Which one would you choose from these two and why?

C

CoreBlade

Joined
Dec 2, 2004
Messages
3
Hello everybody!
My name is Dan and I live in Romania.
After a lot of searching and taking decisions for buying a survival knife i came to a point where i must choose from two Smith & Wesson blade shapes:
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and
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Both blades are made from 440 Stainless Steel and are black powder coated. Total knife length 13-3/4", the blade length is 8-1/2" and weights 17. ounces.
We are talking about these two knives only, as these are the only ones that I can buy here and have the quality that i'm looking for at an affordable price.

I know there are better knives. I wish I had the chance to buy a Gerber BMF, a Tracker, or an Wilkinson Dartmoor. Khukuri or parang knives were also a choice, but all these are nowhere to be found here and ordering them from outside makes them greatly expensive.

I'm 47% willing to buy the left classic shape one and 53% the right recurved one.

The question is: What would you choose from these two only and why?
I'd like to know also why not to buy anyone of these two, if there is such an opinion.

Thank you!

(please excuse my poor English)
 
Wow...I have sat hear for awhile trying to give you my answer, and at first I thought if it were me I would go with the one on the left, but after thinking about it and studying the pictures, for an all around "survival" knife I think I would go with the one on the right with the recurve blade. I'm not really sure why, othre than I favor spearpoints for bushcraft work and that "bolo" type blade might make a better chopper for survival work.

Yeah, if it were me I'd go for the one on the right.
 
Flip a coin. I think I'd take the one with the straight handle. Easier to sharpen in the field (with a rock, if needed)
 
http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=357396

i havent seen the recurved one in person yet... the photo's below are better lit, and the give a better definition of the differences between the two blades. if the recurve is flat ground ,then they really are entirely different knives, in that the recurve is a very thick profiled knife, and the bowie pattern is very, very thin in profile.

my main concern, more then shape however, is the quality of the heat treatment on the steal. i put the bowie at 21 degree's per side, totally a 42 degree angle, and it dented out on a 2x4. everywhere on the edge i hit on the 2x4 was mashed down over to the side.

it did steel out easily, but it basically means that if you are gonig to do ANY chopping with iether of these knives, you will absolutely need to bring a steel with you. if you inted on doing long term camping where these knives will be under constant use, and you dont have a steel with you, the mashing and rolling will almost surely propogate into tears.

essentially, the heat treatment on these knives is very soft - probably below 50rc.

to that effect, one could give the automatic the suggestion of buying the thicker profiled knife, as it will give a better chance of the knife surviving hitting a rock or other unintended damages - but i dont really like choosing thick knives if you dont like them.


i really like the ultra thin profile of the bowie pattern - but just keep in mind that it will be an inherently very weak knife that will require a great deal of maintanance to keep in working order. it's quite hard to find a production knife of that weight and size that is that thin at the edge (and along the entire grind - wich on this is actually pretty high on the knife considering how heavy the hollow grinding is), so it does have merit in a choice of what you want to buy.



SW-CKSUR6.jpg

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one more note on quality - the handles...

2 things, one its made of a kraton like material, so it abrases easily, and feels very soft on the surface.

two, it will probably come off of the tang within the first day of use. mean when you push up, it will move, when you push down, it will seperate from the gaurd.

so, it may be worth it to you to remove the lanyard hole via drill press or dremel, and replace it with another peice of 1/4 tubing once you've filled the cavity between the tang and the handle material with resin epoxy.

you can replace the flared out tube with a peice of regular brake line tubing, and then fill the surounding area where the flaring took place with epoxy, sanding it down smooth so it doesnt rub on your hand.

or, skipping the tubing, you could just fill the lanyard hole up with epoxy :D





basically - expect the handles to be loose after only moderate use.
 
just realized the knivesplus page had the weights -

bowie = 14.9oz
recurve = 17oz

it's a hard choice.... with the bowie, you get way better cuttnig geometry, but you will have to be very careful with it, where as with the recurve you could really beat the crap out of it without thinkig to much, but wont have nearly the cutting potential of the bowie....
 
CoreBlade said:
Hello everybody!
My name is Dan and I live in Romania.
After a lot of searching and taking decisions for buying a survival knife i came to a point where i must choose from two Smith & Wesson blade shapes.

.....

I'd like to know also why not to buy anyone of these two, if there is such an opinion.

Thank you!

(please excuse my poor English)
Click to expand...

Dan, your English is fine. The problem is that these - even for Smith and Wessons - are just not good knives.

If you don't worry about name brands, are there local sources of affordable 'using' knives near you, work knives, hunting knives, butcher knives? They may not look modern and pretty like these S&Ws, but my opinion is if you talk to a local hunter, farmer, or butcher, you are more likely to get a blade that is better than these - because the quality on this particular Smith and Wesson line is both low and uneven.

There are some decent knives with the Smith & wesson logo. But I really don't think these are two of them.

I'm not saying go spend a lot of money. You would be better off, if nothing else, with a small machete or a small axe, and a decent kitchen knife, than with one of these.

Sorry, I know that's not what you wanted to hear.
 
SethMurdoc said:
... the heat treatment on these knives is very soft - probably below 50rc.
Click to expand...

There is probably quite a range, I would suspect that consistency is low. I have seen similar with Ontarios, some really soft, some really hard, and the occasional one which falls exactly right.

I don't tend to like Bolo's, especially that drastic of a curve in blades that small. I like the large Tramontina and Martindale bolo-machete pattern, which is much longer and a more gentle arc.

-Cliff
 
If you're decided on it having to be one of those, go with the Bowie. Recurves are annoying to sharpen unless you know how.
 
I really like Smith & Wesson; especially in recent time now that they now are again 100% American owned. I do however agree with most that Smith & Wesson's (who you may be aware do not actually make any knives themselves) are some of the cheapest and poorest quality that you can find. Very good revolvers that hold resale value better than many others, but no knives. I probably should not say why I have purchased and owned a great deal of these knives in my past, but let's just say I had a unbelievable discount on them and felt the need to try them out because they were so cheap for me to try. I have actually given away or trashed every single one (all of them) over the years. If you really want a decent knife that you can use, check what you can do, or have in your country to sell or trade to anyone (perhaps here) for a real blade. Try to get yourself a decent "low cost" knife like a Becker, so you won't be sorry that you threw your money away on something not worth what little you paid for it. I have wasted so much money on junk over the years (looking for deals on stuff that looked neat) that I could have used that money to purchase something really nice and that is the sad part. I would go buy a cheap, but reliable camp axe or hatchet (should be available where you are) or something like that rather than use a poor quality item that you will be sorry for later. - Just my thoughts, but probably the same thoughts by everyone else that spends any time on the blade forums and has a history with knives.
 
The one with the bolo type blade on the right would make a good surv. knife as long as you dont mind the weight. With that said, the other would do fine also. Both look okay for light chopping duties, the one on the right would chop a little better. It all comes down to what you feel like carrying, and is the little little bit of chopping power (gained by the one on the right) worth the extra weight?

One other thing to consider is do you mind sharpening the bolo edge? It is more work.
 
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