Is three inches enough?

T

thatsaknife

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Mar 27, 2015
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All right minds out of the gutter:)
I have been making a few knives in recent months and been thinking about blade length and handle style etc.
My edc folder is 3 inches and I have never needed anything longer for a general utility blade.
My only complaint has been ergo of the handle. So Ive been thinking about a three inch blade on the smallest full size handle I can get away with as my next fixed blade. Pocket sheath with maybe a scout carry option. Truth is my fixed blades seldom end up on a belt. This may end up looking a bit stupid but my biggest issue with small knives neck knives etc is not the blade its the handle.
 
They say its not the size, but how you use it !!!

My EDC has a 3 3/16" blade and works just fine. A 3" blade would suffice also....
 
I like about a 3" blade on folders. I prefer a tad longer blade for fixed blade knives unless the use is for small game.
 
On the one hand, a 3" blade is more than enough for about 95% of knife tasks and a good, ergonomic handle is always a huge positive.

On the other hand, I've never seen tremendous value in fixed blades that size, as there's little if anything I would do with them that I wouldn't do with a 3" folder and I find the folder much more convenient to carry.
 
A 3" to 3 1/4" cutting edge would be enough blade for me, folder or fixed. Handle should be 3 3/4 to 4" and OAL no more than 7" for a FB, or 4 3/4" closed for a folder. That's the range most of my daily carries fall into.
 
Insipid Moniker said:
On the one hand, a 3" blade is more than enough for about 95% of knife tasks and a good, ergonomic handle is always a huge positive.

On the other hand, I've never seen tremendous value in fixed blades that size, as there's little if anything I would do with them that I wouldn't do with a 3" folder and I find the folder much more convenient to carry.
Click to expand...

Other than for EDC purposes on the fixed blade, I also prefer to carry a folder. I have a few fixed blade knives with blades under 3", but I tend to gravitate to the 4-5" length for the most part. The handle length and ergos are very important and one of dominant deficiencies of the small fixed blades if using for much that a folder can't handle well. My usual small fixed blade is a Dozier Personal. I am not hard on my knives and I'm careful with the more expensive ones in terms of using. For example, I would NEVER loan an expensive ($200+) fixed blade to somebody.
 
I have rarely found myself in an "EDC" situation where an inch or even half an inch proved to be a critical shortcoming. It has been more a matter of blade shape and handle construction. To this day, my single most useful EDC knife has been a Kershaw One Ton. Its blade is fairly stout and has allowed for nearly effortless cuts through thick cables that longer, narrower blades struggled with on days when I carried them instead. I guess it's a matter of the cutting edge having a good amount of steel behind it; the thin overall profile makes it seem like a lot of knife but it vanishes in a jeans pocket.

If someone (one would think Kershaw or ZT) were to offer a knife with the same dimensions but maybe a more durable steel and slightly more aggressive G10 texture, I'd be thrilled. The same basic idea but in a fixed blade format would be nice too, but I don't see that happening.
 
For my fixed carry knives, I just love these Bushbabies. I've had a bunch of small fixed blades; many are sold now. However, three inches is a favorite length. Some were from G.L. Drew in the fixed blade section for knifemakers. Great knives. I've gifted a couple of those to grandkids.
The Bushbabies are harder to find now that the original company has split up into Battle Horse Knives and LT Wright companies, but the basic design is still there to be found.
Bushbaby: Around 1/8" thick, O1 steel, and scandi ground with a flat spot on top in front of the handle to use on your ferro rods. The overall length is 6 1/2" and it has a sharpened edge of 3 " . They all come with a leather sheath.



Showing you length, with ruler, and also favorite carry with D-ring on sheath.


 
My DDR is 5.5" measured from the pivot. It is sufficient.
 
With exception for kitchen use or fending off Chinese paratroopers in a Red Dawn fantasy, two or three inches is more than enough for an edc pocket knife. Most hard use cutting on construction sites and facotrys is done with a one inch blade of a Stanley or other brand utility knife about the same thickness of a box cutter blade.

