Why more than one blade on a slipjoint?

S

sir woodley

Joined
Feb 13, 2006
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285
Tell me what you use your additional blades for. My EDC is a single blade slippie, small fixed blade and a leatherman wave. I guess I'm looking for a reason to buy another EDC classic slipjoint. Give me a push. :thumbup: Thanks, M
 
Think about a 3 blader for a second. I like whittlers and stockmen for instance.

Take your typical large stockman. In that slim package you've got a 3.5" plus blade and a couple of smaller blades that conservatively add up to 4 inches.
Seven and a half blade inches in a 4 1/4 folder is pretty darn appealing to me. Those blades are thin and cut better than the wider tacticals I own and use and I have only seen one tactical design that offers more blade edge than handle.
The guy that made this designed it - the cross lock:D.

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Now I am going to have to ban myself for posting that in here; anyway back to the subject.

Take a little peanut. There is more blade edge in than handle in that little package too. ;)

I love my single blade slip joints, I love my multiblade slip joints even more. By putting different bevels and angles on those blades that gives me much more versatility in the cutting tasks I encounter for the most part on a day to day basis. Your mileage and that of others will vary. ;)
 
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There's tons of reasons, some practical some not.

If you just like a particular pattern then the actual usage of the blades is a moot point.

On a stockman, for example, I use the spey for general use (since I'm not castrating any animals around here and it makes my dog have bad memories). The sheepfoot blade is great for opening boxes or cutting leather, or chip carving. The master (clip blade) is reserved for usage where a larger, pointy blade comes in handy.

Another benefit of the two smaller blades is that "in town" the smaller blades would attract less attention depending on where the knife was being employed.

Multiple blades allow you to reserve one blade for specialized tasks or to ensure that one blade is always razor sharp for a particular use.

Multiple blades allow you to have a sharp blade in reserve if one is dulled from use.

And finally, multiple blades allow sharpening blades with different bevel geometry.

Just some thoughts that come to mind off the top of my head. I'm sure you'll get more and better replies.
 
Hi,

Even though I'm happy with a single blade and often carry them. I really like having that extra blade or two in my hand. Not every job is best suited to one size or type of blade.

On my Buck 371 the big clip is well suited to piercing and heavier cuts. The sheeps' foot is a good shape for places that I need to be careful not to puncture something as I cut. The spey is nice for small "skinning" type cuts where I want to slice at the tip. And with a 3 bladed knife, I only need to carry one knife to be ready for most anything that comes along.

So, push, push, push!! Go get a nice nice 3 blade stockman and wonder how you ever got along with only one blade!:)

dalee
 
Or get a two blade Peanut. It's a two blade knife that cuts all unproportionate to it's size. I keep both my blades razor sharp, and use both for different things. I like the smaller, stouter pen blade for alot of the heavy cutting I do, but the clip is my general use blade. Go for the multi blades. You won't regret it.
 
I use my slippie to cut fruit a lot so I am looking for a 3-3.25" main blade to cut the fruit but to peel an apple it is easier to use a smaller 2" blade. Just my preference.
 
- the cross lock. :D...
Now I am going to have to ban myself for posting that in here; anyway back to the subject.
Click to expand...

Livin' up to that name I see. Completely OT but O-M-G! That is one of the sexiest (non traditional) folders I've ever seen.

Chris
 
For the same reason I have a chef's knife, a bread knife and a paring knife in the kitchen. There are times that you really need a decent sized blade. Slicing a large piece of fruit or a think submarine sandwich are good examples. There are times that a lot of handle with a shorter blade is just the trick. Utility cutting, apple peeling, whittling, etc.

It's nice to know that if you bang up one edge, you have at least one more at the ready. If you use a knife in the outdoors, the amount of belly you want on a skinning blade is largely wasted when doing other cutting.

Carry a stockman, texas jack, whittler or congress for a month and you'll be hooked.
 
I carry a 4 blade congress most days. Somewhat for sentimental reasons, since my dad's favorite knife was an 052 Case 4 blade congress. Also, my first Bose knife was a 4 blade congress. But I've found some practical reasons for carrying 4 blades. I like to keep the pen blades sharpened with a toothy edge, for general use. I keep the coping and sheepsfoot with a polished edge, for whittling. I'm all set with just one knife in my pocket.
 
Why more than one blade on a slippie? Well, why not? On my trappers I like to keep the spey blade clean for food prep, while the clip point blade handles most of my daily knife chores.

I love the stockman for whittling, but on my larger ones I keep the spey blade almost blunt to clean my pipe, the sheepfoot takes care of the majority of my cutting needs, and I save the longer clip point blade for food (I eat outdoors a lot).
 
