What do you use your medium length fixed blades for?

koyote said:
All of us WSS knifemakers are paying attention. :D

I started out around the 4 inch mark on my wilderness knives but seem to do most of them around 5.5 to 6.5 inches.

A lot of the knives in that range from production companies seem to go about it a bit wrong, either miniaturizing really big knives (seems the most common problem) or overbuilding medium size knives into KSAs

It's not really that hard to make a 5 inch knife do well on fine work. It's all geometry and handle ergonomics. I go from a small knife and grow it- To misquote George Buehler, I make a lot of big little knives.

For my own use, I find the extra inch or two is great for batoning, food prep, and doesn't take away too much from fine tip work.
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This is exactly my philosophy. If I'm carrying a larger knife (8+ inch blade), machete or axe, then that 3-4 inch bladed knife will be fine. For my purposes, the 7" blades are just too big to comfortably carry on your body without getting hung up or being too cumbersome. The 5-5.5" bladed knife is about as large as I can go to ensure it carries well and will be carried all the time. My most recent revelation was a ton of traveling in Iraq by vehicle, helo or fixed wing...with full IBA, combat load and small pack. I had to have a smaller fixed blade that I could readily access and not have it get snagged or hung up; the 5-6" blade was as big as I could go. With the right profile (wide with either a good convex or full flat grind) they do chop well...every inch helps, but for me I found a point of diminishing returns beyond 6" without having to toss the larger knife into the pack because I just couldn't carry it well or all the time.

When comparing the size of knives, there will always be compromises, you just have to figure out what works best for you based on your requirements, carrying options and skill.

ROCK6
 
Codger_64 said:
That trailing point tip has come in handy for me over the years when piercing and "fine work" was required.
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Yup. :)


Codger_64 said:
That version of the Sharpfinger you showed was made in China for Taylor Brands, the new owner of the Schrade name. I'm not versed on the quality of those newer Chinese copies, but I do have one of the first imported ones circa 2005, and it was very poorly done. It doesn't help that I am not a big fan of stainless for hunting knives, or Chinese made knives in general.
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Well, mine (as pictured above) is made in China. And it shows. I haven't used it very much. The finish quality is poor. It came with an edge of sorts, but needed some whetstone time to come up to a hair-popping edge. I don't know what the steel is, but it doesn't feel very good. Over all, I like the design/ergos, but the knife is a piece o' junk. I only keep it because it was a present from a hunting buddy. It'll do fine for rabit and squirrel. Stay with the older, made in USA, version. I'd pick up an older one in a heartbeat.
 
reconranger said:
Wrong tool for the job...but if that's how you like it!!!
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Please. The proper tool for the job is a chainsaw and hydraulic wood splitter.

"Bushcraft" to me is being about increasing your knowledge/skills to the point you can decrease your gear. Nobody in this community is used to getting by with luxuries.

If an item will perform a task, with no real threat of breaking, and still be in as good of shape as when it started, there is no way you claim it is the wrong tool for the job.
 
Vivi,
Slightly off the subject at hand, but do you keep your spydee on a leash or lanyard? Clipped to a pocket always struck me as a bit risky, even in the urban jungle. In the real woods, if it fell out or was pulled out by a vine/branch/killer-rabbit of your pocket it could be lost forever. Or until Bilbo Baggins comes by... ;)
 
TFin04 said:
Please. The proper tool for the job is a chainsaw and hydraulic wood splitter.

"Bushcraft" to me is being about increasing your knowledge/skills to the point you can decrease your gear. Nobody in this community is used to getting by with luxuries.

If an item will perform a task, with no real threat of breaking, and still be in as good of shape as when it started, there is no way you claim it is the wrong tool for the job.
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That's my take as well, nicely put :thumbup:

Especially in this forum, I'm sick to death of the simplistic "gotta use the right tool for the job" refrain. The other one that's tiresome is the "my great granpappy showed my granpappy who showed my pappy who showed me, how to properly use a knife, so I'd never do that to my knife". Darn, if only your great granpappy had had a Busse or Barkie or even a Mora.
 