Until Buck came out with the 110, most men carried the typical two bladed slip joint as a pocket knife. Case, Camillus, Schrade OLd Timers, were used by more working men than you could count. It's what I've used for most of my life. If I'm in the kitchen, then I have a chefs knife on hand. Woods bumming, I have a sheath knife on the belt. But around modern suburbia, a small slip joint seems to do most of what I honestly have to do. For the past week I've been down here in Texas after towing a U-Haul trailer full of my sister in laws stuff, helping her move back to her Texas roots. Unpacking, cutting open cardboard boxes of stuff, then breaking down said cardboard boxes, I've used a old Camillus peanut sized two blade jack. It's worked just fine.

Being a knife knut, can tend to make us over think and over estimate how much blade we really need on a daily basis.

Three inches is more than enough. Been away from home since JUne 11th, and this has done all my cutting with ease.
17567643822_fe5c0490be_c.jpg
 
Plenty, as long as you don't need deep penetration...

But in all seriousness, I prefer that size range for my edc fixed blades.
Check out the following models from JK Knives, among others, the Bluegill, Potawatomi, and Personal Utility.
they are built with users like yourself in mind.
http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/forumdisplay.php/830-JK-Handmade-Knives
If you would like any of them to land directly at a 3" blade, John can make it happen for you.
 
I had a look at the beautiful custom knives in the jk forum. I now see a design element that I had neglected when making my personal knives. The butt of the handle is rounded. I assume that's so if the handle is too short to fill your entire hand it still offers a solid grip?
 
Personally I tend to prefer the 3.5-3.75 range in folders; and find that same range most useful in fixed blades (though, despite that acknowledgement, I admit that I have an affinity for fixed blades in the 5-7 inch range). I find, for the most part, that 3-3.25" bladed folders are simply too small for comfortable use.
Interestingly (to me, at least), I've been using a traditional quite a bit over the past week. It's a sub 3 inch blade, with a small slim handle; and it's managed most of what I've needed to do. I still carry my regular knife, and I automatically reach for it when the task is tougher or will last longer - right tool for the job, and all that.
 
In a folder I have trouble going under 3.5" & 4" is perfect. For an EDC fixed blade 3" and under is fine.
 
I prefer mine to have a slight barreled shape grip with a notch for the forefinger. So there is a swell for the palm to offer a comfortable grip and a notch for indexing and added traction.

I will add photos of my JK Mini Canadian Belt knife, in an edit or later post. It has a 3-3 1/2 finger grip with a swell on the palm end and tapers thinner towards the pointer for a comfortable hold for push and pull cuts.

I would have liked a bit of an indentation for my index finger, but it was one of his monthly sale items, and I didn't think to ask him to put one on, plus, I can always add it myself with a wooden dowel and wet/dry sand paper.

Speaking of his monthly sales, he has one scheduled for the 26th iirc, with smaller knives being the majority of his 9(?) offerings.
 
We've talked a lot about fixed blade length, but in my folders I prefer a bit longer...like 3.3" to 3.5" or so. I don't know why. Probably because I prefer a closed grip length of 4.6"- 4.8" for my larger hand, and so the blades in such knives are longer also. All that being said, some of my favorite folders are things like the Sage 2 and the Caly 3. I love 'em but NEVER carry them...always a longer blade. The small Sebbie, at a mite less than 4", falls out of my hand, while the large Sebbie grip is really too large. Sooooo...
 
Another vote for 3"-3.25" blades here. I have never felt limited so far with a 3" blade. My favorite size based on blade and handle length is a 3.25" blade, which normally has a good size handle for my hand. Anything much over 3.5" blade just seems too much for what I normally do. I do have some 3.6-4" blades for outdoors and weekends, but 90% of the time the blade in my pocket is around 3".
 
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