What is a good average handle length for a fixed blade?

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Gossman Knives

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Cliff Stamp brought up a good point in another thread about handle lenght. What do you feel is an average lenght a fixed blade knife should have? I think on a hunting knife four inches is good. On a larger field, camp knife 4 1/2 to 5 1/2 inches would work. What do you guys think?
 
It depends on the type of knife, the design, the actual execution of the design, and the user. I have a hunting knife with a 3.5" handle and a 3.5" blade that feels and works very good in my hand. I also have a Cold Steel Para Edge clip point with a 2.5" handle and a 3" blade that doesn't fell very secure or comfortable in my hand that in actual use works just fine. The hunting knife works fine for my brother, yet the Para Edge is just an accident waiting to happen with him yet he has the same size hand as I do.
 
It's partly a matter of the width of your own hand and the length of your fingers, and of the shape of the handle. I find an index finger choil makes just about any length handle more secure and controllable. A turned down butt is also more secure for slicing knives, but a little extra length helps, too. I'd rather too much than too little -- 4 1/2 to 5 1/2 inches sounds very good to me.
 
I dont personally care for a lot of handle. If it extends beyond my hand it does nothing for me. On the smaller knives a 4" handle is about right for me.
 
There's a good thread on ergonomic handle design at
http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=265231&page=1&pp=20

FWIW, in addition to handle length, diameter is also critical, esp. if you are going to have the knife in your hand a lot. Why is the handle on a typical chef's knife so large? At least in part, because the chef uses it for repetitive work for hours and hours every day. If the handle were too small & skinny, the chef's hands would cramp, no food would get cooked, the customers wouldn't pay, & the restaurant would have to close!

ARB
 
I like 5-5 1/4" on a knife. I'd rather have too much handle and not need it, than have too little and have to fuss around finding a good grip. As a point of reference, my hands are around 4 3/8- 1/2 across.
 
There are different knives and different people. I'm willing to make handles to accommodate both. Aside from trying to make a knife look good, which is a subjective and arbitrary judgement... I think the length, size of a handle needs to be governed by the intended use of the knife.

IMHO, you could hold a knife handle with the handle entirely encompassed IN the hand. This way the butt of the handle would push into your palm and feel secure. This suits compact utility knives and hunting knives very well. But that type of handle on a combat, bowie, chopping type knife would find the butt pounding into the palm - quite uncomfortable. On these types an longer handle that extends THROUGH the hand would allow a range of grip adjustment and greter comfort as well as better safety. In the same vein, I find long handles better for providing torque and power through the blade, but shorter "palmed" handles provide better precise control. "Palmed" handles also tend to keep the blade oriented in a more natural position for fine work.

Its hard to explain but I find the difference quite clear when using a variety of knives. My 2cents. Jason.
 
Jason Cutter said:
There are different knives and different people. I'm willing to make handles to accommodate both. Aside from trying to make a knife look good, which is a subjective and arbitrary judgement... I think the length, size of a handle needs to be governed by the intended use of the knife.

IMHO, you could hold a knife handle with the handle entirely encompassed IN the hand. This way the butt of the handle would push into your palm and feel secure. This suits compact utility knives and hunting knives very well. But that type of handle on a combat, bowie, chopping type knife would find the butt pounding into the palm - quite uncomfortable. On these types an longer handle that extends THROUGH the hand would allow a range of grip adjustment and greter comfort as well as better safety. In the same vein, I find long handles better for providing torque and power through the blade, but shorter "palmed" handles provide better precise control. "Palmed" handles also tend to keep the blade oriented in a more natural position for fine work.

Its hard to explain but I find the difference quite clear when using a variety of knives. My 2cents. Jason.
Click to expand...

I agree with Jason but find that anything under 4 inches feels short even in my small hands. More handle allows for mor options. I find the Bark River fixed blades to be much too short in the handle. A real shame since i also find the blades to be exceptionally good slicers.
 
Jason Cutter said:
IMHO, you could hold a knife handle with the handle entirely encompassed IN the hand. This way the butt of the handle would push into your palm and feel secure.
Click to expand...


The problem with this though is that if you try to do extended cutting you get a high pressure point off of the butt quickly. For light work though it can be solid. But I don't see any advantage over letting the grip carry through the hand which then allows extended cutting. For chopping knives, and for blades in general where you want more reach or power, it can be nice to have a hand+ length of grip. This way you can shift forward for a neutral balance, and then ship back for maximum power and reach. Hossom has some really nice long grips on some of his larger knives.

-Cliff
 
Cliff Stamp said:
The problem with this though is that if you try to do extended cutting you get a high pressure point off of the butt quickly. For light work though it can be solid. But I don't see any advantage over letting the grip carry through the hand which then allows extended cutting. For chopping knives, and for blades in general where you want more reach or power, it can be nice to have a hand+ length of grip. This way you can shift forward for a neutral balance, and then ship back for maximum power and reach. Hossom has some really nice long grips on some of his larger knives.

-Cliff
Click to expand...

I couldn't agree more. IN general terms - more handle = more options.

Talking to a number of knife users, I found the opinions quite split as to handle length. There were those who also really didn't care at all what handle length, shape or contour was involved, but those who used the knife repeatedly and held in the hand for long periods (meat processing workers), were very polarised in their views, one way or another. Another factor that arose was the fact that these guys wore gloves of one sort or other all the time.

One thing I have discovered is that when dealing with a short handle, handle shape and contouring becomes more important for comfort as well as security. There is more lee-way on a bigger handle to incorporate a variety of handle shapes. Of course, handle length is also restricted by size limitations of the overall knife.

Beyond the issue of comfort, I feel that handle length and size also acts as a means to consistently guide the grip into its natural handle position. This is where safety becomes an issue and it will relate to whether the knife has a guard, double guard, choil, finger groove, subhilt or none of the above.

Again, I'd emphasise matching the handle / knife, everything to the user and their preferences. Sorry for carrying on a bit. I find this topic fascinating. Jason.
 
My favorite blade lenght is 4" but I can handle up to 5". If feel that an Axe is better for chopping than a knife, and anything over 5" is too big for cutting and better for chopping.
 
I design with 4 1/2 " - 4 3/4" handles on most of my designs. It also depends on the use of the blade.

S/F,
CEYA!
Ceya Knife DesignZ
 
When I was making knives I tried to come up with a formula based on blade length and width. Up to a blade 4" long x 1" the ratio was 1.15 to 1.0 - 5" - 6" x 1" the ratio was .85 to 1.0. I didn't make any knives over 6" blade length so I didn't go any further. One thing I found on shorter knives in particular was that wider the handle = shorter the handle. When it comes to ergonomics you had to compensate, in my view, and extend the handle length when there was less bulk. NB when I am talking blade length here I am referring to the actual length from tip to the shoulders. I always used the formula 4.00 to 1.00 to establish the width of the ricasso (maximum 1"). To give an example a blade 4" long would infact measure 9.6" long (if I have done my maths right) and a 3" long would measure 7.2" long.
 
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