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I will certainly take that into consideration.
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The BladeForums.com 2024 Traditional Knife is available! Price is $250 ea (shipped within CONUS).
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What do you want a fixed blade knife to be capable of?
- Thread starter SURVIVE!
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I really would like to see a 7 in.+ size knife in a similar design to yours.
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After this first run you'll see a few more designs. One of them will be a larger knife. I just need to get my name out there a bit and releasing too many knives at one time would be spreading myself really, really thin. Perhaps in the next month or so I can at least have the time to get them into solidworks for people to see.
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but i want one now! lol jk.
something worth having is definetly worth waiting for, will be fun to see everything come together
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Yes, with me being a new company you'll be able to watch everything progress right before your eyes.
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Well Man, if I can get the design into solidworks before the water jet guy gets rolling, you might be seeing the GSO-7/7. A 7.5" blade, beast of a knife. I might only have a few and none to actually sell but at least people will be able to see it.
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Based on experience, what i always expect from a fixed blade knife is strength and cutting power. I also prefer a lighter, thinner knife that can slice well, especially for food preparation and shelter making. IMHO a thickness of 0.188 is the ideal survival knife for me, not too thick and not too thin. Your GSO 5 looks like the ideal knife i've been looking for. Hope you can offer it in 0.188 thickness in 3v, just my 2 cents.
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Sorry Man for not getting back to you sooner. My best friend just passed away and I have been helping his family deal with that. My first run is going to be a thickness of .215", right between 3/16" and 1/4". Although I am now considering doing a version of my GSO-5 in something like 3/16", without the glass breaker as more of a straight up camping knife. As things develop further in the future I will be expanding my options for sure. If a person likes my designs, I ultimately want to give each person the configuration they want. Within reason...
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Condolences for your friend; his family is surely lucky to have you around to help.
I'm impressed at how much this thread has exploded in the day or two I've been gone. Everyone seems to agree that the knife should be readily made the subject of abuse, though several people define abuse quite differently, and some would appear contented with an aesthteic piece of sharpened metal.
One thing struck me from an article in TK awhile back when I was thinking of your idea for mundane chore videos, cutting rope, spreading mayo, and what have you. One of those older survivalist types had remarked that while a crocodile-dundee-type large knife was seldom practical, there are also limits as to how small a practical field knife can be. Ideally, he went on, a proper field knife should be 'long enough to reach the bottom of a peanut butter jar.'
While I'm pretty sure most of your knives fit this criteria, I thought it was more the reasoning behind it that struck me as worth mentioning. The thinking seemed outside the usual range of thinking for most knifemakers. A lot of people stress that their knives need to survive chopping and batoning, as if that's what they'll be using it for every time they go into the bush. Yes, a proper field knife should be able to withstand such chores, should the worst happen, but 99% of emergency survival scenarios will provide a million other priorities to worry about, namely food and water. Most of the time a camp/combat knife will be used only for mundane tasks like cutting food, occasionally wood (for tent stakes and the like), and of course spreading peanut butter. As much as a hard use knife should indeed be capable of hard use, they cannot be so thick of stock or obtuse of edge that the simple stuff becomes difficult, or the tool becomes a niche-knife. A wider range of abilities appeals to a wider audience, and ultimately produces a better tool.
And now I think I'm just rambling...
I'm impressed at how much this thread has exploded in the day or two I've been gone. Everyone seems to agree that the knife should be readily made the subject of abuse, though several people define abuse quite differently, and some would appear contented with an aesthteic piece of sharpened metal.
One thing struck me from an article in TK awhile back when I was thinking of your idea for mundane chore videos, cutting rope, spreading mayo, and what have you. One of those older survivalist types had remarked that while a crocodile-dundee-type large knife was seldom practical, there are also limits as to how small a practical field knife can be. Ideally, he went on, a proper field knife should be 'long enough to reach the bottom of a peanut butter jar.'
While I'm pretty sure most of your knives fit this criteria, I thought it was more the reasoning behind it that struck me as worth mentioning. The thinking seemed outside the usual range of thinking for most knifemakers. A lot of people stress that their knives need to survive chopping and batoning, as if that's what they'll be using it for every time they go into the bush. Yes, a proper field knife should be able to withstand such chores, should the worst happen, but 99% of emergency survival scenarios will provide a million other priorities to worry about, namely food and water. Most of the time a camp/combat knife will be used only for mundane tasks like cutting food, occasionally wood (for tent stakes and the like), and of course spreading peanut butter. As much as a hard use knife should indeed be capable of hard use, they cannot be so thick of stock or obtuse of edge that the simple stuff becomes difficult, or the tool becomes a niche-knife. A wider range of abilities appeals to a wider audience, and ultimately produces a better tool.
And now I think I'm just rambling...
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You know, Survive, this is why you're going to make it here on the 'Forums - you help out your fellow member. I'm like AwesomeDude, I really don't have a whole lot of money, and I really appreciate what you're doing for guys like us. I think I'm going to start putting away money for your -4. You may be the reason why I break my strict $150 ceiling for a knife purchase, and that says a lot. Thank you, Survive, for helping us out.