LittleHairyApe said:
Vivi,
Slightly off the subject at hand, but do you keep your spydee on a leash or lanyard? Clipped to a pocket always struck me as a bit risky, even in the urban jungle. In the real woods, if it fell out or was pulled out by a vine/branch/killer-rabbit of your pocket it could be lost forever. Or until Bilbo Baggins comes by... ;)
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I just use the clip, it's worked fine so far. I usually have my army coat on when I'm walking through the woods, mainly to protect from rain and branches / thorns. It goes over the clip so that's generally not a concern, but even without the coat I wouldn't be too worried. I think I'd notice if it got unclipped, and I always carry at least two lights on me in the outdoors so I should be able to find it.
 
theonew said:
...Especially in this forum, I'm sick to death of the simplistic "gotta use the right tool for the job" refrain. The other one that's tiresome is the "my great granpappy showed my granpappy who showed my pappy who showed me, how to properly use a knife, so I'd never do that to my knife". Darn, if only your great granpappy had had a Busse or Barkie or even a Mora.
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Yeah, arent those older guys disgusting? How dare they have, much less share such opinions! Makes me absolutely sick, I tell ya! ;)

Codger :)
 
the right tool for the job? isn't that a mix of availability, skill, design, and budget?

and how do people invent these right tools? i can't imagine my great grandaddy's great grandaddy went down the the home depot for a chainsaw when he needed to cut one single 4 inch log
 
koyote said:
the right tool for the job? isn't that a mix of availability, skill, design, and budget?

and how do people invent these right tools? i can't imagine my great grandaddy's great grandaddy went down the the home depot for a chainsaw when he needed to cut one single 4 inch log
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The availability was that every man who used wood to heat his home and cook owned a decent axe. The skill was in the proper use and maintenance of the axe. The design was chosen for the tool's intended use, double bit, single bit, broad, etc. each designed with a specific purpose in mind. Budgets during the depression were very tight, a real good reason to properly use and care for tools. The same way, every man who hunted or raised animals for butchering had good knives he took care of and replaced only when worn completely out.

Believe it or not, Home Depot is almost as new of a concept as a Busse or Foxie knife. When rural free delivery was introduced, Granpa could order his axe, maul, wedge and knife from companies like Sears Roebuck in Chicago or Memphis. He did go to Memphis, but a several hundred mile round trip took days and was a carefully planned several time a year event at most. Usually just prior to spring planting and again after the harvest.

4" isn't a log (or wasn't to him) and tools weren't disposable, so the axe he used last year would be used again and again until the handle broke from old age, rehandled and used again and again for many years. The idea of running to the store every time a task calls for a tool is relatively new.

Codger :)
 
The other amazing thing about the good ole days was that since every man had the right tool for the job, despite being 100 miles away from any store, he never broke one or lost one or hurt himself with one. Ever. It just never happened. Unlike today where we have clods actually videotaping themselves breaking tools and posting them on the interweb.
 
I cannot remember Granpa ever using his computer to post anything. But we did suffer injuries on the farm. The doctor made house calls if you could wait that long, or you could drive to the nearest office where he was on that particular day of the week.

I remember when he ran a circular saw across his thigh. He nearly died that time. My worst was cutting fingers off on farm machinery when I was five. Dr. Lubin was in his office in Turrell that day and Granpa kept me from bleeding out while Dad drove the twenty miles. If that happened today they could sew them back on, nerves and all.

Sure, tools broke. People got injured. Tractors without roll cages flipped and sometimes people got crushed and died outright or days later. And if you had a heart attack, well that was it. No surgery could save you, no test could predict it.

It was a different time and people were different. We are all products of the era in which we grow up. I still prefer to keep the best of the lessons I learned from old men. They have served me well over the years. And I have no problem with folks who learned differently and have different preferences. Your life is your own, your knife is your own. Treat it and yourself as you will.

Codger
 
Codger_64 said:
I still prefer to keep the best of the lessons I learned from old men.
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Couldn't agree with that more :thumbup: But sometimes those lessons need to be re-examined on occasion before just being handed on down.
 
so, since home depot wasn't around 100 years ago, (which i was completely unaware of, I figured you hopped on the interstate in your computer controlled car and zipped on down) then, well, where did you BUY your hydraulic splitter?

