Your Favorite Folder Blade Length

Your Favorite Folder Blade Length

  • 2.99 inches or less

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • 3 to 3.49 inches

    Votes: 1 100.0%

  • 3.5 to 3.99 inches

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • 4 inches or more

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Total voters
    1
RamZar

RamZar

Gold Member
Joined
Mar 3, 2013
Messages
11,601
The ranges I used are kind of arbitrary and I didn't want to give too many choices for the ranges.

I used the BladeHQ search function and here are its inventory stats for folders (64% are in the 3"-3.99" range):

[table="width: 500, class: grid"]
[tr]
[td]2.99 inches or less[/td]
[td]24%[/td]
[/tr]
[tr]
[td]3 to 3.49 inches[/td]
[td]26%[/td]
[/tr]
[tr]
[td]3.5 to 3.99 inches[/td]
[td]38%[/td]
[/tr]
[tr]
[td]4 inches or more[/td]
[td]12%[/td]
[/tr]
[/table]

I'm so used to carrying folders with blade lengths of just under 3 inches, due to local restrictions (to take a phrase from "Shawshank Redemption" I've been "institutionalized"), that my favorite has become 2.99" exactly. I try to keep 70% of my purchases in the 2.75"-3.25" range.
 
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2.75" to 3.5" would be my most carried range. but its so much more complex than blade length...
 
I like my every day folder's blade to be about as long as my thumb, or about 3.25 inches or so. While a bigger knife is more capable, a slightly shorter knife is a little less clumsy, but the knife is not so small that it can't do reasonably bigger jobs. It's also less scary for non-knife people to see a shorter blade, so I get less reactions out of it.

I've found that one knife that just works for me and it never leaves my pocket. I carry an extra knife with a bigger or smaller blade appropriate for whatever job I need to do outside of what my main EDC is capable of.
 
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Either 2.5" or less ... Or 5"+
 
I prefer a 4" blade. Much smaller than that and it either starts looking disproportionate or the handle gets too small for my hand.
 
Interesting results so far... I'll have to keep an eye on it, but I think the 3.5-4.0" range is the sweet spot for most folks. I too prefer about a 4" folder, but mainly because I carry a 3" (+/-) fixed blade as part of my EDC. Here's a typical example - an Endura and G3:

 
My most carried blades are in the 3.0" - 3.25" range. My favorite knife has a >4" blade. Most of what I own is in the 3.25" - 3.75" range.
 
I have a couple of 3-3/8" and 3-1/2" blades that I rock, but I mostly prefer my 3.75"-4.0" blades.
 
I prefer a flipper in the 2.75 - 2.99 inch range that also has opening studs or opening hole.

(Just try and find them!)
 
Ive always leaned to the thought of a pocket knife being a small unintrusive light weight 3-3.5 inch blade that was capable of doing most day to day task. Equipping myself with a fixed blade of larger size when the day calls for more robust use has been the norm; but lately I find myself gravitating to larger folders that are overbuilt.
 
flash900 said:
I prefer a flipper in the 2.75 - 2.99 inch range that also has opening studs or opening hole.

(Just try and find them!)
Click to expand...

Small universe!

According to BladeHQ, folders with 2.75"-2.99" blade lengths and an opening mechanism to include "Thumb Stud", "Thumb Hole", "Thumb Groove" or "Thumb Disc" comprise only 7% of all its folders! However, with BladeHQ, there's no way to pick say a flipper which also has an alternative opening mechanism. Regardless of opening mechanism, all the folders with 2.75"-2.99" blade lengths is only 11% of all its folders.
 
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This is impossible!

It depends on two things, the blade, and what I am doing.

In terms of the blade, my current EDC, a small Insingo has such a useable blade from heel to tip that 2.97 inches feels more like 3.25+

What I am doing; If I am just hanging around the house or have the day planned, a 3 inch blade is all I need really for general EDC stuff.

If I am going for a hike, or not really too sure where the day will take me, I prefer a 3.5-4 inch blade and a knife with a little more weight to it.
 
If it locks, 3.7-4.5" - any bigger than that and it just gets unwieldy.

If it's a slipjoint, 1.75-2.75"
 
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