What's your perfect size knife ?

pitdog

pitdog

Joined
Apr 13, 2007
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I know this thread has probably been posted a hundred times before but I for one have probably changed my mind a hundred times as well !!!!

So what size knife seems to be working out best for you ?

In an ideal world I'd carry a some sort of chopper or axe, a SAK and a mid sized fixed blade but c'mon how many actually carry those every trip !!!

To me a 5" blade is a usefull size but I like the idea of being able to travel light and manage with a 3" blade, for this reason I took the middle road with my TTSK and went with a 4" blade( although due to the design it seems a lot larger ), sure it's a compromise and that's what we often have to make when choosing our survival gear. I also compromise on my larger blade and prefer the 7 1/2" blade on my Chopweiler to full blown 10" monsters because I can still do a certain amount of fine work with my Chopweiler but can also get by when it comes to chopping what needs chopping !

So what have y'all found suits you the best or are ya still searching ????;)
 
I'm in the same boat, do carry multiples and always searching. The best for me is a 3.5-5" blade with a 4.5" handle. I have been trying to keep it simple and comfy. I love my Aurora and my Dozier KS-7, but this one is almost the perfect size for me.

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I too like to carry a smaller folder for small jobs, and a proper axe for chopping, so I like something right around 4.75-5.25 inches with a proper 4-finger handle for my fixed "camping" blade. That just feels the best size for me to do heavy cutting jobs. My current favorite in this catagory is my Spyderco Hollsum Dayhiker. It's 10.5 inches overall, with a 4.75 inch blade 0.16 thick. The only feature I'm not totally sold on is the slight recurve to the edge nearest the handle.

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I have a couple fixed knifes with smaller blades than that (3.00-4.00 inches) and while they are nice to use, I almost feel that in the woods I'd be as well off with a good locking folder in the same size. I also have a couple of larger fixed blades (7.00-10.00 inches) that are all cool and macho, but honestly I can't find any reason for a knife that size except for chopping or splitting wood, and I would just as soon use a large hatchet or small axe for that sort of work.
 
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One that never goes dull and stays hair popping sharp forever.

Sarcasm aside, I dont have a "perfect knife" I have the "perfect knife in this size" kind of thing going on.

I have a Gossman 4 inch knife that suites me in that respect for 4 inch fixed blades and under

For Choppers I am hard pressed to stray from my Dog Father LE but to me my Perfect Chopper would be reasonably light, fast in the hand but carry enough weight to take deep bites. It would have a choil because I like to choke up on large knives sometimes. So the DFLE suites most of those things and doesnt take long to resharpen....so far its worked.

For a mid sized do it all blade I havent found that perfect knife in the 5-7 range. I have many Busse's, Randalls, CRK's etc but non seem "perfect" for the job. Still looking but I am looking into a BRKT that might be it.
 
IH8U said:
I'm in the same boat, do carry multiples and always searching. The best for me is a 3.5-5" blade with a 4.5" handle. I have been trying to keep it simple and comfy. I love my Aurora and my Dozier KS-7, but this one is almost the perfect size for me.

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bushcraftmkii_4.jpg
Click to expand...

What knife is that?
 
SpookyPistolero said:
What knife is that?
Click to expand...

It's my Bushcraft MKII model. 1/8" 1095, shallow convex grind, 3 7/8" blade, 4 3/4" handle, contoured ironwood slabs, red liners and brass hardware. I beat the tar of out the prototype which had a thinner blade, but it fared very well considering what I did to it.

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I am loving the size of my Ratmandu. Handles all jobs well from shaving fuzz sticks or scraping fatwood to batoning. It has the perfect handle size for my paws and is very controlable.

Bottom knife.
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The ideal size for me depends on the circumstance. Are you strictly talking about in the field? I assume you are because of the way you wrote the question.
Lets face it, I am a Dozier guy, Pit, you know that, so of course I am going to choose a Dozier. I would have to say the KS-3. To me, this is one of the most versatile knives and sizes that I own. This knife packs a 4 3/4 blade with the overall length of 9 3/16.
Though it has a little longer blade than I would typically go for, it is still small enough to use for small tasks. I commonly use this knife for camp chores: splitting/ gathering kindling, building a shelter, food prep, cutting myself by accident! and all the fun things we do in camp. This knife also excels in the field with game. I have used this knife on many deer and elk, fish aplenty and a few other critters.
This would be my go to knife in a survival situation, my "do it all" knife.
Don't get me wrong, I like big knives too, I just personally don't have as much of a use for them as I do a knife of this size. I think the largest knife I would ever need is the KS-7 which I have on the way in August. That knife will be my primary camp knife, though I wont be using it on any game for the most part.
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My perfect size is about 5". At that length, the blade is long enough for light chopping, light batoning, and most everyday cutting tasks, but not so long as to inhibit detail work.

That being said, I'm sticking with a 3" fixed blade for my EDC. It's hard to justify carrying a 5" fixed blade around the city ...

All the best,

- Mike
 
My favorite knife size falls into the 4" blade length range. Right now, I'm really loving my Koster bushy.
 
Perfection for me falls right in between 3" to 5", and I have tons of knives in this size range to prove it! Here's a few
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Okay... I'll stop now
 
To me the most important feature is the handle so when I designed my TTSK I first designed a full sized handle, I did not want to compromise here, it turned out to be 4 1/2" long and 1" deep at the widest point. My most carried knife up to that point had been my SRKW Bandicoot which came in at a shade under 9" overall length so this became my baseline for length the TTSK finished up at 8 3/4".
My ML Kephart is also around the same overall length but has a 4 1/2" blade and 4 " handle I would sooner have the extra length on the handle so that's what I did !!!!
Although I do occasionally carry larger knives this for me is the length I am most comfortable with now !

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I'd say right now is my NWA Sierra Scout
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NWA is well loved as seen in pic..
Specs:

Made from 3/16″ O-1 Tool Steel

Differently Ht’d to 60 RC at the edge.

10″ OAL

5″ cutting edge

1 1/4″ wide blade
 
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So far it seems that 10" overall or less is the size most of us are comfortable carrying !
 
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