I suppose, if you lost that fine axe, you just didn't make a fire. Couldn't possibly be caught dead using the wrong tool for the necessary job!

Um, on a more serious note- who was the they that always had a fine axe? The ones who somehow got rich paying off their indentures? the bronze age celts? Sure, I have a GB, but I'm fairly certain I've seen it used for splitting when i couldn't afford a proper maul.......
 
koyote said:
so, since home depot wasn't around 100 years ago, (which i was completely unaware of, I figured you hopped on the interstate in your computer controlled car and zipped on down) then, well, where did you BUY your hydraulic splitter?

I suppose, if you lost that fine axe, you just didn't make a fire. Couldn't possibly be caught dead using the wrong tool for the necessary job!

Um, on a more serious note- who was the they that always had a fine axe? The ones who somehow got rich paying off their indentures? the bronze age celts? Sure, I have a GB, but I'm fairly certain I've seen it used for splitting when i couldn't afford a proper maul.......
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I recognize the hyperbole here. Perhaps you just want to argue then vs. now. I don't care to. I confess to being a Codger who doesn't know beans about the latest greatest fads in electronics, gee-whiz infinty steels and such. And no doubt you all will find yourselves behind the curve and off the cutting edge when you have spent well over a half century learning and doing.

A competent man seldom lost his axe. Or waited until winter to fell trees or cut up the trees or split and stack wood. If you lost or broke your axe, generally a neighbor would loan you his, and more often than not, loan you his sons to help you cut, split and stack the wood. And axes were not judged as "fine", but utilitarian tools. Only in the last fifty years have we progressed from such cave-man thoughts to where we believe an axe must be "pretty", a work of art imported from somewhere and made from an exotic steel in order for it to work. At least until a fancier one catches our eye. No, I am not decrying consumerism. Without it commerce would grind to a halt. I just long ago lost the urge to change for the sake of change.

Codger
 
I'm missing something here. I must be.

I was pretty sure I was responding to the idea of having to have 6584903983 tools so you ALWAYS have the RIGHT tool for the RIGHT job with some questions about ideas like-

how do you get the job done with WHAT you have, WHEN you have it? And- how do you develop the right tools if you refuse to do a job without the right tools to begin with?!?

Since the first response I got was that everyone has always alredy owned a decent axe through all of history, I'm not sure everything I was pointing to came across.

And I SURELY don't know how my penchant for making do with tools I have- and designing tools that can be used that way- has much to do with consumerism..... I mean, aside from the fact that I sell stuff I make.
 
Talk about hijacked.

But I'll agree with Codger. We do seem to thrive on change. We do seem to obsess over the latest CPU, TV, knife steel, camoflage, truck, etc.... Better living through new gadgets. It's practically part of our culture. One of the attractions of knives for me is that they are such primitive tools. You can dress 'em up in fancy shapes and materials, but at the end of the day they are still defined by a point and an edge. The more things change, the more they stay the same. Seen the new ceramic scalpels? Back to the stone age.

Now, I've never lost an axe, but I have broken a few. Gives me an excuse to get the latest Iltis Ox head. :D
 
The problems with threads like this is that the context gets lost.
I think everyone would agree that batoning a medium blade knife to supply firewood to heat your house for the winter is stupid. I think (maybe) that everyone would also agree that taking a 36" 4 pound axe and 8 pound maul on a weekend camping trip is almost as stupid.

Around the house? Sure, pick the tool for the job. Yeah, I'm one of those guys that has several axes and mauls to choose from. Your tool shed doesn't mind the weight of your tools.

But the use of a medium blade as a doo-all is not unprecedented. Look at the Hudson Bay camp knife used during the days before even Codger's grandpappy :p. Typically 7-8" blade, it'd be a medium size knife, but would be used for everything from whacking timber to butchering lunch. So, I guess even in the "old days" guys used their knives in such ways. But again, we aren't talking about what they did around the cabin, but further afield.

Context.
 
That's another thing I've learned about the good ole days. Men certainly were not looking for ways to improve their tools, only pussies did that. To them a "new and better" tool would be just that "new and better", therefore completely unnecessary. Actually even using a word like infinity back then usually got people to thinkin' you were turned around.

Oh man I want an Iltis Oxhead
 
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