How many knives and/or axes do you own?

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How many knives and/or axes do you have?

  • 1-2

    Votes: 34 4.9%
  • 3-5

    Votes: 129 18.6%
  • 6-10

    Votes: 170 24.5%
  • 11-20

    Votes: 146 21.1%
  • 21-40

    Votes: 107 15.4%
  • 41-100

    Votes: 107 15.4%

  • Total voters
    693

Hoodoo

Full Member
Nov 17, 2003
5,302
13
Michigan, USA
I took a stab at counting my knives this morning (no pun intended, of course ;) ).

I stopped at 500. Probably not many more than that. Left out the wood carving knives though.

This is my latest bushcraft knife. Think of it as a large mora. :lmao:

kabar1c.jpg
 

Nat

Full Member
Sep 4, 2007
1,476
0
York, North Yorkshire
I took a stab at counting my knives this morning (no pun intended, of course ;) ).

I stopped at 500. Probably not many more than that. Left out the wood carving knives though.

This is my latest bushcraft knife. Think of it as a large mora. :lmao:

kabar1c.jpg

Nice knife. Mine's exactly the same. I forgot to add my Leatherman Wave, B&Q Folding saw.
 

Hoodoo

Full Member
Nov 17, 2003
5,302
13
Michigan, USA
Nice knife. Mine's exactly the same. I forgot to add my Leatherman Wave, B&Q Folding saw.

They balance nicely don't they. :) Nice thin edge too, though mine is gonna get a slight convexing. Gonna bob the guard too. Might leave a nub at the bottom but the top will go completely.
 

British Red

M.A.B (Mad About Bushcraft)
Dec 30, 2005
26,732
1,984
Mercia
Can we have some pictures pretty please of the Ka -Bar modds Hoodo?

What grind is that anyway - looks Scandy with a secondary bevel rather than hollow?

Red

BTW - how many axes in that 500? (Really, really hope its more than me :eek:)
 

Hoodoo

Full Member
Nov 17, 2003
5,302
13
Michigan, USA
Can we have some pictures pretty please of the Ka -Bar modds Hoodo?

What grind is that anyway - looks Scandy with a secondary bevel rather than hollow?

Red

BTW - how many axes in that 500? (Really, really hope its more than me :eek:)

I haven't done the mods yet. Just got the knife. :) The grind is a flat saber, i.e., a scandi grind with a secondary bevel. The bevel is thin and it won't take much to convex it. No axes in that count. I'm guessing somewhere between 20 and 30. Not really sure. :confused:
 

Nat

Full Member
Sep 4, 2007
1,476
0
York, North Yorkshire
They balance nicely don't they. :) Nice thin edge too, though mine is gonna get a slight convexing. Gonna bob the guard too. Might leave a nub at the bottom but the top will go completely.

i can't believe you're going to butcher it!!! But it would be good to see the mods you intend doing to it ;)

But yes tis very nicely balanced and a dream to use. I went from hacking a bush back to stripping a couple of their bark for walking sticks in one session.
 

Hoodoo

Full Member
Nov 17, 2003
5,302
13
Michigan, USA
i can't believe you're going to butcher it!!! But it would be good to see the mods you intend doing to it ;)

But yes tis very nicely balanced and a dream to use. I went from hacking a bush back to stripping a couple of their bark for walking sticks in one session.

Well, they only cost $50 so I think it's an affordable risk. ;)

My mods won't be nearly as drastic as Chuck Karwan's who wrote about his in the Jan issue 2005 issue of Tactical Knives magazine. He calls his modded Kabar the Kar-Bar. :cool: He removes the top guard, drills a hole in the buttcap for a lanyard, and grinds quite a bit of the handle fore and aft to make a more pronounced palm swell. I'm gonna skip the lanyard and handle mods. The handle feels pretty good to me as is although those grooves in the leather are pretty sharp and you can feel them in your hand when doing hard carving. I may round the edges of those just a tad.
 

Nat

Full Member
Sep 4, 2007
1,476
0
York, North Yorkshire
Well, they only cost $50 so I think it's an affordable risk. ;)

My mods won't be nearly as drastic as Chuck Karwan's who wrote about his in the Jan issue 2005 issue of Tactical Knives magazine. He calls his modded Kabar the Kar-Bar. :cool: He removes the top guard, drills a hole in the buttcap for a lanyard, and grinds quite a bit of the handle fore and aft to make a more pronounced palm swell. I'm gonna skip the lanyard and handle mods. The handle feels pretty good to me as is although those grooves in the leather are pretty sharp and you can feel them in your hand when doing hard carving. I may round the edges of those just a tad.

