What is the most ergonomic fixed blade handle? 🤔

[Man with no name]

 

[Slice O Life]

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I still feel sort of star struck whenever you post something here. What a blessing it is to have this website and the gifted people who use it.

 

[Slice O Life]

Having a bit of a dig into the world of "Anthropometry" (the study and measurement of human sizes and proportions) gets you all sorts of specialized information.

"Average adult grip size
Determining your grip size can help you with proper tool selection. According to a 2005 study, the optimal handle diameter is 19.7 percent of the user’s hand length.

For example, if your hand length is 7.6 inches, multiply that by 0.197 to get 1.49 inches. This means the optimum handle diameter for a tool such as a hammer would be about 1.5 inches."

How to choose gloves based on your hand size​

Glove sizes are determined by measuring the length and circumference of your hand, and then using the largest of these measurements to select gloves of the proper size.

Here’s a table you can use to select your glove size:

Hand size (the largest measurement of either length or circumference)	Glove size
7 inches	XSmall
7.5–8 inches	Small
8.5–9 inches	Medium
9.5–10 inches	Large
10.5–11 inches	XLarge
11.5–12 inches	2 XLarge
12–13.5 inches	3 XLarge

Interesting, I’ll have to measure my hands once I get home. My wife may think I am insane though, but that’s all good in the name of science.

 

[Crag the Brewer]

Having a bit of a dig into the world of "Anthropometry" (the study and measurement of human sizes and proportions) gets you all sorts of specialized information.

"Average adult grip size
Determining your grip size can help you with proper tool selection. According to a 2005 study, the optimal handle diameter is 19.7 percent of the user’s hand length.

For example, if your hand length is 7.6 inches, multiply that by 0.197 to get 1.49 inches. This means the optimum handle diameter for a tool such as a hammer would be about 1.5 inches."

How to choose gloves based on your hand size​

Glove sizes are determined by measuring the length and circumference of your hand, and then using the largest of these measurements to select gloves of the proper size.

Here’s a table you can use to select your glove size:

Hand size (the largest measurement of either length or circumference)	Glove size
7 inches	XSmall
7.5–8 inches	Small
8.5–9 inches	Medium
9.5–10 inches	Large
10.5–11 inches	XLarge
11.5–12 inches	2 XLarge
12–13.5 inches	3 XLarge

1.5" diameter would be Huge!

* thinking those numbers were kinda big, I went downstairs and measured a large framing hammer.

It's somewhat oval, but the height is 1.45"
Width is 1.020"

 

[Shorttime]

1.5" diameter would be Huge!

* thinking those numbers were kinda big, I went downstairs and measured a large framing hammer.

It's somewhat oval, but the height is 1.45"
Width is 1.020"

You got me wondering, so I grabbed my Stanley Fubar, and a no-name engineer's hammer that I have for reasons.

I have less than "Xs" hands, and the Fubar feels about right, at 1.25" diameter. So for the "average" person, I don't think so?

 

[Shorttime]

I think ergonomics are deceptive. We're good at figuring out what "feels right", but numbers are a construct, a standard used for clear communication at a distance. We don't have the same intuitive sense for translating numbers into an understanding of "that feels right", without making a physical model.

 

[Floatingby]

You want to fill the hollow in your palm when your hand is in a knife grip position. To achieve that you can curve the handle, give it a hump back, bulge the side or a combination of all three.
You want rounded corners so has not to create hot spots, but not too rounded of a profile so that you can index the blade(indexing I refer here as knowing where the point and the cutting edge is without having to look).
You don't want the handle to feel like it would pull out of your hand. You can achieve that by swelling the butt end, a buttcap that flare out, or an overall v shape that point toward the blade.

The problem is that hands come in different shape and sizes, so if a handle specialize too much, it might fit some hands perfectly while being horrible for others. At the other end of the spectrum, a handle might fit just about any hands with reasonable comfort, but be perfect for none( think Buck 119, an unchanged handle desing for decades simply because the comfort level is reasonable for everybody and the task the knife was designed to achieve).

My personal favorite in the folder area is the BM Griptilian, the most comfortable handle on a folder I've ever held, and by a long shot.

An unlikely contender fixed blade handle is the Grohmann #1. It look extremely uncomfortable when viewed from the side, yet is the opposite in use, not only comfortable for the hand, but it keeps your knuckles off the cutting surface when doing food prep chores, and dressing games. It's not the end all be all though, it isn't that great for hard usage.

 

[Alone]

I have to agree with many of the posts here.

I wear medium-sized gloves, and these are my favorite hard-use "beater" fixies... (*as far as "ergonomics")







*The first time I held a Busse "Hell Razor 2", I felt like Jerry Busse personally custom-fitted it to my hand. Seriously.

 

[Man with no name]

 

[AntDog]

I have to agree with many of the posts here.

I wear medium-sized gloves, and these are my favorite hard-use "beater" fixies... (*as far as "ergonomics")



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*The first time I held a Busse "Hell Razor 2", I felt like Jerry Busse personally custom-fitted it to my hand. Seriously.

