I just did some family photo's of my top ten most comfortable knives. So here they are (order of preference goes from top left to bottom right).
In case you're wondering, yes, that's eight Spyderco's and two Kershaw's in the picture, about 1/3 my collection of folders (mostly Spyderco's and Kershaw's).
To describe what makes a knife comfortable can be pretty difficult. It's not just size or length. I've noticed that there are specific shapes that work well in my hand, and some very subtle choices that can make or break a design.
Before I get to the dissection, honorable mention should go to the Caly 3. It is the perfect little knife, but can't perform as primary EDC (just incase it didn't sink in, the Caly 3 is perfect).
Handle design, in my thinking, primarily falls into two categories. First is the more common, "ball" handle philosophy, where your hand engulfs the handle and the butt end rests on the pad, or "heel" of your hand. Second is the "stick" philosophy, where the handle runs across the entire length of your palm, and the butt end of the knife does not touch your hand.
Of course, which knives fit into which category is partially determined by how big your hands are, but you can usually still see which knives were intended to be held one way or the other.
The top two knives on my list, the Civilian and the Military, encompass the "stick" philosophy almost flawlessly. If you clench your fist, you'll notice that the pads of your hand extend past your pinky finger. If the knife handle ends at the same point as your pinkey finger you've still got a little less than an inch of pad left un-used. These knives extend the handle past your last finger, and contact your palm across it's entire width.
Next, take your fingers and bend them at a forty-five degree angle to the back of your hand. You'll notice two distinct folds in the palm of your hand. With your hand open, they form the most distinguishable lines. The upper one running from the pinkey finger to the middle finger, the second running just beneath the first and across nearly the entire width of your hand. The spine of the handle (at least with the Military) curves gently and follows the second line fairly closely, also following the natural curve of your hand while holding it. The handle is also wide and thick enough to fill the distance between your fingers and the palm of your hand, taking into account the length of each finger.
The best example I've come across of the "ball" philosophy is number three on my favorites list. The Mini-Manix. I don't know if it was intentional or if Eric Glesser just happened to get it right, but the handle on that knife just melts when I hold it. Similar to the "stick" philosophy, you still want the handle to follow that line in your hand (which shows the separation between pads of the hand). This time the critical difference is that it's not the handle spine resting one the heel of your palm, it's the butt end. The length of the handle ends with your pinky finger. The Captain (middle bottom row in the picture) takes advantage of this best, the spine of the handle rests on the pad at the base of your thumb. Where that pad ends, the handle makes a sharp turn to fit with the pad at the heel of your hand. The Captain pulls it off beautifully. the other knife that trys to do this is the Kershaw Offset. Unfortunately, it doesn't do so well. It's too long to rest the butt of the handle on the heel of your hand (should have been a "stick" design), but because the design keeps the butt of the handle pushed into your palm, it also keeps the handle away from the ring and pinky fingers. If there had been another "lump" where there is now a "dip" the knife would have been fantastic. Sadly this is not the case.
Which brings me back to the Mini-Manix.
Not only is the handle nice and thick, it bulbs and dips at just the right places. First, the handle is a good width for the index and middle fingers to grip. It thickens not only to account for finger length, but "bulbs" behind the ring finger, filling the swell of the palm (the dip in the middle). By filling that space, the handle is pressed up to the fingers without need of extra width at the end of the handle (see Military), this is also aided by the long thumb ramp. if the thumb ramp is too far back, the thumb pushes the handle forward, pivoting it on the index finger, and pushing the butt of the handle into the palm, and away from the fingers (the Offset accomplishes this pivoting off your middle finger with that huge ridge, even though it has a long thumb ramp). If the thumb is allowed to extend, then the handle can be pulled into the grip of the fingers, and there coddle them like babies.
That sums up the basics of what I've figured out so far. If anyone else has specific likes/dislikes about handle design, feel free to speak up.
In case you're wondering, yes, that's eight Spyderco's and two Kershaw's in the picture, about 1/3 my collection of folders (mostly Spyderco's and Kershaw's).
To describe what makes a knife comfortable can be pretty difficult. It's not just size or length. I've noticed that there are specific shapes that work well in my hand, and some very subtle choices that can make or break a design.
Before I get to the dissection, honorable mention should go to the Caly 3. It is the perfect little knife, but can't perform as primary EDC (just incase it didn't sink in, the Caly 3 is perfect).
Handle design, in my thinking, primarily falls into two categories. First is the more common, "ball" handle philosophy, where your hand engulfs the handle and the butt end rests on the pad, or "heel" of your hand. Second is the "stick" philosophy, where the handle runs across the entire length of your palm, and the butt end of the knife does not touch your hand.
Of course, which knives fit into which category is partially determined by how big your hands are, but you can usually still see which knives were intended to be held one way or the other.
The top two knives on my list, the Civilian and the Military, encompass the "stick" philosophy almost flawlessly. If you clench your fist, you'll notice that the pads of your hand extend past your pinky finger. If the knife handle ends at the same point as your pinkey finger you've still got a little less than an inch of pad left un-used. These knives extend the handle past your last finger, and contact your palm across it's entire width.
Next, take your fingers and bend them at a forty-five degree angle to the back of your hand. You'll notice two distinct folds in the palm of your hand. With your hand open, they form the most distinguishable lines. The upper one running from the pinkey finger to the middle finger, the second running just beneath the first and across nearly the entire width of your hand. The spine of the handle (at least with the Military) curves gently and follows the second line fairly closely, also following the natural curve of your hand while holding it. The handle is also wide and thick enough to fill the distance between your fingers and the palm of your hand, taking into account the length of each finger.
The best example I've come across of the "ball" philosophy is number three on my favorites list. The Mini-Manix. I don't know if it was intentional or if Eric Glesser just happened to get it right, but the handle on that knife just melts when I hold it. Similar to the "stick" philosophy, you still want the handle to follow that line in your hand (which shows the separation between pads of the hand). This time the critical difference is that it's not the handle spine resting one the heel of your palm, it's the butt end. The length of the handle ends with your pinky finger. The Captain (middle bottom row in the picture) takes advantage of this best, the spine of the handle rests on the pad at the base of your thumb. Where that pad ends, the handle makes a sharp turn to fit with the pad at the heel of your hand. The Captain pulls it off beautifully. the other knife that trys to do this is the Kershaw Offset. Unfortunately, it doesn't do so well. It's too long to rest the butt of the handle on the heel of your hand (should have been a "stick" design), but because the design keeps the butt of the handle pushed into your palm, it also keeps the handle away from the ring and pinky fingers. If there had been another "lump" where there is now a "dip" the knife would have been fantastic. Sadly this is not the case.
Which brings me back to the Mini-Manix.
Not only is the handle nice and thick, it bulbs and dips at just the right places. First, the handle is a good width for the index and middle fingers to grip. It thickens not only to account for finger length, but "bulbs" behind the ring finger, filling the swell of the palm (the dip in the middle). By filling that space, the handle is pressed up to the fingers without need of extra width at the end of the handle (see Military), this is also aided by the long thumb ramp. if the thumb ramp is too far back, the thumb pushes the handle forward, pivoting it on the index finger, and pushing the butt of the handle into the palm, and away from the fingers (the Offset accomplishes this pivoting off your middle finger with that huge ridge, even though it has a long thumb ramp). If the thumb is allowed to extend, then the handle can be pulled into the grip of the fingers, and there coddle them like babies.
That sums up the basics of what I've figured out so far. If anyone else has specific likes/dislikes about handle design, feel free to speak up.
:thumbup:
, although I'm surprised you don't have a Native of some sort up there. Most describe that as the most comfortable Spydie.
