1/8 vs 5/32

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Evany

Joined
May 7, 2007
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What are some of the pros and cons of 1/8" steel over 5/32? Is there a big difference? Does the 1/8 a make a better slicer in Andy's convex grind? I'm leaning towards 1/8 because of that--not sure what the trade off is.
 
I'll second what herpingmad said above. The difference, however, between the two isn't always that dramatic. I've got one of Andy's Bushcrafters in 5/32" thickness with a full-thickness tang and a convex edge and I can slice with it. As far as strength goes, the knife seems absolutely indestructible. If I had to rely on one knife in the wild, this would be it.

I also have a Bushfinger in 1/8" with a convex edge and a tapered tang. It is much lighter, but I don't think it is a weak knife by any means. I probably wouldn't baton wood with it, but not because I think it would break; I simply have other knives that I can use for that task. It is a better slicer than the thicker Bushcrafter. If the two were sitting right next to each other and I wanted to slice some meat or veggies, I would reach for the thinner Bushfinger; but I wouldn't hesitate to use the Bushcrafter if it were the only knife nearby.

Blade shape also plays a part. I have a Recluse in 5/32" and it is a great slicer. I use it for meal prep all the time and it works great. I also use it for fire prep when camping to baton larger pieces of wood into smaller pieces for kindling and to shave the curls for tinder. It's great for the former, not as good as one of Andy's Scandi edges for curls, but it still works. The Recluse is one of my favorite knives; sort of a "sleeper" in Andy's lineup.

Hope this helps!

ERG
 
eginder said:
I'll second what herpingmad said above. The difference, however, between the two isn't always that dramatic. I've got one of Andy's Bushcrafters in 5/32" thickness with a full-thickness tang and a convex edge and I can slice with it. As far as strength goes, the knife seems absolutely indestructible. If I had to rely on one knife in the wild, this would be it.

I also have a Bushfinger in 1/8" with a convex edge and a tapered tang. It is much lighter, but I don't think it is a weak knife by any means. I probably wouldn't baton wood with it, but not because I think it would break; I simply have other knives that I can use for that task. It is a better slicer than the thicker Bushcrafter. If the two were sitting right next to each other and I wanted to slice some meat or veggies, I would reach for the thinner Bushfinger; but I wouldn't hesitate to use the Bushcrafter if it were the only knife nearby.

Blade shape also plays a part. I have a Recluse in 5/32" and it is a great slicer. I use it for meal prep all the time and it works great. I also use it for fire prep when camping to baton larger pieces of wood into smaller pieces for kindling and to shave the curls for tinder. It's great for the former, not as good as one of Andy's Scandi edges for curls, but it still works. The Recluse is one of my favorite knives; sort of a "sleeper" in Andy's lineup.

Hope this helps!

ERG
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I don't think I could have said it better myself. If you are rough on your knives, get thicker knives. If you like the slicing ability more than brute strength, get thinner knives. This advice is not brand specific.
 
For what it's worth, I have noticed quite a difference in thickness of the handles with my 1/8" and 5/32" Bushfingers.
 
That is totaly by chance though. Hand carving the handles and having folks constantly request more thin handles and more thick handles at the same time makes for a LOT of variation.
 
Fiddleback said:
That is totaly by chance though. Hand carving the handles and having folks constantly request more thin handles and more thick handles at the same time makes for a LOT of variation.
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It would seem that making thicker thin handles would be the best solution!
 
In my experience with Andy's 1/8" and 5/32" stock with the convex grind, the only big difference has been the weight. Both thicknesses slice equally well for me. The 1/8" feels very light in hand and the 5/32" feels like a tank. I like both.
 
You're pushing 25% more steel through an object when using 5/32 v 1/8th. I already get enough resistance from work, home and hobbies to want more resistance when cutting something. I'm fairly rough on my tools and have never broken or severely damaged a quality 1/8th knife.
 
My full height ground Bushfinger slices much better than my sabre convex one even though both are 5/32". The sabre convex splits wood easier when making kindling.


So a 1/8" should normally slice better and (imho) be plenty strong, but the grind plays a big part as well.
 
Hey Evany - I started this quest a while back to try and determine the difference, pros/cons of the various knives thickness. The best advice I can give you is to try it for yourself and go with what feels more natural for the task. What I decided to do was to take all my knives and put them all to the same test: splitting wood, making fuzz sticks, making various wood notches and doing this with both green and dry wood.

I tried my Mora at 3/32", my ESSE3 at 1/8", ESSE4 at 3/16", FB Bushfinger at 1/8", BK2 at 1/4", ESSE 5 at 1/4" and my Wetterlings Axe. Yes you can do everything with all of them but some knives do some things better. The Mora excelled at fuzz sticks and more precision work, you can still split wood but only very thin branches and even then it's not recommended since it's not full tang. The 1/8" knives were just as good at the intricate work and could split wood easier but the Mora felt more natural when making fuzz sticks. The 3/16" felt better at splitting wood and light chopping, it can still make fuzz sticks but I felt the 1/8" and below were better suited for that task. The 1/4" knives were tough as nails; I beat the heck of them: splitting knotted oak, chopping, etc. Excellent for those tasks but not so much at fuzz sticks, notches, etc. I love my Wetterlings Axe and I always carry it with for splitting, chopping and the heavy duty tasks.

Now that I've had the chance to test everything a few times my current setup is my 1/8" Bushfinger, a Mora (as backup, usually in my backpack) and my Wetterlings Hunters Axe. This is what I feel most comfortable with for now but it may change down the road since I'm constantly exploring other options. This week I secured a 5/32" FBF Hunter and a 3/16" FBF Nessmuk and I plan to put them through the same abuse. I don't care for my 1/4" knives as much as I used to but I keep them in case my preference changes. I'm sure others will agree/disagree with my choices but all I'm saying is that this is what works best for me and feels most natural (today). I'm not saying this is the best setup or preaching for one knife vs another or one thickness vs another. Try them all and see for yourself, I hope this was helpful. :)

-Rob
 
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Well, I just purchased a 5/32, full height ground Bushfinger, from this Friday's post. I had not seen a BF with a full grind like that before--seems like a good choice since I couldn't decide which thickness to to go with... I do like a great slicer, even if it would be less of a chopper/splitter. Can't wait to give it a try. I have the 12" machete already, so that will be my first choice for splitting, chopping, etc. I'll use the new Bushfinger for dressing out deer, and general food prep and more delicate work, and occasionally splitting kindling starting fires etc. Finding a nice light axe is on my to do list.

Nice photo's Rob! If I could figure out how to post large photos I'd put some up myself, but I can seem to get that function to work.
 
Evany said:
Nice photo's Rob! If I could figure out how to post large photos I'd put some up myself, but I can seem to get that function to work.
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The Bushfinger is an excellent chice, you'll love it! Regarding posting pictures, I had the same problem and here's what I did. I noticed that other members that post pics do it from external sites. If you right-click the image and copy the URL you will see that a lot use photobucket.com. Just create an account with photobucket (it's free) post your pic there and then use the forum link that photobucket provides and simply paste it here.
 
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