Warncliff for camp and bushcraft use?

J

Joe Real

Joined
Apr 4, 2006
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170
What is your take on using a 3 to 4 inch warncliff or shepsfoot knife as a camp or bushcraft knife? Could it handle camp or fire chores fine? Would it be something that it could not do?
Honestly, besides skinning I cannot think in other tasks that such a knife cannot do adequately.
Thanks for your insights.
 
I just started using my Halloran ,4in blade (middle knife) this past weekend.
Had it in a drawer for sometime. Its great in the kitchen and I used it in the yard to cut some vegetation and branches.It did a great job. I think it would do pretty well with fuzz sticks and such:)
 

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I'd say my Bruce Culberson knife is a Warncliff style and this performs awesome when Bushcrafting !


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A ' in hand ' pic ~

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And one with my GAK for comparison~

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MunroClansman said:
:thumbup:

I think that a modified sheepsfoot that has a little bit of belly as opposed to a straight edge, like the one shown above, would do excellently.
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Yeah that's definitely a modified sheepsfoot.

I'd say that wharncliffes for camping/bushcrafting would need to have a positive relief angle to the handle like the CRKT "M.U.K." knife for clearance. Do that and I think you could have a fine woods tool, but otherwise you'll have a hard time bringing the full surface of the edge to bear, which will limit its utility as compared to its size.
 
IMO A Modified sheeps foot like the ones posted above should be great out in the woods. I turned a 3" Old Hickory pairing knife into a modified sheeps foot for leather cutting, wood carving and the like. It still works good in the kitchen. ;)
 
"Sigh" . . .

One of the many "one that got away" models for me was the "OMF Knife" (from the late, great "Outdoors Magazine Forum") by Bark River some years back. It was the result of the brain trust that also frequented that forum and was supposed to be coupled with an axe (which were what was in their logo actually).

Granted there's an ever-so-slight belly, but still generally faithful to the wharny shape -

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I am still dreaming of a 0.100" thick wharncliffe scandi knife for general camping purposes. I think it would make a brilliant alround knife.
 
grunt soldier said:
Mine is just a bit bigger but I regularly use it as a camp knive. Jeremy Horton warnie

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Yeah that one is wide enough it wouldn't need any positive relief angle to the handle since the blade extends far enough for good knuckle clearance. Nice knife!
 
FortyTwoBlades said:
Yeah that one is wide enough it wouldn't need any positive relief angle to the handle since the blade extends far enough for good knuckle clearance. Nice knife!
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I understand your point on the knuckle clearance but some patterns like the kephart does not have any clearance at all and is a classic for outdoor use. So not sure if is that critical.
Best Regards
 
It's one tough blade. And for 1/4 thick its a slicer. It sees a lot of use in the kitchen also. One of my favorite blades. Thanks for the comments :)
 
Joe Real said:
I understand your point on the knuckle clearance but some patterns like the kephart does not have any clearance at all and is a classic for outdoor use. So not sure if is that critical.
Best Regards
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The kephart pattern isn't a wharncliffe though. The belly of the blade on a kephart eliminates the comparative need for knuckle clearance that a wharncliffe benefits from. I can explain my point in further detail if you'd like. It's a matter of maximizing effective edge length applicability.
 
I can second the necessary knuckle clearance, at least for an all around bushcraft/camp knife that you want to use for cooking tasks too. Imagine cutting vegetables on a board with a Wharncliffe without any blade beyond the height of the handle - you would only be able to use it in a pinch grip. For a pure bushcrafter it may well be great, not sure about drilling ability though but the streight edge helps preventing "slipping" off the wood. Most of my pure Bushcraft knives have virtually no clearance to the handle but since they all have some belly, they still work on a cutting board somewhat - you would not have that on a Wharny however !!
 
Got you guys, so may be a modified wharncliffe, like the ones posted by pitdog or untamed, with a little belly would help with the clearance during tasks like cutting food.
Thanks
 
I was just thinking that a warn/sheepsfoot version of my RC-3 would be neat to try, and there is that Horton. Sweet looking blade... I need to start adventuring enough to get some mileage out of all the knives I want to try!
 
I think Wharncliffes are one of the best blade shapes for general utility, they'll outperform a drop or clip point in a lot of tasks. I just don't like the way most Wharncliffe production knives look, which is why I don't own any. There're some great looking customs out there, though...
 
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