Your Favorite Folder Blade Length?

Ed Gordon

Ed Gordon

Joined
Feb 19, 2000
Messages
1,044
I have always prefered a folding knife with a blade length of 2 7/8"-3 1/4" as my everyday carry knife. This is based on my 30 years of always carrying a folding knife. I recently bought a Point Guard with a 3.5" blade and find I like the additional 1/4" or so of blade alot! The Point Guard seems to have a good blade to handle ratio (or whatever the term is) and I wonder if all this time instead of prefering a particular blade length, I actually was actually choosing my constant carry knife based on the overall length closed. I guess I would like a 6" blade if it could be squeezed into a 4 3/8" handle. Just wondering what others like if they are not restricted on what they can carry?
 
Ed,
at one time I wanted to carry the biggest knive I could get in my pocket. I actually got a 6 1/2" bladed Crawford Leopard specially built to carry, and carry I did! In the past 4 to 5 years I have become comfortable with a 3 1/2" to 4.0" blade. I don't really want anything over 4". I do like the MT Elites, and carry an auto on ocassion. I really prefer to have something along a 3 3/4" blade. This is why the LCC and Al Mar SERE 2000 appeal to me. Realize that the only way I will carry a knife this big is if it has a pocket clip. BTW I do not have any trouble with a knife this size. Oh yea, my wife said I carried such a big knife because I felt inadequate in other areas.
Go figure.



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Art Sigmon
"I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me"
Php. 4:13
 
I prefer around the 4" mark...I find anything bigger is too big to carry and anything much smaller impractical. Plus I'm a cheapskate and figure if I'm blowing big bucks I want it to fill my hand.
smile.gif
 
I also like the 3.5"-4" blade. It just seems to do everything well. And like Ferret, I like to have a decent chunk of steel in my hand.
 
For me 3" to 3 1/2" seems to be best. Much longer and the knife tends to poke me when riding. Much less than 3" and the handle doesn't fit my hand very well. Currently I'm carrying a REKAT Carnivore Cub with great results.
 
When I got my Carson Mod 4 with its wide 4" blade it did seem rather large at first. But after a very little bit of getting used to, I now find the extra reach extremely useful. I still love my smaller bladed folders, but I no longer view a 4" blade as being too large. In fact it's become my everday carry.

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Semper Fi

-Bill
 
2 7/8" - 3 1/4" is still my favorite length.
I like this size for the non-intimidation factor and the fact that this is about as big a knife I can carry and not have to worry about being over the blade limit. A bigger knife is fun if I'm in an environment where it is appropriate. Smaller knives (under 21/2") are the most useful though. Unless one is in a no knife zone like some court houses, small knife can be used without the raising of eyebrows or unwanted LEO attention.
 
I like the old style Case or Buck multiblade folders. You get several different sizes and shapes to suit whatever your particular cutting task may be at the time. A stockman or a whittler pattern will cover just about all the bases.
 
I like between 3.5" and 4".

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AKTI Member #A000832

"Sometimes you eat the bear, and sometimes, the bear eats you."
 
3"-4". Anything bigger gets to be too big to carry around.
I don't know how those of you who carry a Sifu around do it. I'm 6', 330 and my Buck 110MS is as big and heavy as I want to carry.

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The thorn stands to defend the Rose, yet it is peaceful and does not seek conflict
 
Since blade length relates to handle length I prefer 3.5 - 4" blades.

Can't deal with a knife that doesn't fit the full grasp length of my hand!

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~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
GigOne
"Livin' Life - Full Throttle"
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"Happiness is a belt-fed weapon & a Walter Brend Model 2!"
 
I´m quite satisfied with my Kershaw-Wild Turkey. Also the Spyderco Calypso Jr Lightweight match the same category. So, I´d say somewhere around 3-3½" feels good in my pocket, since I don´t use the clip
smile.gif
 
I always have at least two knives. One right around (generally under) 3" blade length, and the other closer to 4". After getting much over 4", I prefer to switch to fixed-blade.

--JB

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e_utopia@hotmail.com
 
I am not restricted on what I can carry by anything other than my own comfort.Most folders I prefer to carry have blade lengths of 2 7/8-3 1/4 inchs.I never thought about it that way but I think you are right Ed,I choose my folding knives mostly on their size when closed.
 
Just a tad over 3" works for me. The knife that I carry is a Kershaw "Wild Wild Turkey". While I don't care for the name, and it isn't even close to the favorite in my collection, it ALWAYS ends up in my pocket in favor of the others. The blade size isn't the only factor involved, but it's just a bit over 3" and has handled *every* utilitarian task I've thrown at it. It's not too big to become unwieldy (like my 3.5" Starmate) and it's not too short to be inadequate (like my Dragonfly).

Jon
 
I´m allowed to carry almost everything up to a pair of samurai swords "just from law" , but it would be very funny to explain the law every 5 to 15 seconds to a frightened citizen or the police.
The last 10 years or so i carried a lot of folders with as much blade i could buy.
Factory built there where the :
CS Scimitar
Boker Brend
CS Vaquero Grande
CS Desperado (not a folder)
CRKT Bearclaw (also fixed)
Spy Endura
Spy Shabaria
CRKT C/KFF
Spanish Navaja
2 cheap Butterfly
+ about 10 cheap knives i want to forget.
+ some good but large fixed blades.

Than i got one "CRKT Mirage Warncliff", - first because it was a bargain with my local dealer, but now i think : " it would cut everything i had to cut the last 10 years!
With half the weight of the other knives.

So for this moment i thing "good knives dont have to be so big but only GOOD !"

Look for quality - then size is not important.


* to live means to learn - and to learn we need : INPUT ! INPUT ! INPUT ! *





[This message has been edited by bigbore.45 (edited 09-28-2000).]
 
I like blades of from 3.5 to 4 inches. You can do more with a longer blade. What I find more important is that the blade be a recurve, drop or clip point. These seem to cut better.
 
For a pocket-knife I don't want anything larger than a 3" blade or smaller than 2 1/2". For a belt knife I like 4" to 5".

[This message has been edited by allenC (edited 09-29-2000).]
 
I always carry 3 knives: 2 blades between 3.2" & 3.6" (right now those two are BM 940 & CRKT M16-03Z) and the other, for social emergencies or those huge cutting tasks, about 4" (710).

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Jason aka medusaoblongata
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"I have often laughed at the weaklings who call themselves kind because they have no claws"

- Zarathustra
 
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