recommend me a starter all in one knife

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C_Claycomb

Moderator staff
Mod
Oct 6, 2003
7,353
2,364
Bedfordshire
Is there a thread, pictures?:) (Oh, found it)

You should get an OBE for the handle on that ATS34 one you made. Does the Proficient have the same one?

The Proficient has the same shape handle as the Bushcraft, it is a rounded out version of what I did on the ATS34 knife you have.

Think this is the one? I hope it works well for you and is still giving satisfaction. I still have my version of it and it was my go-to expedition/canoeing/camping knife for quite some time.
PICT4095 by Last Scratch, on Flickr

More recent stuff with a Proficient. All mine are stainless, all hidden tang. I am still developing the handle design, especially for smaller sizes.
IMG_1006 by Last Scratch, on Flickr
 

Billy-o

Native
Apr 19, 2018
1,981
975
Canada
That looks like it . I haven't got it now, no. I used it for a while and enjoyed it no end, but so many people were interested in it, eventually I folded and I sold it to a knife maker. Can't remember the name, though. As it was via BB, I can't check now.

That handle: it was strange ... it didn't matter which way I held it, it fitted my hand perfectly ... forwards, backwards, upsidedown, choked, whatever .. I had the sense that if I stuck it in my ear it would fit just right and do exactly what I asked of it :)

If you still make pieces .. which I didn't realize you still did ... I'd be keenly interested in replacing that one.
 

C_Claycomb

Moderator staff
Mod
Oct 6, 2003
7,353
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Bedfordshire
I think that handle design is a very important factor in bushcraft knives and it is an area that long suffered on US made outdoor knives. Ergonomics has really improved in the last few years.

If you are going to cut meat or prep food, a knife handle that indexes well with flatter sides and allows you to comfortably and securely hold in a pinch grip works very well. The corners of the handle slabs do not need to be rounded all that much because you do not need to grip the knife too hard, or for too long in one position.

Carving wood though puts a lot more demands on a handle to be comfortable in the hand. The handle must be broad enough, deep enough and rounded enough that it can comfortably spread load and fill the hand without corners digging in, or the hand becoming fatigued from gripping tight. The Mora and many of the Scandinavian knives (Swedish and Finnish more than Norwegian in my experience) pull this off very well. Knives that use Micarta slabs often don't have good handle shaping, although with the increase in use of CNC milling this is changing. The problem is that the material is hard (much harder than wood and slower to shape in the ways the birch used in Helle and various Kellam knives is shaped), and comes in a standard 3/8" thickness, which is a little too thick to be good as-is at the front of a handle, and is just a little thin for optimum thickness at the middle of the palm swell.
 
The Proficient has the same shape handle as the Bushcraft, it is a rounded out version of what I did on the ATS34 knife you have.

Think this is the one? I hope it works well for you and is still giving satisfaction. I still have my version of it and it was my go-to expedition/canoeing/camping knife for quite some time.
PICT4095 by Last Scratch, on Flickr

More recent stuff with a Proficient. All mine are stainless, all hidden tang. I am still developing the handle design, especially for smaller sizes.
IMG_1006 by Last Scratch, on Flickr
 

Robson Valley

Full Member
Nov 24, 2014
9,959
2,664
McBride, BC
Use the Kestrel Constant to determine the correct handle size. Not exactly USA commercial mass production, either.
That reduces muscle fatigue in Pacific Northwest native style wood carving crooked knives
which you may be expected to use all day long.
 

C_Claycomb

Moderator staff
Mod
Oct 6, 2003
7,353
2,364
Bedfordshire
I love that 2nd from the top. Looks nice. What type of grind are these?
All flat grinds with secondary bevels, some of the secondary bevels are tending to be convex rather than a second V at the edge (the Spyderco, with the carbon fibre handle and orange dongle) has a flat with a V secondary bevel.
 

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