Thoughts on forward edge "kitchen" knife designs

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Ruger 44 Redhawk

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Feb 19, 2021
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Just curious if anyone has thoughts on the forward edge design like kitchen knives on outdoor blades. What I mean by this is the edge is way in front of the handle stock. Examples I can think of would be the Ontario Cerberus or their new SPL knife where the finger guard is actually the bottom of the blade. All of my knives have the edge equal to the handle stock like a Kabar military, Ontario SP6, RD7, Buck Nighthawk, ESEE 6, Chris Reeve Pacific/Green Beret, etc. Not sure if I've used the "kitchen" knife design in the woods or not and am intrigued what you all think. Seems like it wouldn't be a good design for camping tasks?
 
Not a good design? There are plenty who would disagree.....

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Arathol said:
Not a good design? There are plenty who would disagree.....

Gaucho knives and cuchillos criollos of South America

Today I received my very much anticipated " Verijero" knife. :) A work of art, handmade by @maxipescie, a very talented knifemaker in my beloved native country 🇦🇷. I am so very happy with it :) It's so authentic, so traditional in every way ! The handle is "Urunday", a native wood to...
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Click to expand...
I wasn't saying that it wasn't a good design, but rather I have no experience with that style. Seems like you are seeing a lot of these now. Just curious how they are compared to traditional stock blades. I am interested in that new Ontario SPL in Magnacut that's why.
 
Ruger 44 Redhawk said:
... Examples I can think of would be the Ontario Cerberus or their new SPL knife where the finger guard is actually the bottom of the blade. All of my knives have the edge equal to the handle stock like a Kabar military, Ontario SP6, RD7, Buck Nighthawk, ESEE 6, Chris Reeve Pacific/Green Beret, etc. Not sure if I've used the "kitchen" knife design in the woods or not and am intrigued what you all think. Seems like it wouldn't be a good design for camping tasks?
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The majority of my outdoor fixed blades have a finger choil or guard formed by the heel of the blade. I don't know why that would interfere with camping tasks. I would think that a military-style guard would be bad for food prep.

BTW, the Ontario SPL has rather poor reviews on Blade HQ.
 
Steven Dick, editor of Tactical Knives (which I still miss (sniff!)) designed a knife he called the Pasayten with a forward edge design. I think TOPS is still making it. Good design.
 
Ruger 44 Redhawk said:
Just curious if anyone has thoughts on the forward edge design like kitchen knives on outdoor blades. What I mean by this is the edge is way in front of the handle stock. Examples I can think of would be the Ontario Cerberus or their new SPL knife where the finger guard is actually the bottom of the blade. All of my knives have the edge equal to the handle stock like a Kabar military, Ontario SP6, RD7, Buck Nighthawk, ESEE 6, Chris Reeve Pacific/Green Beret, etc. Not sure if I've used the "kitchen" knife design in the woods or not and am intrigued what you all think. Seems like it wouldn't be a good design for camping tasks?
Click to expand...
A knife with a finger choil instead of guard is the best way to work, hands down. Though, I also enjoy a straight full bladed knife like the pukkos. As a chef I used the bottom corner of my blade to insert into fine work, in the camp you can do the same.

There aren’t many “camp” task that really demands big ole pig sticker of a blade with dual finger guard be used anyway IMHO. In my personal kitchen use a Martinni Rapala fillet knife for 99.5% of my cooking anyway and take it when I travel.

That SPL looks a lot like the RAT3.
 
There are plenty of knives with this design, some are fairly popular......
Becker
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BPS Knives
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Sharpfinger
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Boker
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A couple small ones from Two Sun
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Condor
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Ever handle a knife from Dan Winkler? He makes quite a few also.
 
A lot of folks like them. I used to think it had to have a full guard covered with handle material to be safe. But after having made and used quite a few with the "forward edge" design, I have to say I really like it when it is done well. To me done well means that the heel is rounded or angled away from the hand enough that you don't accidentally pierce yourself on it if you are using a choked up grip on a cutting board, and the steel around the guard is chamfered to prevent discomfort.
 
One could imagine they tend twist slightly in whittling and so? Not by a lot but in theory.
I prefer narrow ”classic” blades because I feel that they are more agile in use. Also not a huge fan of choil type of guard as they can create hot spots in whittling and such sessions.
 
A.L. said:
One could imagine they tend twist slightly in whittling and so? Not by a lot but in theory.
I prefer narrow ”classic” blades because I feel that they are more agile in use. Also not a huge fan of choil type of guard as they can create hot spots in whittling and such sessions.
Click to expand...
A recent one was made with slab, non contoured scales for that very reason if Not twisting in the hand. Your fingertips register perfectly for secure twisting of the knife into work.












 
It's probably my favorite style of knife at this point. I've never once wished I had a more intrusive hand guard, but multiple times I have been annoyed (such as when using a cutting board) with the hand guard getting in the way of my cuts.
https://imgur.com/a/eNJ1MP0
 
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