Was considering doing that myself as they are a tad sharp on the old hand, just a slight rubbing down to soften the edges. Have a link to the review on the Kar-Bar? Sounds interesting
 

Hoodoo

Full Member
Nov 17, 2003
5,302
13
Michigan, USA
BTW - how many axes in that 500? (Really, really hope its more than me :eek:)

Just did a quick count and got up to 41 axes, hatchets, and hawks. Doesn't count a couple in the shed out back and some small hatchets squrreled away in packs. I doubt the count would go much over 45.
 

Hoodoo

Full Member
Nov 17, 2003
5,302
13
Michigan, USA
Can we have some pictures pretty please of the Ka -Bar modds Hoodo?

Ok, here's what I've done so far:

I cut off the top guard and removed about half of the bottom guard.

kabar2c.jpg


For the handle, I took a large round file and went around the grooves, smoothing the edges. I then boned the edges smooth. Still need to seal them but not sure what to use.

kabar3c.jpg


kabar4e.jpg


I find myself surprised at how much I really like this knife. Fairly light for a large knife, great balance and the edge as is seems to bite into wood well.

The next step will be to lightly convex the edge. I'm toying with the idea of stripping the blade completely but I dunno.
 

Dave Budd

Gold Trader
Staff member
Jan 8, 2006
2,896
321
44
Dartmoor (Devon)
www.davebudd.com
I think there needs to be a few additions the the poll:

101-200
201-500
500-1000!

I have to admit to owning around 400 knives and maybe a dozen axes, no swords but there are some bayonettes and machetes (etc) in there too :) I wouldn't dare count things like carving knves, scalples and crook knives as that would be silly (lots of prototypes and things in that bunch ;) )

I haven't bought a new sharp for a long time, but I've made more knives that I've ever owned now. So I feel that I've got over my collecting habit :lol:
 

British Red

M.A.B (Mad About Bushcraft)
Dec 30, 2005
26,732
1,984
Mercia
Yay! Hoodoo owns more axes than me :D

Makes me feel a lot better ;)

But I own more than Dave :eek:

Like that work on the Ka-Bar Hoodoo - very nice! I'd have been tempted to round off the corners of the top guard but only really for cosmetic reasons.

As for the blade - strip it! Go on - I dare you :)

Red
 

Karl5

Life Member
May 16, 2007
340
0
58
Switzerland
Ok, here's what I've done so far:

I cut off the top guard and removed about half of the bottom guard.

kabar2c.jpg


For the handle, I took a large round file and went around the grooves, smoothing the edges. I then boned the edges smooth. Still need to seal them but not sure what to use.

kabar3c.jpg


kabar4e.jpg


I find myself surprised at how much I really like this knife. Fairly light for a large knife, great balance and the edge as is seems to bite into wood well.

The next step will be to lightly convex the edge. I'm toying with the idea of stripping the blade completely but I dunno.

This is a great example of the fact that a knife doesn't have to have a full tang to be good and sturdy.
Somehow, I have the feeling that many people believe that a knife that isn't full tang will fall to pieces if you so much as take it out its sheath.
I don't agree on that, and the Ka-Bar is a clear proof that a stick tang holds up to not only rough handling, but even to extreme abuse.

/ Karl
 

Hoodoo

Full Member
Nov 17, 2003
5,302
13
Michigan, USA
Very very true Karl. And don't forget all the parangs and goloks out there used for chopping that have stick tangs as well.
 

Dave Budd

Gold Trader
Staff member
Jan 8, 2006
2,896
321
44
Dartmoor (Devon)
www.davebudd.com
in fact virtually every one of the worlds heavy choppers has a stick tang. Swords are generally sticks, Kukris have pathetically small tangs, billhooks, etc

Earlier this year I did a complete overhaul of my heat treating to get a better blade and in the process I made, tested and brke over 30 knives. Half were full tangs and half were 2/4 length stick tangs. All had ash handles and all were approximately teh same shape, size and geometry for comparable results ;) I clamped the blades in a vice and pulled on them until they bent, then straihgtened and repeated until breakage. Then moved up the blade an inch and repeated (I wanted ot know how much force it took to bend and then break the blade at different places. mostly for the hell of it :D ). Once the blades had been snapped so that only an inch or so of blade was above the vice, the tangs bent instead.

Both types of tang failed at about an inch into the handle. I found that it took the same amount of pressure using a three foot scaffold pole to put the knives out of action. So assuming the heat treat is right and the tang isn't pathetically thin, then the knife with the tougher handle material will be the tougher. :)
 

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