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Why a sub 3 inch fixed blade
- Thread starter SGT
- Start date
I agree with both of these statements. Once I bought my first Izula, I haven't even considered buying another folder.
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- Sep 5, 2005
- Messages
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Knives in that category tend to be slashers and serve as defensive and offensive weapons. Many well known knife fighters carry surprisingly small knives tucked into leather sheaths that allow them quick and easy access. One writes: "In all the times I have been assaulted with knives, only once was I able to pull my own weapon. And I didn't carry a folder, I carried a sheath knife that I had repeatedly practiced speed drawing. I could, in a crisis, draw and deploy a knife in just over one second."
Such knives also allow users to access them in emergencies such as cutting seat belts in car accidents as well as routine chores like opening boxes and so forth. Even hunters can find uses for sub-three inch fixed blades. As stainless steels improve in quality, it allows users to find uses that they never would have found in years past. (I still remember those horrible stainless fixed knives in the 70s and am critical of Buck for continuing to use 420. Sure they have great heat treatment, but why not use 440C and apply great heat treatment? Or S30V??)
Such knives also allow users to access them in emergencies such as cutting seat belts in car accidents as well as routine chores like opening boxes and so forth. Even hunters can find uses for sub-three inch fixed blades. As stainless steels improve in quality, it allows users to find uses that they never would have found in years past. (I still remember those horrible stainless fixed knives in the 70s and am critical of Buck for continuing to use 420. Sure they have great heat treatment, but why not use 440C and apply great heat treatment? Or S30V??)
Also, laws somewhere put very strict limitations on blades, like size, style, etc. I know in Tennessee, the size limitation is 4 in., so the sub-3in. would fit into that size, and some people also like the feel of a small knife, but don't like folders.
Stopped reading right there. Does he live in a Chuck Norris movie? Someone tells me they have been assaulted with a knife, I will probably belive him. Someone tells me they have been assaulted with a knife on 2 separate occasions, I will think he is a gangbanger from the 1950s. Someone says "all the times I have been assaulted with knives" and I think he has trouble differentiating between video games and the real world and should probably be in a mental hospital.
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- Sep 5, 2005
- Messages
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Well, you should probably check my references before coming to any conclusions. The writer is Marc Animal McYoung, who has written extensively on his life and all the wrong turns he took in his earlier days. I've read a number of his books and would agree he was little more than a thug. The fascinating thing is that he most likely would agree.
Ending Violence Quickly
Evading, Escaping, And Other Ways To Save Your Ass When Things Get Ugly
Surviving A Street Knife Attack
Just a few of the author's books. You can take him for what he's worth. He spent a lot of time as a bouncer in some rough bars. I tend to take him at his word.
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- Jul 22, 2009
- Messages
- 11,409
Small, light, concealable. And when it does come out, people are less scared of a short fixed blade as opposed to a long tactical folder. Or it could just be that my Pink Izula wasn't very intimidating by nature
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.It's just a very useful little blade. Most of the time, I find that blades longer than 4 inches loose their practical use in terms of fine bushcraft, i.e. whittling, carving and so on. However, when it comes to battoning, a longer blade is preferred. Here in Sweden, the tradition is a short fixed blade along with either a large fixed chopper and/or and axe for such work. This type of setup has worked for thousands of years all around the world, so there is definitely a use for the smaller blades. You have more control and the length of the blade doesn't get in the way for finer work.
t1mpani
Platinum Member
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- Jun 6, 2002
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- 5,535
As others have said, you have a great deal more safety and strength with a fixed blade than any folder can ever provide. If you like, I can take a picture of the scars on the back of my left index and middle fingers as a demonstration of why fixed blades are desirable. Don't get me wrong--I still carry folders, but if I'm doing any kind of serious work I pull out a knife that isn't broken in the middle.
Well, not to derail the thread, but a couple of points here. First, Buck WAS using 440C in the sixties and seventies, then moved to 425M and then to 420HC. Now, as my join date and thousands of posts on this knife forum and others can attest, I do have an interest in knives/steels that borders on the unhealthy and am certainly a fan of 440C, S30V, BG-42, ZDP-189 etc. as well as (or even more so) the non-stainless cutlery steels. I've come to realize, though, that there really isn't a "better" when comparing them, there are really just differences in suitability (leaving out the truly terrible stuff like AUS-4 and 420J2). Buck has stuck with 420HC, yes due to its ease of machining, but also because it's a very capable all-arounder type of steel. It doesn't have the abrasion resistance of S30V, but it is far more ductile and tough. In different uses, you'll have different types of edge loss, and things that will cause S30V to chip/fracture will only flex/blunt 420HC (at least when it comes from Buck). It behaves a great deal, honestly, like a simple carbon steel---taking an extremely fine edge easily, holding it well enough for most typical uses and being highly forgiving of lateral forces, all the while refusing to rust except in extreme environments. Two of my favorite slipjoints to carry, in fact, are a Buck 701 with 425M steel, and my Howser Sowbelly in ATS-34 at 61HRC. Three rockwell points and $600 separate those knives, but they get about equal carry time and never have I been using one and wished I had the other.
