Thumb ramps and jimping... I don't get it.

D

dogstar

Joined
Jan 23, 2011
Messages
4,399
I've been watching a bunch of knife reviews lately. People seemed obsessed with the need for thumb ramps and jimping. I never hold a knife with my thumb on the spine. It is not a strong grip.

The one knife I have with spine jimping kept biting into my fingers in the chest lever grip. It got really tiresome during spoon carving. My kitchen knives, which I use the most, don't have or need jimping. I carry mostly slipjoints, for which pressure on the spine of the blade is mostly desirable for closing.

Why is jimping a must for so many knife enthusiasts?
 
Last edited:
Grip when stabbing is my guess. I hear about it a lot in references to "tactical" knives. Usually reviewers obsessed with jimping are referring to using the knife as a weapon.

Thumb ramps are not a big deal to me, but I don't mind them either. They fit really well on most spydercos because of their huge hump. My two favorite EDC knives, the BM 558 Ritter Grip and the BM 13960 Osborne are a good example. The Ritter Grips has a thumb ramp with jimping, the 13960 has neither, yet I find it hard to pick which one I like more (the Ritter's biggest edge is the custom Orange G-10 handles).
 
bobusx said:
Grip when stabbing is my guess. I hear about it a lot in references to "tactical" knives. Usually reviewers obsessed with jimping are referring to using the knife as a weapon.

Thumb ramps are not a big deal to me, but I don't mind them either. They fit really well on most spydercos because of their huge hump. My two favorite EDC knives, the BM 558 Ritter Grip and the BM 13960 Osborne are a good example. The Ritter Grips has a thumb ramp with jimping, the 13960 has neither, yet I find it hard to pick which one I like more (the Ritter's biggest edge is the custom Orange G-10 handles).
Click to expand...

I disagree. I tried once, when I was younger, to stab wood with my thumb on jimping/thumb ramp. It hurt!

I like it for precise cutting sometimes, but usually I don't use it
 
Thanks for the replies. I am not a knife fighting enthusiast, but it seems like a weak grip. But, what do I know?

For precise cutting, how much force are you using and what are the chances your hand will slip?
 
When I use the thumb ramp, I am using very very little force (it helps if the knife is sharp!)

think "peeling apple" motion
 
I like the thumb ramp since I can support the blade while cutting and IMHO, less stress is transferred to the stop pin.
 
I use jimping in conjunction with a choil for smal small tasks, like fuzz sticks are like someone else suggested peeling. works great for that. It's a nice to have, not a must have.
 
The fancy nut guy on you tube is the one with the jimping obsession. As I was on active duty only till '87 and frankly would have had little sucess with a knife to actually fight with even then as the couple of days of training I had during my 6 years of service do not one a martial artist make. I do not worry about jimping.

For guys on active duty its a different story. It is possible to run out of ammo. It is possible to defend oneself with a knife. Regular practice would be a good idea.
 
When precision cutting, the thumb ramp and jimping on my Navy k631 provides support for my index finger directing the cut .. nothing to do with fighting at all.
 
i thought i was the only one who didn't like jimping. every time i carry my resilience i end up scratching the back of my hand. i'm thinking about taking my dremel to it.
 
dogstar said:
I've been watching a bunch of knife reviews lately. People seemed obsessed with the need for thumb ramps and jimping. I never hold a knife with my thumb on the spine. It is not a strong grip.

The one knife I have with spine jimping kept biting into my fingers in the chest lever grip. It got really tiresome during spoon carving. My kitchen knives, which I use the most, don't have or need jimping. I carry mostly slipjoints, for which pressure on the spine of the blade is mostly desirable for closing.

Why is jimping a must for so many knife enthusiasts?
Click to expand...
It's not so much a must for knife enthusiasts, but it appears to be a must for the companies that design and manufacture the knives. A little jimping in strategic places is helpful when you hold the knife in such a way that you direct the majority of the force to go towards the tip of the blade. You can also think of a thumb ramp as an upper choil for the top of your hand.
 
Last edited:
My guess is that it sort of functions as a top guard, and is made to be a bit more gentle and useful for choking up on the knife than a straight flat guard would be.
Many knives which have the ramp also have a lower guard or a finger groove on the handle, or large choil behind the blade for choking up .
Just a guess.
As for the jimping, it's hard to say that it wouldn't be useful to have a better grip surface if you ever used that area for some techniques. I don't think the jimping really harms any uses of the knife.

And let's not forget marketing. They are features which might be perceived by some as giving more value, which might command higher price.
 
I think it's a different matter when trying to grip a knife that's wet, either from sweat or the environment, it's harder to grip on knife that's smooth all around.

Don't forget gloves too.
 
Sometimes people forget that knives are not just tools for precise cutting, but one of man's earliest weapons. Then threads like this happen.
 
I find jimping helpful when performing precision work with my folder. This is something I do a lot of in my remodeling work. The jimps let me apply force with greater control than if they weren't there. Control is the name of the game in craftsmanship, so I like well-executed jimping on my folders.
 
I'm with you. I have zero understing for jimping but then again I have no idea why people put choils on a small knife either. Some people desire these features and for others like you and me, these features actually detract from the knife. I've never encountered a cutting job where jimping or choils made any sense. Maybe I'm using my knives wrong.:rolleyes:

Tim616 said:
Sometimes people forget that knives are not just tools for precise cutting, but one of man's earliest weapons. Then threads like this happen.
Click to expand...
So you're saying a fighting knife needs to have jimping? I actually see less jimping on fighting knives and swords then I do on "tacticool" knives. Japanese tantos, kabar USMC, traditional kukri, fairbairn sykes, etc...none have jimping.:confused:
 
Finger choils and jimping improve control.
Just because it isn't absolutely necessary, doesn't mean it isn't useful.
 
I don't like jimping.

I think it's something that a few people doing knife videos on YouTube decided was important and then it spread like wildfire.

Often, it seems the praise for this feature is lavished without much actual use of the knife.

It's also interesting that people call a knife handle that doesn't have finger grooves, choils, ramps and prominent guards "un-ergonomic."

To me, the most ergonomic knife is one with a handle that is comfortable in any grip, rather than limiting you to one or two.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top