Blade length.

[Quixoticgeek]

Been pondering my dream bushcraft knife. It got me thinking.

How long is your bushcraft knife?

Would it be less useful if it was 1" longer or 1" shorter?

How thick is the spine of the blade?

J

 

[British Red]

I have many different tools for different jobs. I have hammers from 4 ounces to 10 pounds. In the same way I have fixed blade knives in many configurations.

A good example of this is my pair of outdoors knives

Beater & Biter by British Red, on Flickr

The idea that one knife can do all jobs is shown to be absurd by the contents of most peoples kitchen drawers.

 

[sunndog]

It used to be said that the ideal length of blade was the same as the width of you're hand...which is a fair thing to say

Thickness, I get on with blades upto about 5mm. I'd prefer 3-3.5mm though, that's plenty thick enough for me

 

[Quixoticgeek]

I have many different tools for different jobs. I have hammers from 4 ounces to 10 pounds. In the same way I have fixed blade knives in many configurations.

The idea that one knife can do all jobs is shown to be absurd by the contents of most peoples kitchen drawers.

You see this is something that confuses me a little. I have 1 fixed blade knife (not including the ones in the Kitchen at home) which is a Mora Clipper. I carry a Svord Peasant Mini with me as EDC, and in the woods, it's done pretty much everything I've asked of it in the woods. I also carry a laplander folding saw. I don't currently have an axe.

Perhaps it's my relative inexperience, or my narrow range of uses so far, but I've not found a need for more than the knife I currently carry. So I am wondering, what would happen if my knife was an inch longer, if it was fixed?

Julia

 

[British Red]

What would happen is the knife would be an inch longer.

I personally find that the knife I use for skinning rabbits is not suitable for cutting thatch and stakes for shelter building. The tasks are wholly different and require different tools.

 

[Quixoticgeek]

It used to be said that the ideal length of blade was the same as the width of you're hand...which is a fair thing to say

Ah, that explains why I keep leaning to short blades, my hands are tiny, just 80mm across the palm. I find a 120-125mm handle about right, with a 80mm blade, based on mock ups I've been playing with. I was curious as to why so many bushcraft knives are 100-125mm long...

Thickness, I get on with blades upto about 5mm. I'd prefer 3-3.5mm though, that's plenty thick enough for me

I've been pondering 2-2.5mm as a blade thickness at the spine. Is that too thin to be useful?

Julia

 

[santaman2000]

.....Perhaps it's my relative inexperience, or my narrow range of uses so far, but I've not found a need for more than the knife I currently carry. So I am wondering, what would happen if my knife was an inch longer, if it was fixed?

Julia

What would happen? You'd take a little time getting used to using it. That's about all with that limited addition. Of course you'd have the added reach (which doesn't sound especially important for whatever you're currently cutting)

 

[British Red]

I've been pondering 2-2.5mm as a blade thickness at the spine. Is that too thin to be useful?

Julia

Its too thick for a fine filleting knife - and too thin for a bill hook

 

[Quixoticgeek]

What would happen is the knife would be an inch longer.

I personally find that the knife I use for skinning rabbits is not suitable for cutting thatch and stakes for shelter building. The tasks are wholly different and require different tools.

Ah, this is perhaps where my lack of experience is showing. I have yet to cut that, or skin a rabbit.

So what makes a good skinning knife?

Julia

 

[santaman2000]

Ah, this is perhaps where my lack of experience is showing. I have yet to cut that, or skin a rabbit.

So what makes a good skinning knife?

Julia

Skinning what? A rabbit as mentioned? That doesn't take much, but it needs to be sharp, as you mainly just make a slit in the skinn large enough to insert your fingers and pull the skin off as you would a glove.

 

[British Red]

So what makes a good skinning knife?

Julia

Depends what you are skinning. With a rabbit a thin enough blade with a fine enough point to cut around the anus without manking the job, something to slit the skin up the belly. An opinel with a nice point (the eff range) does a great job. I think a mora is too much knife with not enough point.

If you are gralloching a deer, you want a bit more knife - but not huge. If you are removing heads, legs and even splitting a pelvis off a large animal, more again.

 

[santaman2000]

Depends what you are skinning. With a rabbit a thin enough blade with a fine enough point to cut around the anus without manking the job, something to slit the skin up the belly.....

I usually just make the slit just behind the neck and physically pull the skin off. I've never seen anybody slit it up the belly? Or are you referring to slitting the actual belly AFTER skinning?

 

[Nomad]

It seems to me that for most woodworking tasks, a fairly short blade is fine. The further the tip is from the handle, the harder it is to maintain good control for stuff you'd do with the tip, and there is little point in doing powerful cuts at that end due to the effect of leverage resulting in possible hand strain (which is why chest pulls and the like are done near the ricasso).