Now, for a skinning knife or something like that, I'll give S30V the nod in a heartbeat. On the other hand, I have to shake my head at the "combat" knives out there costing hundreds of dollars in S30V. Talk about poorly matching your alloy to your task. Back in the day, Buck brought out their Strider collaboration fixed blades in 420HC and everyone complained about how they should have been made of "better" steel, when the truth is that--if you have to go stainless--420HC was a far better choice than the S30V that Strider was currently using for a heavy duty knife (this is the reason that Strider knives feature steep saber grinds and huge edge angles, as it's the only way they can trick users into believing that ATS-34, BG-42 and S30V are tough). Now, in that case, Buck was charging way too much for laser-cut 420HC knives with slab scales (well over $100 when the far-more-manufacturing-intensive 119 cost $50), but I guess they had to give Strider their percentage.
Anyway, I suppose my point is that I really do like the "high end" steels that come out and enjoy using them, but enough years and use have also taught me the truth of these alloys---there's really only so many ways to skin a cat, and just about any steel will do it well. While they certainly have the facilities, money and expertise to do so, I don't think Buck is interested in competing with Spyderco. There's a whole world of folks out there (and much larger than our world) for whom $40 is the absolute top they'd ever consider spending on a knife, and if they spend it on a very well heat treated Buck, they've spent it well.
Well, not to derail the thread, but a couple of points here. First, Buck WAS using 440C in the sixties and seventies, then moved to 425M and then to 420HC. Now, as my join date and thousands of posts on this knife forum and others can attest, I do have an interest in knives/steels that borders on the unhealthy and am certainly a fan of 440C, S30V, BG-42, ZDP-189 etc. as well as (or even more so) the non-stainless cutlery steels. I've come to realize, though, that there really isn't a "better" when comparing them, there are really just differences in suitability (leaving out the truly terrible stuff like AUS-4 and 420J2). Buck has stuck with 420HC, yes due to its ease of machining, but also because it's a very capable all-arounder type of steel. It doesn't have the abrasion resistance of S30V, but it is far more ductile and tough. In different uses, you'll have different types of edge loss, and things that will cause S30V to chip/fracture will only flex/blunt 420HC (at least when it comes from Buck). It behaves a great deal, honestly, like a simple carbon steel---taking an extremely fine edge easily, holding it well enough for most typical uses and being highly forgiving of lateral forces, all the while refusing to rust except in extreme environments. Two of my favorite slipjoints to carry, in fact, are a Buck 701 with 425M steel, and my Howser Sowbelly in ATS-34 at 61HRC. Three rockwell points and $600 separate those knives, but they get about equal carry time and never have I been using one and wished I had the other.
Now, for a skinning knife or something like that, I'll give S30V the nod in a heartbeat. On the other hand, I have to shake my head at the "combat" knives out there costing hundreds of dollars in S30V. Talk about poorly matching your alloy to your task. Back in the day, Buck brought out their Strider collaboration fixed blades in 420HC and everyone complained about how they should have been made of "better" steel, when the truth is that--if you have to go stainless--420HC was a far better choice than the S30V that Strider was currently using for a heavy duty knife (this is the reason that Strider knives feature steep saber grinds and huge edge angles, as it's the only way they can trick users into believing that ATS-34, BG-42 and S30V are tough). Now, in that case, Buck was charging way too much for laser-cut 420HC knives with slab scales (well over $100 when the far-more-manufacturing-intensive 119 cost $50), but I guess they had to give Strider their percentage.
Anyway, I suppose my point is that I really do like the "high end" steels that come out and enjoy using them, but enough years and use have also taught me the truth of these alloys---there's really only so many ways to skin a cat, and just about any steel will do it well. While they certainly have the facilities, money and expertise to do so, I don't think Buck is interested in competing with Spyderco. There's a whole world of folks out there (and much larger than our world) for whom $40 is the absolute top they'd ever consider spending on a knife, and if they spend it on a very well heat treated Buck, they've spent it well.
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- Aug 9, 2011
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When I'm just hanging around the house all day, I prefer a small fixed blade. Slice some tomatos for a BLT, light pruning in the yard etc. It's more convienient and easier to clean than whipping out a folder for every task.