Bear Paw vs. Kephart

[Tim the Wizard]

Which do you prefer and why?

It occurs to me the profile is similar, although the bear paw seems slightly longer, has a more defined integral guard, and a nice round palm swell.

Any pictures or comments from your experience in use would be appreciated.

 

[VANCE]

Which do you prefer and why?

It occurs to me the profile is similar, although the bear paw seems slightly longer, has a more defined integral guard, and a nice round palm swell.

Any pictures or comments from your experience in use would be appreciated.

based on my experience in handling them both often....
to me it seems like the Bear Paw is a larger version of the Kephart
i cant recall the story behind it

 

[thurin]

Here are a couple of threads with pics and some analysis:

Big Paw AKA Bear Paw Bushcrafter size comparison and mini review

Bear Cub Comparison Pics

A couple of pics and some stats from those threads:

With the Bear Cub:

	Bear Paw	Kephart	Bear Cub
Blade Length tip to plunge	3.95	3.65	3.30
Handle Length along top	4.90	4.70	4.30
A	1.321	1.144	1.028
B	1.020	0.929	0.935
C	1.211	1.044	1.045
D	1.091	0.928	0.969
E	1.106	1.057	1.024

 

[ncrockclimb]

I personally prefer the Bear Paw. Although bigger than the Kephart, I feel that it is nearly as nimble. I also prefer the larger handle on the Bear Paw. I think that it is one of the seriously underrated profiles in the Fiddleback lineup.

 

[Scotcha]

Don't have a Bear Paw & might rectify that issue shortly but I love the Kephart.

 

[dogbone11]

I recently acquired a Bear Paw and I love it. The Bear Paw looks slightly bigger than the Kephart but it feels substantially bigger in the hand. In all the old Fiddleback Friday threads they used to list the Bear Paw with the "big knives". I agree it is an underrated blade.