And now for my two cents: I don't know if the designs are absolutely final, but I do have this to say on the -4. I know you're going for more of a beefy bushcrafting blade, but in my humble opinion, I think a blade-shape more reminiscient of the ESEE-4 would be better. Not a rip-off, but I don't think the point drops enough. One of the reasons why I love drop-points is because they offer me a way to make a bowdrill kit, because the tip is centered in the blade. I like your idea of lots of belly, but I think that there's just too much belly at this point, at the cost of a centered point. While I don't like spearpoints because of the fact that they take away too much belly, a too-broad drop-point is no better if it doesn't allow me to have a centered point, something I think many bushcrafters like. We need a happy medium drop-point that gives us belly and a centered point.
What I guess I'm trying to say is that I believe the blade may be too broad. Another detraction of how broad it is, we only have a little bit of straight cutting edge before it starts sweeping up toward the point, and that section is really only useful for skinning and other pull-cut tasks. I think a more narrow blade that gives more of the straight cutting edge with a centered point that will allow me to drill. And if this is indeed a bushcrafting blade, I think the ability to drill is an important consideration.
Other than that, I do really like everything you're doing. It's great, it really is. And I hope you get the time to read this and give my thoughts some consideration.
Thanks again, Survive, for all you're doing.
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You know, Survive, this is why you're going to make it here on the 'Forums - you help out your fellow member. I'm like AwesomeDude, I really don't have a whole lot of money, and I really appreciate what you're doing for guys like us. I think I'm going to start putting away money for your -4. You may be the reason why I break my strict $150 ceiling for a knife purchase, and that says a lot. Thank you, Survive, for helping us out.
And now for my two cents: I don't know if the designs are absolutely final, but I do have this to say on the -4. I know you're going for more of a beefy bushcrafting blade, but in my humble opinion, I think a blade-shape more reminiscient of the ESEE-4 would be better. Not a rip-off, but I don't think the point drops enough. One of the reasons why I love drop-points is because they offer me a way to make a bowdrill kit, because the tip is centered in the blade. I like your idea of lots of belly, but I think that there's just too much belly at this point, at the cost of a centered point. While I don't like spearpoints because of the fact that they take away too much belly, a too-broad drop-point is no better if it doesn't allow me to have a centered point, something I think many bushcrafters like. We need a happy medium drop-point that gives us belly and a centered point.
What I guess I'm trying to say is that I believe the blade may be too broad. Another detraction of how broad it is, we only have a little bit of straight cutting edge before it starts sweeping up toward the point, and that section is really only useful for skinning and other pull-cut tasks. I think a more narrow blade that gives more of the straight cutting edge with a centered point that will allow me to drill. And if this is indeed a bushcrafting blade, I think the ability to drill is an important consideration.
Other than that, I do really like everything you're doing. It's great, it really is. And I hope you get the time to read this and give my thoughts some consideration.
Thanks again, Survive, for all you're doing.
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Thanks for the compliments, Man. And I promise not to leave you hanging. Alrighty now, about my GSO-4 blade shape. I think it's an optical illusion and that's why I need to get these into people's hands. I'm going to leave my dimensions as is for now on the 4. I'm not dismissing your input at all Blades. I own an ESEE 4 myself and my GSO-4 blade tip drops an 1/8" more than the ESEE. I have almost the exact same cutting surface as the ESEE, with the same amount of flat blade surface. I promise. lol. What I did do was eliminate the choil on such a short knife to decrease the overall size of my knife by 3/8" over the ESEE4 while increasing the usable handle area by 1/4". The amount of handle area gained is even greater when you take into account that my handle is designed with a more recessed lanyard hole with usable gripping area above and below, unlike the ESEE 4. My tip is not quite as 'stabby' for lack of a better word but is still only 75 degrees right where the edge meets the spine.(On a related note, why don't keyboards have the 'degree' character?)
I know this model will work for a good many people but perhaps not for everyone. I'm only making about 30 of these Baby's the first run. I'll get those 30 fielded, take feedback, and refine this design if need be. Or I'll create an entirely new design if people like this one but I still see a usage gap. Trust me though, your input is being listened to with open ears.
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Ramble away Man, ramble away. lol. I liked where you were heading with your last line of comments. :thumbup:
And thanks also for the sentiment regarding my buddy.
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I really liked RevDevil's comments as they seem to paralel my own. A good large fix blade should be of strong steel, weather resistant, able to take on difficult cutting task and retain an edge. It should be able to take some abuse, but lets face it your not selling a pry bar, if you were you wouln't put an edge on it. It needs to be a well designed, comfortable to use edged tool.
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You know how to contact me, don't be afraid to ask for shipping info. Hahaha Jk
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Hahaha! :thumbup: I did listen to the feedback and decided to have these GSO-4's ground to 3/16" They should cut really, really well.
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Yeah, like AwesomeDude said, I'd give you my shipping info in a heartbeat. I'd love to thrash around with that knife. I don't consider myself an expert, by any means, but I do know what a knife should do and I think that I can put it through its paces, for sure. Heck, I'd even pay to be one of those first 30.
On to your response:
Okay, so now that you've given me dimensions that definitely makes more sense. And thank you for taking out that choil. On such a short blade, who needs it? Thanks, Survive.
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Yeah, it will help to get these things in people's hands. The videos show the details but aren't so helpful with nothing for size reference. The GSO-5's should be having the bevel grinding fixture made right now. The GSO-4 will follow, then the GSO-6, then the GSO-7/7, and then finally the GSO-10 field machete. I can't wait to go chop down some small trees with that baby! 10.5" long x 2" tall blade, that's 3/16" thick and made out of 3V! It should bite like an axe. Only 3 of those will be available for sale right now. I will be doing a follow up run in a less expensive material but for now I like the novelty of a 3V chopper. Why not right?