Best shape for the "one knife does it all" blade????

Marion David Poff

Marion David Poff

Joined
Oct 8, 1998
Messages
5,403
Good Day,

I know this has been discussed, but please bear with me and provide your opinion.

What do you consider the best shape for a "one knife does it all" blade????

There seems to be two main camps....

The Kukri/Bolo fans.

And the Bowie fans.

I have to say I thought Bolos were all that and a bag of chips, but I may be rethinking.

One time in an e-mail, a fellow Forum member told me that the Bowie was a good compromise for various media, it would not bind up in soft vegetation, but chop very well.

What do you all think, hard users especially.

The root post is at:
http://www.bladeforums.com/ubb/Forum32/HTML/002514.html
As well as links to this thread at other forums.....

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Marion David Poff aka Eye mdpoff@hotmail.com
Coeur D'Alene, ID
http://www.geocities.com/mdpoff

Allen Blade Custom Knives
http://www.geocities.com/mdpoff/allenblade.html

"We will either find a way, or make one." Hannibal, 210 B.C.
 
Where does the good old fashioned Machete fall into the equation? I still like my Collins Style Machete for serious and extended "bush whacking".

[This message has been edited by Barry L. Schuchart (edited 01-16-2000).]
 
My opinion is that there is no one knife that does it all. Try peeling potatoes with a machete (maybe you could but would blade shape really matter?). Perhaps 2 knives could do it all and with three, you could chop up the world.

Or maybe "all" needs to be better defined. For instance, in my typical hunting camp (northwoods style) one knife is usually all I ever need. My puukko has fit the bill for many years. For large cutting chores we split wood with an axe and clear shooting lanes with a folding saw.



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Hoodoo

No, I do not weep at the world--I am too busy sharpening my oyster knife.
Zora Neale Hurston

Oversharpen the blade, and the edge will soon blunt.
Lao Tsu
 
Looks like your talking about a larger knife here.

After trying lots of styles, I still come back to the straight, clip point version, (or modified clip point likte the "California clip") preferable without a swagged backside to it. Some bowies types or Ontario machettes are examples

Must admit, though, have not owned a kukri.

The bolo, while good for chopping, doesnt work well for me on general cutting tasks, particularly food preparation/butchering at a working table/platform.

A close second would be a drop point which has a little less utility but a stronger point. This too, in a straight blade shape.

I don't think the American style tanto point
does nearly as many things as well.
 
For cutting chores, I really like the spearpoint on my native. It's thin enough to handle cheese, short enough I can easily get a finger near the point and slit tape off packages, and generally fits my hand and the tasks I use it for quite well. It would be relatively useless for chopping though.

A good chopping knife, on the other hand, would be too thick to deal with a good cheddar, too long to easily control in opening packages, and probably a bit unwieldy to clean out the grime under my fingernails, but it would split kindling well, dispatch a carcass much more aptly, and defeat my enemies with more aplumb. Some of these things could also be done (and a few much better) with a good axe.

So what is the 'all' you wish to accomplich? Is this a blade to carry on your belt when you go to work (And do you work in a cubicle or a truck, in downtown Denver or backcountry Alaska?) or is this the all-purpose knife you want to take when you go hunt turkey (Or bear, or seal? does it need to cut snow for a snow-trench too?) Is this your skinning knife, or your fire-making knife?

Pick your all, and your environment, and then pick a blade. But a blade that can do everything, will do none of it well (Or so some saying goes...)

Stryver
 
I have carried a bolo for many years and I like it for my heavy work. I also carry a medium length blade and a folding blade knife. Just what I do...may not be the right choice for you.

------------------
Greg Davenport
http://www.ssurvival.com
Are You Ready For The Challenge?
Are You Ready To Learn The Art Of Wilderness Survival?

 
It's almost impossible to get one blade to
do it all....
If I were limited to one then it would be a
heavier blade 8" with a severe drop pt probably very close to a spear pt
The advantage with this point is to dig and
pry where as a clip pt would have a tendency
to bend or break

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http://www.imt.net/~goshawk
Don't walk in tradition just because it feels good!!!!!
Romans 10:9,10
Hebrews 4:12-16
Psalm 91

 
My personal favorite blade is probably the bowie or spearpoint. Either one will work well in most situations, with the edge going to the bowie for a purely defensive fighting blade. In either a blade of 10 or so inches makes a very effective tool which utilizes the lever principle very well in all cutting strokes. One thing I am not an advocate of is the sharpened prybar school of thought. I prefer a thinner blade , flat ground with a farily fine edge geometry for better cutting.

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Lee

LIfe is too important to be taken seriously. Oscar Wilde
 
Hi All,
Assuming nonurban (at least few people) and just ONE knife.....HI Khukuri. There are several, different styles and sizes that would fit, depending on the situation.
Dan
 
Look at what the indigenous peoples of your ecosystem have been doing for several centuries. Do the same. They've already done the thinking for you.

Jack
 
I did some years ago what Donovan suggested and looked what they used. Damnathing the laps use two quite often, a large and small one. Didnt get far there. Here in the taiga oldtimers apparently used a small knife (4" blade) and an ax or hatchet. So I mostly carry a 4" bladed puukko and a small ax winter time.

Sharp blades
 
Have to agree with Sharp Blades on this one. All the old timers I know in Northern Saskatchewn carry an axe and a small knife, 4" or less. Seems to work for them. In fact, my Grandfather only carried an old 2 bladed Barlow. It did everything he needed, and then some.

As for me, I prefer a drop point fixed blade with a 3.5" blade. Does it all and if it doesn't then a good whack with the axe does.

My 2 cents
 
Either, or both. There are plenty of makers combining the bolo's recurved blade with bowie like blade points. The Brend Knives come to mind.

Bowie, Bolo/kukri, or mix, the knives are always going to be a compromise. They will do somethings well and somethings less well, but most provided they are well put together will do well enough at enough task to help us survive.
 
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