Knife design ??

[rapidboy]

Bushcraft knives have been refined down to a pretty specific spec.
The dimensions are all pretty much the same ,scandi grind rules supreme and they all look "bushcrafty" but where do bushcraft knives go from here.
Can they be improved ??

Sometimes when using a fixed blade to strike a firesteel the blade can slide off unexpectedly ,usually when your tired .
I have had a few near misses myself so i had been thinking along the lines of adding a little notch on the spine to act as a guide.
At the same time i was playing with my SAK and using the bottle opener as a striker for a firesteel.
The bottle opener throws great sparks and doesn't slip off the blade so why not incorporate one one a knife ?
Now you have a knife ,a bottle opener and a guide for your firesteel.

Adding it close to the handle is better for fire lighting but prevents applying thumb pressure when cutting so towards the tip (as with a gut hook) should be better.

What do you think ?
Good idea ,bad idea ,would you be concerned about weakening the blade ?

The natural progression from this is to add other features such as a saw back or a shackle key.
What about a spanner ,(is there a standard size that might be usefull for servicing MSR stoves or for adjusting climbing gear ???)

I tried a Glock model 81 field knife (saw blade and bottle opener) and it was rubbish but that knife was designed as a fighter and not a bushcraft knife.

Your thoughts please....

 

[C_Claycomb]

If the sole reason for modifying the knife is to make a better striker for a fire steel, why not get one of those designed for the purpose strikers and tie it to the fire steel itself? A couple inches of hacksaw blade or something?

Personally I think that knives are better left simple. Trying to make a knife do loads of other things has, historically, nearly always made if less effective as a knife.

I don't generally carry bottles that need openers, and have a SAK for that anyway. I usually carry my fire steel in my tinder pouch, along with a striker. A knife which has been weakened, and had its clean lines altered to make it a better ferrocerium striker sounds more of a solution in search of a problem to me:?:

 

[ChrisKavanaugh]

Oh Oh! shades of the Bradley Fighting Vehicle committee that turned a simple updated troop carrier into a compromise that carries half the original capacity spec'ed out at 5 times the cost ): The KISS principle applies here. Any cuts in a blade's spine will weaken it, including guthooks and sawbacks. Now you could ADD material to solve your problems. A rising thumb platform with ridges makes for better control. Extend it even further and you have a striking platform for batonning. It's O.K. Rapidboy, keep thinking. It's said "give a brit a piece of metal and he'll do something silly with it." Maybe so, but i'd love a silly Aston Martin DB5 with a cased Rigby in the boot :You_Rock_

 

[rapidboy]

If the sole reason for modifying the knife is to make a better striker for a fire steel, why not get one of those designed for the purpose strikers and tie it to the fire steel itself? A couple inches of hacksaw blade or something?

No ,im not trying to modify for a specific purpose ,im just thinking if there is a "better" bushcraft knife out there just waiting to be designed.


I do agree that previous attempts at making a multi tool type fixed blade have been unsuccessful ,the Glock is a shining example.

 

[Hoodoo]

Well... ...I'm never thrilled about cutting into the spine of a knife. Those notches are deep enough that they look like they weaken the blade pretty good. My choice for enhancing the scraping ability of a knife--though mainly for hide and wood--was to go with an exposed tang, as in this knife Roger Linger made for me.

If you wanted, you could have a slight exposed tang with a notch in it for scraping a firesteel. Personally, a square spine works good for me but I also generally prefer to carry a piece of hacksaw blade.

 

[rapidboy]

How thick is the tang on that one Hoodoo ?
Can you hammer with it ?

 

[Hoodoo]

rapidboy, the specs are here.

 

[Pict]

I've considered the notch idea for sparking with a steel as well. I thought of it as a simple semi-circle. I think it would concentrate the sparks as well if you did it right. Sparks would bounce up and hit the inside of the semi-circle reflecting inwards again. It wouldn't have to be deep either, just enough to conform to the ferro rod better.

I'd love to find a 4 inch sawback blade that works well with bamboo. No luck so far. Mac

 

[rlinger]

Wow Terry, your photo looks so real I could almost reach into the screen and grab it. (wish I could )

I'm with Pict on the dished out portion. If you must have a delimiter to help the firesteel keep place, a shallow disk out just forward of the scale face would work well. In such a case the remaining spine to point could be slightly rounded to help eleviate stress risers along that length. The shallow dishing might also provide a good thumb rest for choking up on the blade for that extra fine cutting work. As Terry suggests though, the dish should not be deep enough to compromise strength. On the WSK I make, only by virtue of design, I will leave the dish with sharp edges if the owner wishes to use a firesteel with the knife. If not I will round the spine at the dish.

RL

 

[Moine]

Bushcraft knives have been refined down to a pretty specific spec.
The dimensions are all pretty much the same ,scandi grind rules supreme and they all look "bushcrafty" but where do bushcraft knives go from here.
Can they be improved ??

I think so... but it all depends on the USE of the knife.

What you designed there is a knife ver well specialized for light use and opening bottles/scraping firesteels

The more you specialize, the better a knife can work for some task, and the less it will perform on others. That's why many people carry 2-3 blades. I like to carry either a chopper and a small knife (typically a small hawk and a F1 or a Mora), or a chopper, a large, versatile field blade and light cutter (typically the same hawk, a Swamp Rat Camp Tramp and a Mora).

I like the scandi grind, but I prefer a Moran grind, like on the Fallkniven F1, as it's tough and it still cuts well.

It all boils down to two questions : what will you mostly do with your bushcraft blade, and what other tasks do you still want to be able to do, without too much compromise?

Cheers,

David

 

[Hoodoo]

I agree with Roger on the small crescent. That would be pretty benign and also give you a bit of purchase for a thumb. I know guys who have used a dremel tool to make that very mod.

But I also agree with Moine. If I want a multitool, I carry a SAK or Leatherman.

To be honest, I think the one-knife-scenario is always a fascinating topic but for the average knife novice, they would most likely have a department store hunting knife with them and for the knife lover, they would almost certainly have two or more knives on them in most situations. I like a little versatility in my knife but no knife does it all and some of the ones that seem to have everything but the kitchen sink, are likely to be left at home because they are not very good for the task you mainly intend to use them for and they often are heavy. For instance, I don't know about anyone else but the liklihood that I will take my Dartmoor survival knife grouse hunting or even deer hunting is slim to none. And if I'm going backpacking for a week, I would have to buy a mule to carry the thing. :rolmao: And the new version doesn't even have the bottle opener. :rolmao:

 

[Wildpacker]

I usually have two knives with me. One could qualify as the "department store hunting knife" but I prefer it to carrying an axe. It's a big horn handled Bowie which has gone everwhere with me for the last thirty years. It can do everything from peeling potatoes to chopping down serious sized trees. Yes it weighs in at 2.25 pounds but if I had to choose just one piece of kit to go to ground with, that would be the one. My other knife is a 4.5" bladed Muela which is usually carried more accessibly since it's less obtrusive.

As a matter of comment, I can't abide knives with no guard to stop your hand slicing down the blade. And no matter how good or careful you are with knife handling, that risk will arise sometime.

 

[Pict]

I agree with Wildpacker about guards on knives. In a survival situation you just can't afford to slice up your right hand. I know that they can get in the way of some wood carving cuts but I'd take that hassle over a lacerated, infected finger. Mac