Everybody else covered thes same reasons, but I might as well add my $0.05 worth...

I like two bladed knives, very seldom do I carry a 3 or more blade folder...

With 2, I use one blade, usually the clip "main" blade on my trappers and moose for utility, any and all tasks, and it gets wiped clean on whatever is handy if its a messy job. The second blade, in the case of those paterns the spey(although I grind mine to a spear point) is kept washed and clean for food; all cutting needs when I cook/eat are handled by my EDC.

My peanut is the opposite though, the longer clip "main" for food, and the short spear for utility.

So basically its one dirty job blade, and one sterile for food blade.

I also keep different edges and maintain them differently. The food blade is belt sander saharpened and stropped/buffed to a convexed super fine razor edge when I sharpen. The utility blade is stoned and stroped/edge polished with a secondary bevel that I can stone in the field if needed, and very seldom has a super edge after the first task or two after home sharpening. The food blade is almost never stoned, only stropped or edge buffed back to perfection.

Today i carried a 3 blade whittler, the large clip was reserved clean for food, and the small clip was used for utility/carving. I used the copping blade a tiny bit for the straight edge but if it wasn't there I wouldn't have missed it... the small clip would have been fine.

I like single blade knives, mainly because they are usualy slimmer or lighter in the pocket, but every time I carry one i either find myself without a eating knife somewhere i can't wash it, or more often; end up carrying a second knife.

Second blade is also nice, if you chip or really dull an edge in a task, just change blades and continue until you can sharpen the other.

G.
 
My reason is that I always like to have a sharp blade on hand. Sooner or later you are going to be out in the field and be forced to cut something that will dull your blade up. With a two or three blade knife, you have other sharp blades to last till you get home to sharpen.

With a stockman, I rarely ever use the spey blade, but I keep it razor sarp - just in case.
 
Alot of good reasons already given. To me I just think multi blades are cool, and that is the main reason I have them.
 
I thought I would weigh in from a makers point of view.

Building a single blade slipjoint is a challenge, fitting the blade and spring for proper opening and closing, blade centered in the frame when closed etc. Building a MULTI-BLADE slipjoint raises the bar many more times than the number of additional blades. Most of the slipjoint makers that I know love the challenge of making a multi blade slipjont. When gotten right the satisfaction in knowing that you met the challenge is hard to put down in words. I never sell a two blade slipjoint for more than double what I sell a single blade slip for, however there is way more than twice as much work. This for me at least does not matter, making the knife is reward enough.

I wonder if some of the old time knife makers had this same feeling?

Ken
 
i have been carrying a stockman for the last couple of months, and just two days ago recieved a very nice Case large stockman in bonestag that i am carrying now.

i have grown to love the stockman, it replaced a mora and an oldtimer penknife, so i am just carrying 1 knife for the tasks of 2 knives.

i like having several blades for all the reasons stated above, its just nice to have options.

i think that they are a little more bang for the weight/size. not too much bigger, but alot of the time at least double the knife in a single blade of the same length/width.
 
Well, that did it. Saturday night I ordered me a Case Large Stockman 6.5 BoneStag in CV. Can't wait for this one to arrive! Anyway, thanks for the "push" in the right direction. M
 
sounds like the same knife i have...if you are anything like me, you will love it!
 
When I was a kid and messing with knives (and axes) far more than most children. I carried a stockman, one blade usually the spey for me always razor sharp. Then it was a muskrat again one blade in reserve. I've never carried multi blades when the one blade that was really sharp didn't get used. Since making slips for a while when its two or three blades its definetly as Ken Erickson said (the challenge) I'm not quite sure I'll think its that simple if I try 4 or 5 but it will always be there to reach for
Ken.
 
I've always liked "multi-use" items. Knives and Multi-tools especially. My recent addition is the Case Folding Hunter (as shown in my avatar for the time being). I really like this one due to it's size and blade uses. It has two 4 inch blades. The main blade is a clip point, and the secondary is a skinner blade. It's like having a buck 110 and a sodbuster packed into one great knife.

I've been using the clip point blade for everything, and reserving the skinning blade in case I need to shave on the go, or if the clip point ever gets dull (I sharpen frequently, so my skinner knife will be my straight razor for a while).

Having multi-blades is a good deal because we all want that "all around awsome knife" that does it all and still looks good at the end of the day. As knife enthusiasts, I'm sure we can all relate to what I'm about to say. We all want our knives to be in tip top shape when we carry, but we carry knives so we can use them. Having more than one blade allows us to use our knives guiltlessly since we know we have more blades to keep razor sharp for those "just in case" moments.

Okay, I'm done ranting, J.
 
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