Winter v.s. Summer Knives

k_estela said:
The idea of a Christmas Story skin freezing to the metal in an exposed tang or the idea of it transfering cold is far fetched. Sure, it is cold to the touch but if you have gloves on like a practical person would, it isn't an issue.

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Its not far fetched, ask anyone who works with metal in the winter outside. If held long enough it will suck the heat through the thickest mitts.

Your trip recently didnt look too cold. Next time its -10 lick your blade to see if it sticks.;):D Moist hands from mitts will also stick to bare metal sometimes if its cold enough.

The inner tube idea is a good one thanks. The grip tape I use has no residue it sticks to itself only, FYI.

Skam
 
I think that cold weather is more demanding on the knife and hot weather.
Well, the plastic in the handle might be soft or melt but if that happens you will melt too.
If you look at knives like the Fallkniven F1 and RAT3 they might be made to be "survival knives" but the F1 is developed and tested in cold and wet weather and therefore have the all covering plastic handle but still a protruding tang.
You can get the F1 with micarta handle or just a blade but they almost feel cold in normal weather.
The problem with structural change in metal migth be a problem. However the temperature needs to be so cold that you will experience severe structural changes in your body before that :)
 
I have never had a knife feel cold through mitts. Gripping the knife too hard cuts off circulation to the hands making your hands feel cold. If you grasp a piece of wood in the same way, your hands get cold. Wood doesn't conduct cold like metal as you know. It's the grip, not the small amount of metal in an exposed tang that gives you the cold feeling. I've never had a knife stick to my hands in the cold as my hands have warmed the metal enough to prevent it. If it were a flagpole with a lot of metal mass, it would be one thing but a small knife has never been a concern. Again, it is not likely to happen.

As for the temps on this trip, it was single digits. Not sub-zero but still below freezing. The WLC is having another trip in February on the 16th through the 19th in Chateaugay, NY. Temperatures last year were -10 degrees at 10 a.m. on the day we left. Should be cold enough for most. Anyone willing to test this metal to skin theory should come up to the school. I'll be there and I'll gladly demonstrate this concern is more myth than reality.
 
I've found my self using my master hunter alot, I like the profile of my Nimravus, but the MH flat grind and handle are just awsome.
 
K,

Not getting in a pissing match here. Metal will freeze your hands and yes it must be of some mass and not have a wood handle.

I have personally stuck my hands to blade steel many times as they were moist and the steel super chilled. One time I got frostnip like a 1st degree burn on an all metal handle knife.

Of all the safety issues one encounters this is low on the list. However dismissing it as myth incorrect.

Skam
 
As some of you know, last year I did a multi-month long distance hike that went into the colder months. (Continental Divide Trail). I never had a problem with my full-tang, wooden-scaled neck knife, but then again, wearing it against my skin kept it warm for the initial grab. Also, I usually wore thin stretch-fleece gripper gloves.

One of our occasional companions, a guy from Germany, had a Fallkniven F1. The black rubber grip on this was a joy in the cold. I don't know if Fallkniven uses anything fancy, but I was impressed. Not many high-end knives have a soft handle, and I must admit, as a collector I'd hate to pay $100+ for a rubber handle.

As a winter sports enthusiast, however, I would (and am) consider it.
 
Skammer,

I guess we will just agree to disagree then. My offer still stands for anyone that wants to see this first hand on the February trip.

Kev
 
Went out this morning to start my truck as I hadn't run it in about a week and on the front seat was an Ontario Machete. It was 4 degrees this morning so I thought I would do some unscientific testing. Took it out of the sheath and held the back of the blade in my hand for 4 minutes. It did not stick to my hand but my hand got a wee bit cold. I agree that you probably need more mass to stick to a persons skin.
Oldman/Marty Simon
 
oldman/Marty said:
Went out this morning to start my truck as I hadn't run it in about a week and on the front seat was an Ontario Machete. It was 4 degrees this morning so I thought I would do some unscientific testing. Took it out of the sheath and held the back of the blade in my hand for 4 minutes. It did not stick to my hand but my hand got a wee bit cold. I agree that you probably need more mass to stick to a persons skin.
Oldman/Marty Simon
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When its very cold in the zero F or less and you have moist skin it will stick.

This is why tongues stick to metal. If one doesnt believe it lick a pole when its real cold out. I cant count how many time that my sweaty hands stuck to ski poles after I took them out of gloves.

Skam
 
skammer said:
I cant count how many time that my sweaty hands stuck to ski poles after I took them out of gloves.
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That's true, now that I think of it, that's happened to me several times during the years I spent ski bumming in Tahoe (where it doesn't even get very cold).