A longer blade is useful for batoning because, for certain values of diameter, the end of the blade can protrude from the side of the lump of wood when part-way through and thus provide something to whack with the baton. I dare say the trick of using a bit of wood for a makeshift drawknife handle might cause one to have another reason to have a longer blade, depending on how much cutting edge you want for your drawknife.

I don't baton big lumps of wood, and haven't been inclined to make an improvised drawknife, so I'd be tempted to say that my woody clone's 4" blade is probably a bit long. 3 to 3.5" would maybe be better.

The blade is 4mm thick, scandi grind, and that seems fine to me for woodworking stuff and general cutting, but the grind means it's a compromise for some slicing (meat is okay, carrots not so much). It's a thickness that leaves me feeling that it's very robust. I've used a variety of hand tools all my life and have good sympathy for them (I learned many moons ago how to break tools by choosing the tool or wrong technique), and I don't think I'd wreck a 4mm thick lump of tool steel in a hurry. Strong enough for the sort of prying tasks I might ask of it, in other words. If it was 3mm thick, probably still strong enough, but I'd be looking at the blade when prying to see if there was any flex (and maybe adapting my technique or expectations to suit).

Having said that, I agree with Red that one knife doesn't do it all. For the more fiddly stuff, my TBS boar EDC knife is good - sub-3" blade has the tip nice and close to the handle and the 2.5mm scandi blade slices better. A Swiss Champ covers the rest.

 

[British Red]

I usually just make the slit just behind the neck and physically pull the skin off. I've never seen anybody slit it up the belly? Or are you referring to slitting the actual belly AFTER skinning?

I make the slit in the belly skin and pull from there

 

[Quixoticgeek]

Depends what you are skinning.

I have much to learn it seems.

With a rabbit a thin enough blade with a fine enough point to cut around the anus without manking the job, something to slit the skin up the belly. An opinel with a nice point (the eff range) does a great job. I think a mora is too much knife with not enough point.

One of these?

If you are gralloching a deer, you want a bit more knife - but not huge. If you are removing heads, legs and even splitting a pelvis off a large animal, more again.

About the only animals I can think I might try to skin are Rabbits (if I get permission to snare/hunt somewhere), or deer (if I find a suitable source and someone to teach me how to do it). What sort of knife would you use on a red deer?

Julia

 

[Silverback 1]

Depends what you are skinning. With a rabbit a thin enough blade with a fine enough point to cut around the anus without manking the job, something to slit the skin up the belly. An opinel with a nice point (the eff range) does a great job. I think a mora is too much knife with not enough point.

If you are gralloching a deer, you want a bit more knife - but not huge. If you are removing heads, legs and even splitting a pelvis off a large animal, more again.

Spot on here Red.

Some people are continually under the impression that you need a large blade to do heavy tasks when in the field or larder, this is just not the case, a knife with a thinnish blade stock and fine point is essential when dressing out the nooks and crannies and tricky bits and keeping the meat hygienic.
A lot of it of course is down to the user skill of the person.
Below is a photo of a friend of mine dressing out a Fallow deer on a recent trip, the skinning process on this occasion was performed for a 'Cape mount' trophy.
Don't want to start a mass debate about pros/cons of ethical stalking, and i have no desire to offend.
I am merely trying to show what can be achieved with maximum skills and minimum knife.
The second photo is of exactly the same knife used during the whole processing of the deer, and i kid you not

 

[Quixoticgeek]

Am only seeing one image there silverback1.

J

 

[British Red]

One of these?

Yep

About the only animals I can think I might try to skin are Rabbits (if I get permission to snare/hunt somewhere), or deer (if I find a suitable source and someone to teach me how to do it). What sort of knife would you use on a red deer?

Julia

Ask Silverback

A stainless Mora I could chuck in the dishwasher would be my choice

 

[sunndog]

the popularity of the 4" blade is just another compromise and design influence
It suits most and looks the part

Remember a HUGE amount of knife choice is down to preference. And theres not a damn thing wrong with that.
My latest knife is a blade blank from dorset woodland blades. the small version of duncan's sharp and pointy (DSP)
Its around a 3" blade (may suit you actually) and I'm sure I'll carry it and do everything I need with it until I decide to change to another for a bit

You and red are both quite right. Many different knives are suited better or worse to many different tasks...equally if you've only ever had one or two knives you'll happily get on and make do

 

[Silverback 1]

For some reason i cannot seem to edit a second photo of the offending knife into my first post, so here it is

Google image of knife, but exactly as one used by Rob