has to pull & bend it to get it out of the sheath (so it won't likely drag out in bushes or if someone slides down a hill into a river).
The Kabar seems like it bears special reference.
The length of the 7" blade is to be able to reach the heart from any angle (under the ribs from in front, through the armpits, behind the collarbones), but it's also useful for regular stuff. The non-serrated edge is good for carving, given that most of the carving a person does is with the first inch or so of the blade- this non-mangling effectThe back of it is completely unsharpened now, but it was originally sharpened on the back where the curve is & that would give a backcuttong option while still maintaining some utilitarian ability.
The leather handle gives a good grip with wet hands & with the blade in any position.
The pommel is fairly wide & also flat, making it good for pounding or supporting a piercing action with the other hand.
The double guard is, in my opinion, a bad I dea. While it keeps the hand from riding up the blade, it also keeps the thumb from resting on the back of it when carving & from putting the back edge against the forearm. A front guard with some width to keep it from digging into the hand would good, but a front ledge with some extra width would do the same thing & would also never rattle or catch someone's skin when the leather shrinks.
Folders aren't really a major area of forte for me, but the thumbhole style is good for ambidextrity & for opening it even when wearing work or winter gloves. The projection it can make could work like a Wave, where it snags on the pocket as it's being dragged out & unfolds so it's open right when it's out of the pocket. This effect can be had by cutting/filing/grinding the thumbhole or the blade to make a hook, putting a cable tie through the hole (thumbstuds are usually unscrewable & the blade can also be drilled through), or running that cable tie through the hole & through a nut that's placed flat-to-flat against the blade so it won't spin like the cable tie might do.
The Triad lock seems like it's one that starts great & STAYS great as it wears over the years. The lockback is good, at the very least ambidextrous & won't typically come open from the grip on the handle in itself (like a linerlock isn't & might).
Crooked Knife or Mocotaugan. Almost no combative applications, but a great woodworking knife. Bent toward the flat of the blade to make a J & that curve makes a wood gouge to make spoons & bowls, while the straight part works for a drawknife. It can be also used in a pushing way instead of a pulling way to round handles & make notches.