An evolution in utility

[not2sharp]

I was looking at some very popular 7" bladed knives and I couldn't help but imagine a clear evolutionary path. The recent knives are heavier, but Bill offers us a version that retains a thinner edge. I wonder what the guys would have said about that back during WWII.

n2s

knives shown (top to bottom): US MKII, Busse Team Gemini, Tops Operator, Siegle 7" camp knife.

 

[fishface5]

To be fair, the kabar was designed in WWII to be a hybrid fighter/utility knife, whereas Bill's design is targeted at utility but is not as stabby

 

[not2sharp]

I am not sure that it matters how "stabby" the blade is and it is debatable whether one is more or less than the others. The Mark II was an excellent knife; but, it suffered from two major deficiencies: 1) the leather handle was susceptible to rapid decay in tropical conditions and 2) the blade/tang transition was weak by today's standards. The other three knives correct for this.

n2s

 

[fishface5]

Well it definitely matters how stabby a blade is, if one of the primary purposes of the blade is to stab enemies in combat. But it would be interesting if you gave all 4 knives to a 3rd party and told them to stab each one into a thick phone book with equal force, and then compared the penetration results to see if there was a significant difference.