Why the belly on EDC knives?

T

Tenebr0s

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Jun 3, 2012
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Obviously this is a matter of personal preference and what kinds of tasks you do day to day.
But for me, I find a big belly near the tip on an EDC knife extremely annoying (I'm thinking, for example, of the basic shape of an Opinel, among others).

For EDC, I find I want a straight blade, like a kiridashi, or even better, a wharncliffe/sheepsfoot style knife. Does everything I could want. Interested how others feel, and if people like the belly, why.
 
Tenebr0s said:
Obviously this is a matter of personal preference and what kinds of tasks you do day to day.
But for me, I find a big belly near the tip on an EDC knife extremely annoying (I'm thinking, for example, of the basic shape of an Opinel, among others).

For EDC, I find I want a straight blade, like a kiridashi, or even better, a wharncliffe/sheepsfoot style knife. Does everything I could want. Interested how others feel, and if people like the belly, why.
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I prefer less belly too. An opinel is fine but the belly like on a Lionsteel SR1 drives me crazy.

Belly is probably best for skinning tasks. I do feel that for an urban edc knife straight blades are probably my fav. Actually I find Tantos to be sort of a kiridashi on the tip of a wharncliffe.
 
Bob loveless popularized the drop point hunter and that's been the go to design for a small EDC type knife. It's the do all knife shape. I don't like a big belly on mine either, I try to keep the blade straight the have a curve going up to the tip. Kinda like this:
K9ZLKxM.jpg
 
For me, personally, even that amount of belly is too much in an EDC I would want to carry. I imagine if I were doing more slicing/butchering type tasks, I'd feel differently. But for opening boxes, cutting sandpaper to size on my disk grinder, shaving down a piece of wood, marking lined in wood, etc, I just find a straight blade is most useful for me. Belly makes a lot of those tasks more frustrating than they need to be.
 
I like them with a belly because wharnies are pretty terrible for food prep (not that I use am edc often but still lol) also not good for scraping things like glass or gunk off of a large flat surface. The drop point/spear point with a belly is just a great all around design. Ymmv
 
I like and use almost all knife patterns & grinds.. I personally use and prefer a belly grind for almost all of my patterns cause they work for food prep and every other chore, outside of stabbing , Well they can do that too if the need arises. ——————-The belly gives you a longer cutting/edge area in the same length of blade and allows a nice working area depending on your task..
 
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Tenebr0s said:
For me, personally, even that amount of belly is too much in an EDC I would want to carry. I imagine if I were doing more slicing/butchering type tasks, I'd feel differently. But for opening boxes, cutting sandpaper to size on my disk grinder, shaving down a piece of wood, marking lined in wood, etc, I just find a straight blade is most useful for me. Belly makes a lot of those tasks more frustrating than they need to be.
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I'm with you about this :thumbsup:
I make this one year and half ago.Whenever and whatever I need to cut in my shop /and I cut a lot of things /this one will do job .Nothing can beat in cutting this shape , nothing ! This one is small , first chance I will make little bigger one ............What I most like in this knife is when I need to penetrate with tip first to start cut ........
nV8VzOs.jpg
 
Natlek said:
.Nothing can beat in cutting this shape , nothing !
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This is strictly a matter of opinion and preference. If all I had on me in my shop was that, I'd throw it in the yard.

Straight edges are great for some tasks. And bellies for others. I like a belly for gleaning gasket off mating surfaces, cleaning glue crap off parts, skinning animals, and the food prep I happen to do with my knife at the time. I do love a wharncliff also though for other fine tasks. Trimming vinyl, fiberglass, some interior work. That's why I almost always carry an improved trapper or a stockman pattern. Having all worlds available. When I do carry a straight edged single blade, I ALWAYS have a blade with a belly also. But I will carry a single blade with a belly. For me, I can't do everything I need with a straight edged knife, but I can do everything I need with a bellied edge. I have, Howe, tried the Zulu blade shape lately and found it a damn near perfect replacement for both blade shapes. Its a great best of both worlds shape for a single blade knife. I intend to try that road a little more in the coming year.

If we all needed the same thing, we would all carry small sebenzas.
 
A lot of blade shape is designed around use.
A wharncliff is designed to cut rope against a flat object.
A bellied blade is designed to cut things with the blade moving against the object and perhaps rotating. Skinning and cutting up things for meals are examples of this type cut.
An EDC is designed to do as many chores as possible, so the blade has several working areas.
Another big attribute of the bellied tip is drability. In EDC use, a wharncliff or other fine point may break off easily. By increasing the arc angle, the tip becomes much stronger.
 
I was learning from a maker back in the late 70's and came up with my own version of a deep belly drop point tanto that he made for me in damascus, it's all based on intersecting arcs. I have found this design to be the best for all my purposes. That blade was lost long ago during a move but I have recently revived the design in a regrind on an existing folder. The drop and the belly have the same arc but are offset to the tanto point, the intersecting edge provides the ultimate razor cutting. I can't post pics yet but at some point I will. So many designs so little time.
http://imgur.com/hPzBnEu
 
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Natlek said:
I'm with you about this :thumbsup:
I make this one year and half ago.Whenever and whatever I need to cut in my shop /and I cut a lot of things /this one will do job .Nothing can beat in cutting this shape , nothing ! This one is small , first chance I will make little bigger one ............What I most like in this knife is when I need to penetrate with tip first to start cut ........
nV8VzOs.jpg
Click to expand...

Natlek. I made a paring knife from A2 that is nearly identical to yours. I agree, it is fantastic. Cuts everything and peels apples like nothing else.
 
I'd use that top one all day long.

Did a search for "zulu" shaped knives, but wasn't sure which SVTFreak was referring to. Fairly straight, rising point with a mild curve?
 
The drop point FFG of my Shirogorov F3 is hands down my favorite universal blade shape. A close second is the FFG spear point (and slightly greater belly) of the Laconico Keen. The blade actually splays out a bit before coming to a point where the spine curves down to meet it. It puts the tip exactly on the centerline through the entire knife. The 4mm spine gives the blade strength down the distal taper to its point.

R5pGnWB.jpg


IMHO a fail is the deceptively deep belly of the EnZo Trapper 95. It is surely great for skinning but limits its food handling use.

CdCOrup.jpg
 
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People are saying straight edges are lousy for food prep, but if you look at most paring knives, there’s very little belly - fairly flat edge profile with a slight rising curve towards the tip. Agreed, a dead-straight wharcliffe type paring knife is rare. I hadn’t thought about cutting around curves, such as trimming gaskets. That’s not something I do a lot of, so perhaps I haven’t missed that lack of functionality on my straighter edge profiles.

Edit: although for cutting sandpaper on my disk sander, I love a straight edge. But the rotating of the disk takes care of the turning and the knife is just held in place...
 
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