The only reason I didn’t post a pic of a Hellrazor is because I don’t personally own one. My son does, and I felt the same way first time I handled it. Like an extension of the hand.

 

[The Grendels]

Having a bit of a dig into the world of "Anthropometry" (the study and measurement of human sizes and proportions) gets you all sorts of specialized information.

"Average adult grip size
Determining your grip size can help you with proper tool selection. According to a 2005 study, the optimal handle diameter is 19.7 percent of the user’s hand length.

For example, if your hand length is 7.6 inches, multiply that by 0.197 to get 1.49 inches. This means the optimum handle diameter for a tool such as a hammer would be about 1.5 inches."

How to choose gloves based on your hand size​

Glove sizes are determined by measuring the length and circumference of your hand, and then using the largest of these measurements to select gloves of the proper size.

Here’s a table you can use to select your glove size:

Hand size (the largest measurement of either length or circumference)	Glove size
7 inches	XSmall
7.5–8 inches	Small
8.5–9 inches	Medium
9.5–10 inches	Large
10.5–11 inches	XLarge
11.5–12 inches	2 XLarge
12–13.5 inches	3 XLarge

It can be hard to measure glove size by length, owing to big meaty thumbs. I can just barely pick up a basketball that's sitting on the floor with an overhand grip. I was ripping through every set of gloves they gave me on my First Aid course, until they finally just told me to pretend to put on gloves because it was getting ridiculous. After a couple days they tracked down some 3 XLarge gloves and they fit.

One of the useful features of watching KnifeCenter with David C Anderson is that his big hands give me a reference point for how the knives look and handle. If he says he shows even the slightest hesitation about a knife handle not being large enough it's too small.

 

[JWright214]

This is a toss up, but if I had to pick…

The 2nd from the top

The 1st on top

 

[jstn]

Carothers. I’m not a fanboy, but the man is a genius in everything from heat treat to geometry to ergonomics.buying a CPK changed my standards for knives.

 

[Henry Beige]

Carothers
Bussekin
Becker
Mora

I haven’t tried a Busse, but I have to think a Swamp Rat cones pretty close.
SYKCO Reseprine C is the reason I have bought half a dozen of these knives.
Becker handles bugged me at first as too slippery. Once I relaxed my grip and let the shape retain the knife, I got it.

 

[ferider]

The only reason I didn’t post a pic of a Hellrazor is because I don’t personally own one. My son does, and I felt the same way first time I handled it. Like an extension of the hand.

All Busse I've used are great for larger hands and "camp usage", even the smaller ones. And SYKCO Res-C handles are extra comfy, but some look down on them ....

Regarding CPK, again, it really depends on application ... the FK2 and HDFK are clearly more comfortable than DEK and UF for camp usage. Then again, they are made with a different application in mind, so a general statement is impossible.

 

[scdub]

Depends. From my collection:

Kitchen:
Long octagonal “Wa” handles


Heavy, sustained carving:
Scrap Yard Knife Co “War Dog” handle.
This knife is the WS-1020, and is one of several with this handle style. It’s a very unusual handle, but it greatly reduces the fatigue that I generally experience in the web of my thumb during heavy carving.


Best “handling” knife:
Custom by maxipescie
It’s got a large, tall, narrow, smooth handle with a full finger guard and a flared pommel to keep it in hand.


Best for prolonged chopping:
Custom by Bill Siegle

Just recently used it with a lanyard for the first time. Feels like I could chop all day without any hot spots (other than from the lanyard).

 

[XtianAus]

 

[Slice O Life]

Depends. From my collection:

Kitchen:
Long octagonal “Wa” handles
View attachment 2225828

Heavy, sustained carving:
Scrap Yard Knife Co “War Dog” handle.
This knife is the WS-1020, and is one of several with this handle style. It’s a very unusual handle, but it greatly reduces the fatigue that I generally experience in the web of my thumb during heavy carving.
View attachment 2225824

Best “handling” knife:
Custom by maxipescie
It’s got a large, tall, narrow, smooth handle with a full finger guard and a flared pommel to keep it in hand.
View attachment 2225829

Best for prolonged chopping:
Custom by Bill Siegle
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Just recently used it with a lanyard for the first time. Feels like I could chop all day without any hot spots (other than from the lanyard).

Interesting, Im a Chef and I prefer the German style and French style handles to the Japanese Wa handles. Different strokes for different folks, and Japan does have a ridiculous amount of Michelin Star restaurants.

 

[ferider]

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Interesting. Hopefully you are OK that I have posted this in the DEK thread, too.

No judgement, I have 3 x DEK1 and 2 x DEK2, obviously I like them. Just for me, the knife is a little more special purpose than - say - the CPK field knives.

 

[marchone]

There was a one-off fixed blade Cultrotech had at the NY/NJ Blade Show a few years ago that fit my hand like it was made for me. I walked because they wanted a cool grand for it.