Most ski poles are aluminum, and would conduct heat out of your skin pretty fast. But then again, climbing an iron ski-lift ladder is the same deal -- wear gloves!

Those years ('98 - '05) were before I got back into knives, so on the job (ski lift zone supervisor) I just carried a big ol' Gerber Gator that I had found in the bottom of the Grand Canyon. It was an older Gerber, and that big fat rubber handle sure was nice in the cold. I even self-arrested with it once when one of my employees was sliding into a frozen creek gully one morning. Hacked a platform for her to sit, then hacked steps for us to get back up to level ground. No, not what the knife was designed for, but it was a situation. Knife was fine.

She sure was grateful. ;) That was a great winter.
 
tradja said:
That's true, now that I think of it, that's happened to me several times during the years I spent ski bumming in Tahoe (where it doesn't even get very cold).

Most ski poles are aluminum, and would conduct heat out of your skin pretty fast. But then again, climbing an iron ski-lift ladder is the same deal -- wear gloves!

Those years ('98 - '05) were before I got back into knives, so on the job (ski lift zone supervisor) I just carried a big ol' Gerber Gator that I had found in the bottom of the Grand Canyon. It was an older Gerber, and that big fat rubber handle sure was nice in the cold. I even self-arrested with it once when one of my employees was sliding into a frozen creek gully one morning. Hacked a platform for her to sit, then hacked steps for us to get back up to level ground. No, not what the knife was designed for, but it was a situation. Knife was fine.

She sure was grateful. ;) That was a great winter.
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That's a great example of why carrying a knife is a must. Brilliant use for it. Maybe not a life-threatening 'survival' situation right there, don't know how close other help was, but it certainly could have been.

Thanks for sharing that.

I'm glad she was grateful; I used to daydream about finding myself a similar situation out in the snow :D Never did though :confused: And now I'm married so I can't :o
 
It’s a huge difference between metal handles and wood handles. Aluminum for example conducts heat 2500 times better than wood. A knife with aluminium handle is definitely not recommended in cold weather.

Other materials:

Material/Thermal conductivity (W/m K)*
Diamond /1000
Silver/406.0
Copper/385.0
Gold/314
Brass/109.0
Aluminum/205.0
Steel/50.2
Fiberglass/0.04
Cork board/0.04
Wool felt/0.04
Polyurethane/0.02
Wood/0.12-0.04

*Young, Hugh D., University Physics, 7th Ed., Addison Wesley, 1992
 
Winter: Axes, hatchets and big chopping knives

Summer: My EDC folders plus a small puukko possibly.


In the winter I'm more concerned with getting a fire going and being able to get dry, dead wood asap. It's also just fun to chop stuff. In the summer it's rare I'll even need a knife to get a fire going, but sometimes it's fun to make some fuzz sticks or whittle something. Plus there's always food prep to consider.
 
This sounds like something my wife would write except she would have winter, spring, fall and summer knives!!! in all seriousness I like traditional leather, or micarta for cold weather. I use gloves. One comment I have is I do not like kydex sheaths in cold weather. They seem to get stiffer. Has anyone ever had one crack?
 
zman308 said:
One comment I have is I do not like kydex sheaths in cold weather. They seem to get stiffer. Has anyone ever had one crack?
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Yes, less than 24 hrs after a custom tech lock sheath arrived. It broke in 3 pieces and I nearly lost a favorite blade. It was 15 below zero out.

Never again. Leather or kydex liner only.

Skam
 
zman308 said:
This sounds like something my wife would write except she would have winter, spring, fall and summer knives!!! in all seriousness I like traditional leather, or micarta for cold weather. I use gloves. One comment I have is I do not like kydex sheaths in cold weather. They seem to get stiffer. Has anyone ever had one crack?
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Skammer has got it right. They can crack. Although there's a way to make it much less likely - just keep the sheath close to your body. If it's hanging from your backpack and all covered with snow and ice, it's going to get a hurting. Leather is good for cold weather sheaths.
 
skammer said:
That is exactly what happened. Strapped to a pack crawling through dense brush and got caught.
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Aww, crap, that is the worst way it can happen! Sometimes it's damn hard to see the knife falling out, and if there's deep snow, it'll sink right in there and seemingly disappear from the face of the earth. And then if you do notice it, then it's fun times trying to find it from the snow, while not getting yourself cut on the now exposed blade. :(
 
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Axe, 90% of the time. Big blade, 50%. NorthStar, always. Year round.
 
Nope, My kit is the same year-round.
Leuku and Puukkos have wood handles, and my hatchet has a wood haft, no need to change.
 
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