Ideal bushcraft blade shape

[Celtic Dragon]

Sorry if this is in the wrong section, but my connections playing up and all I can see is this bit.

Currently I use a drop point hunter blade for my bushcraft as it doubles as my hunting knife, I was wondering what shape blade is the ideal for bushcraft. Reason for asking is that I have a piece of 01 tool steel and I'm going to have a bash at making my own blade. I notice that Ray swears by a spear point and was wondering what you all thought was the ideal.

Cheers
Simon

 

[Hoodoo]

All of these styles work for me:

The key for me is that the knife be reasonably pointy, relatively thin (Mears' knife is at the outer range of the envelope for me) and that the edge be zero or nearly so like in Scandi and convex ground knives or the main bevel be convexed in flat and hollow ground knives.

 

[bigjackbrass]

In some respects it's probably easier to say what doesn't work well for bushcraft, because the acceptable parameters are really quite wide. Extreme curves, double-edged blades and things like gut hooks - anything, in fact, which make a blade into something specialised for a certain sort of task - are probably out of place on a bushcraft knife, because we are trying to find a good all-rounder. Many of the people making bushcraft knives seem to come up with something very much like a general kitchen knife, just as the old pioneers tended to use and pretty similar to the Scandinavian blades held in such high regard by outdoorsy types.

Pick up a cheap wood-handled Mora and play around with that for a while. It'll give you a good feel for what you find desirable in a knife, which is what's important, after all. Hoodoo's selections seem mostly reasonable to me (the uppermost red-handled one is a Grohmann Boat Knife, and there's a review of one version of this blade, albeit not the flat grind, on this site) although I can see at least one which screams "blisters!" when wood carving. Horses for courses, and all that.

 

[Hoodoo]

Which one? I've used them all for wood carving.

 

[Raz]

What are the 3rd and last knives?
I don't recognise them.

 

[chad234]

Third knife is a Bushcrafter from Allen Blade. Excellent knife.

The last knife is the Woodlore inspired OSF knife from Nick Wheeler.

My choices in knives pretty much mirror Hoodoo's, but I don't have nearly the number of cool knives as he does.

 

[bigjackbrass]

Which one? I've used them all for wood carving.

The black-handled one above the Grohmann. Just judging from appearance, of course, since you've used it and I haven't, but the lanyard attachment point (extending beyond the handle), knurled grip and flat shape are things I sometimes have problems with. Of course, check the, uh, tools of twenty people out in the woods and the odds are you'll find all sorts of choices, each one a favourite of the chap using it; and more power to them.

 

[Celtic Dragon]

Cheers guys, I've just heard that my source for the steel has just fallen through so I'll have to find another source :-( . In the mean time looks like I'll have to keep using the drop point rather than having a new knife to play with

 

[Hoodoo]

Which one? I've used them all for wood carving.

The black-handled one above the Grohmann.

Ah yes, I suspected as much. :-D Actually that knife, the Gerber Yari, surprised me to no end. I really love it and regularly recommend it. And it's a great carver too. The handle is quite comfortable. I prefer a wider handle and a nice flat area or slightly rounded to push against for heavy carving. No guard to get in the way. Holds an edge forever and bites into wood surprisingly well without even convexing the edge.

Actually of the knives listed, the most uncomfortable knife to me for heavy carving is the Allan Blade Bushcrafter, mainly because Allan made the handle a bit narrow. Still, it's quite a knife, just not my choice for long sessions in the carving shop. It does great in the woods though.

Here is a link to some carving I did with the Yari:

http://www4.gvsu.edu/triert/bpack/nh/noggin.htm

 

[bigjackbrass]

Well, there you go. Can't always judge by appearances!

 

[chad234]

I too was suprised by how well the Yari performs. It looks like a tactical knife, and performs as well as asny woodcraft knife.

Steve Dick has one with a Satin finish and wood scales, it really improves the appearence of the piece. I am thinking of diong that to mine.

 

[sargey]

check the, uh, tools of twenty people out in the woods and the odds are you'll find all sorts of choices, each one a favourite of the chap using it; and more power to them.

no accounting for taste eh? or lack of it!

was it gary who once posted "don't judge a man by his knife, but by what he can make with it"

cheers, and.

 

[Hoodoo]

was it gary who once posted "don't judge a man by his knife, but by what he can make with it"

cheers, and.

Now those are truly wise words!

 

[Gary]

Yep that was me.

And it still holds true today believe me I've seen students turn up with everything from bread knifes to goloks. All telling each other how wonderful their choice of blade is - which is great until you ask them to make feather sticks or carve a spoon. Even better ask someone with a machete to slice cheese or peel potatoes!

Point is in the field you need just one knife of moderate size (save the heavy chopping etc for your axe thats what its designed for) and if its a good one you will be able to do everything with it

Hoodoo, like most of the british blades guys, have nice collections but do they carry them all with them everywhere they go? Do any of them ever see the sun?

Which one is your most used knife Hoodoo?

 

[Hoodoo]

I spent 11 weeks camping and backpacking this past year and that doesn't count hiking, hunting, and fishing so yes, my knives see field use. All of the knives above have seen field use but the dozier, gerber, grohmann, and marttiini have seen the most simply because I've had them the longest. I have many more than those listed above and for hard use, I tend to go to my Frosts, helles, opinels and cold steel traditionals not to mention my benchmade folder that I carry edc. And then there are the SAKs which get used to death and my sebenza which I use at work for dissections... :-D Did I mention the Beckers? Or the Randal TAK or RTAK? Or the rest of my Doziers? And then there's my Pulse...

The knives I buy are for using. It's very rare that I buy a drawer queen. But when you have a bunch, no one particular blade usually gets overused.

If I had to pick one fixed blade that gets use the most, it's probably this one:

 

[Gary]

Sorry Hoodoo I have now got an image of you choosing the knife that best matches your outfit!

How do you manage to use so many different knives then?

 

[Hoodoo]

How do you manage to use so many different knives then?

I like to carve, get into the woods, hunt and fish, etc. Occasionally someone sends me a knife for testing and I write an article. I teach biology so lots of opportunities for cutting up critters in the lab. I spend as much of my summer as I can in the field doing research so there's plenty of opportunity there as well. I like to cook so more opportunity. Knives have been a passion with me ever since I was a kid growing up on a farm. We did a lot of butchering in the winter and those were actually very exciting times so I reckon I've been indelibly etched with the sound of the steel and the butcher knife. :-D

I like all kinds of knives, even big ones (but I'm a small knife person in general). :-D

But I find the occasional use for a big knife. :-D

 

[Neil1]

I use a knife every day, for 8-12 hours on average, for chopping, skinning, butchering, etc. I have used this same knife everyday for the last twenty-two years.
I'm a chef by trade and this wonderous knife I speak so highly of is the cheapeast knife I have ever purchased (£5.50).
For straight bushcraft the little Mora knives are on a similar level, they have that same utiltarian feel & quality, and above all will do the job and keep doing it for a long, long time.
Recently I have purchased a Lapp Puuko From Kellam, this too has the same "feel".
PS - If any of you that know about making knives could advise me on how to turn a rectangle of Chinese stainless steel into a half decent bushcraft knife, using only hand tools I would be very gratefull!!
Neil1