When and why would you need a folder bigger than a Rat-2 ?

[Chapp]

Maybe the OP went to buy a larger folder?

Of course not, I'm just taking my time to read people answers.

There's a misconception here. I do have larger folders than the rat-2, like the Para-2. But after all those months carrying it, testing it, I just don't see the point unless you fancy big folders (and that's perfectly fair) or have particular need. Hence why I did ask the question, just to see if I was missing something.

Some act like you're insulting their taste or trying to cure them out of their hobby when you just ask questions because you're actually curious of their input on things. Fortunately, outside of the few clearly butthurt persons, there are a lot of useful answers.

To those of you who love your penut butter please use a spatula to get all of it out, works good on jam and mayonnaise too. As far as I'm concerned it's a tool designed for this.

In all honesty almost every single one of us can get by with a SAK or Spyderco Ladybug for EDC usage and have all our NEEDS met. But we want something else so we do get something else.

I wouldn't be so sure about the ladybug/SAK usefulness. The Ladybug is too small for me and I have quite medium sized hand, not huge one. The Dragonfly is the perfect spot for me. Let's not even talk about a SAK, I feel I could break it by just cutting an Apple. It's way too thin/flimsy for most of the tasks, in my opinion.

Rat-2, mini-griptilian, Cutjack C22M, Dragonfly and such are the perfect spot when it comes to 90% of the need I have.

 

[cricketdave]

I have a ranch, i cut open hay, trim a hoof, clean a frog. Dozens of other things during a day that a small folder just isn't convenient for. Often things that a smaller folder just wouldn't reach or would flat snap in two.

 

[marchone]

Some act like you're insulting their taste or trying to cure them out of their hobby when you just ask questions because you're actually curious of their input on things. Fortunately, outside of the few clearly butthurt persons, there are a lot of useful answers.

I don't see anyone being insulting. Just some good natured ribbing. Everyone has different uses for knives and the way you posed the question it seemed you couldn't conceive of any uses outside of your own. If it works for you, you don't have to defend it.

 

[Pilsner]

I don't see anyone being insulting. Just some good natured ribbing. Everyone has different uses for knives and the way you posed the question it seemed you couldn't conceive of any uses outside of your own. If it works for you, you don't have to defend it.

Speak for yourself. I am so butthurt right now that I threw all my knives away in a rage.

 

[Crimson Cloud]

For work, the ParaMilitary 2 and a small fixed blade is a great set up for what I do, and the PM2 never feels like too much / too large of a knife. That being said, I appreciate the comments regarding the idea that it really is about personal preference when it comes to what we choose to carry.
If I'm not working and can carry what I like, I have a Darrell Ralph Level 1 Dominator that fits my hand perfectly and that I really enjoy having in my pocket. It's a 3.75" blade, and man, I like that knife.

 

[tueller]

Just an odd question. You want random examples... slicing a watermelon?

 

[Pilsner]

Ach! To give the OP a straight answer, not dissimilar to several above:

Often I have no need of a larger folder and carry a small slipjoint, also related to local law of casual carry. No problems at all, mostly. I have an ESEE Avispa in my desk drawer at work for certain tasks that warrant a longer blade. I beat on it from time to time.

When it is entirely up to me, a 3.5” - 4” folder is usually a good length for my hands and grip. That is mostly what I carry and what I prefer to use. A knife like the full size Crooked River by Benchmade works for me best as a winter knife, wearing gloves, as I found out earlier this year. The PM2 has a similar length handle, although a smaller blade; that’s the knife I used last year on winter outdoors overnights.

I dig all sorts of knives, but if I am going on holiday for example, which almost always involves a range of activities, nearly all outdoors, then a larger folder is preferable as it is simply capable of more. I won’t have access to my mighty array of folding knives, so I choose with the foresight that comes with a few decades of experience.

 

[Henry Beige]

A folder implies pocket carry, and a Rat 2 is about as big a knife as I care to put in my pocket. If I need something bigger, it’s probably not going into my pocket, so it doesn’t have to be a folder.

 

[USMCPOP]

... Because I do a lot of cutting like this and it's more comfortable with a ~3.5" knife

I like that pic. The shadow makes it look like you are doing plastic surgery on someone's nose. Or maybe shaving off cataracts, LOL. Super-sized scalpel.

 

[USMCPOP]

Sometimes bigger is better.

 

[W. Anderson]

Most of my sammiches are wider than 2.75"

 

[Night Rider]

When I'm stabbing people, I need more reach.

^^ Exactly and that's why they make swords, to battle people with Big knives. Honestly I only carry a big blade for possible self defence situations. For work I use something Blur sized but when I hit the town for a night out I take my ZT 0460 CF, it looks way more Stabbyer

 

[LG&M]

I have a ranch, i cut open hay, trim a hoof, clean a frog. Dozens of other things during a day that a small folder just isn't convenient for. Often things that a smaller folder just wouldn't reach or would flat snap in two.

You know your needs better then I,but I fail to see how a small folder would not be able to do any of the things you listed. Also how is a smaller folder( everything else being equal) weaker then a larger one? If anything it's stronger.

 

[DocJD]

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[Weiss]

Things I cut can be more efficiently cut with larger knives than smaller ones. Cutting a ciabatta roll, for instance, is one whack with, say, my 5.5-inch Voyager, but more with one of my 3- or 3.25-inch blades. Cleaning/filleting fish is generally easier and quicker, too, because the length allows me to reach through the body, one side to the other, which isn't possible with shorter blades. And so on...

 

[DocJD]

Photos in above post # 74 are of some of my common EDC folders .

The fixed blade only looks small by comparison . It has a 6.5+" blade .

If you have never carried and used such large folders , it is would be difficult to understand the huge increase in capability over your teeny weeny folders .

 

[cucarry]

What a great question to ponder.
1) to fit a person's larger hand (I use mine with gloves)

2)more blade to use between sharpinig (if you were to get a nick for example)

3) my main reason... I like to feel it larger in the pocket to know I have not left it behind.

 

[Comeuppance]

While I'm 100% aware that a blade over 2" generally far exceeds what I typically need in a knife, I have rarely found myself particularly happy with anything under about 3.75". Personally, it's an aesthetic preference that is strong enough to knock out nearly all sub-3.5" blades from consideration. Traditional folders and a few modern folders (Spyderco Pingo, Cold Steel Tuff Lite, CRKT Pingo) are infrequent exceptions, but I rarely carry them.

To be entirely honest, I don't think I'll ever quite outgrow my inner mall ninja. As much as I go on about pragmatism, there's still a 15-year-old deep in my soul that wants to have a big cool knife. I could make the argument that bigger knives fit my hand better, but I rarely run into a situation where it would be uncomfortable to use a SAK or any number of small folders... But I like using my Recon 1 because I get a little endorphin boost every time I open up that arguably unnecessarily large clip point. I like how it looks, and I feel good about how casually I open this aggressive-looking knife for mundane tasks. Additionally, there's a really embarrassing part of me that briefly fantasizes about using these knives in contrived hypothetical defensive combat situations. It makes me feel prepared despite that I am, in nearly any dangerous situation, much better off throwing the knife as a sort of shiny dangerous distraction and using that time to break into a sprint away from the situation.

TL;DR: Bigger knives are cooler and feel more satisfying to own and carry, impracticality be damned.

 

[Mick_1KRR]

A 4" blade can do everything a 3" one can, but not all 3" blades can do what a 4"incher can without getting juice or gunk jammed under the scales and into the pivot area.

Plus, 3.5" and above blades just feel better in hand for me.

 

[19-3ben]

Let's not even talk about a SAK, I feel I could break it by just cutting an Apple. It's way too thin/flimsy for most of the tasks, in my opinion.

I’m assuming that’s a joke? Yes, the blades are relatively thin but they’re much tougher than you’re giving credit for. Plenty of boy scouts and even generations of soldiers in militaries around the world can give testament to the toughness of the SAK.