uses for a wharncliffe style blade

This is my absolute favorite EDC. I posted this on the "makers" forum a while ago. I have always found a wharncliffe to be a very functional knife and handle every task well except for skinning.
knives10-28002.jpg

I made this from 1/8" O-1 the blade is 3 1/2", 7 1/2" overall.
 
The warncliffe was originally used by sailors for rigging and sail work. The blade was designed To minimize potential slips onboard a ship from rolling seas.
 
The warncliffe was originally used by sailors for rigging and sail work. The blade was designed To minimize potential slips onboard a ship from rolling seas. it was a good all-around utility knife, since sailors had very little room for many possessionso into them tight confines of a ship. The warncliffe covered a multitude of tasks and was easy to maintain. The point on them worked great for whittling and scrimshaw work. Many a sailor passed the down time carving.
 
My most used fixed blade, garden, proccessing veggies for freezing/canning making traps for nusiance animals getting in to garden cutting bait, proccessing small game etc started life as an old hickory 8" slicing knife ended up in this configuration because I was bored and have a dremel :D
Roy
P8110034.jpg
 
Well, from your earlier post showing one heck of an ambitious garden ... this knife gets quite a workout BTW ... wouldn't mind seeing some 'after' pic of that garden. :)
 
Zombie threads are often opened by new members who just want to post. Welcome Knifemadman! The large wharncliffe is one of my favorite blade shapes for everything other than field chores associated with hunting. Many pocket knives have small wharncliffe styled blades as secondary blades. My Dozier Personal fixed with wharncliffe is becoming one of my favorite general carry knives even in the woods.
 
taldesta said:
Well, from your earlier post showing one heck of an ambitious garden ... this knife gets quite a workout BTW ... wouldn't mind seeing some 'after' pic of that garden. :)
Click to expand...

Okra , a few sweet potatoes and the tomatoes are all that is left growing . there are 40+ bags of beans in the freezer plus some zuchini. pickles and tomatoes canned and we have ate good all summer
 
Knifemadman said:
The warncliffe was originally used by sailors for rigging and sail work. The blade was designed To minimize potential slips onboard a ship from rolling seas.
Click to expand...
The captains on Royal Navy ships outlawed knives with point's to prevent sailors from stabbing each other. might have somthing to do with daily Rum ration on RN Sailing ships. knife point were normally snapped off knives as crew came abord.
 
Last edited:
mikeymoto said:
What I really wonder is why slip-joints more often have a clip-point primary blade than a wharncliffe.
Click to expand...

Like this?

gec57.jpg


And this is a slightly modified wharncliffe that I have found useful for all sorts of things:

x9ve.jpg
 
To each their own, but to me a wharncliffe is primarily a carpet-cutting blade. It does what it does well, but I find it one of the least generally-useful blade shapes and is probably the last shape I'd pick for survival purposes.
 
billygoat78 said:
To each their own, but to me a wharncliffe is primarily a carpet-cutting blade. It does what it does well, but I find it one of the least generally-useful blade shapes and is probably the last shape I'd pick for survival purposes.
Click to expand...

They'll do a lot more than cut carpet, but how one defines "useful" depends on needs. I don't think anyone is talking about their choice for a one-and-only "survival knife" here.
 
I like the style of this blade. Wharncliffe is good for opening packaged food, slicing rope, cutting thru cardboard and so on. What do u guys think of the Benchmade Azeria?
 
Great safety blade. This year I bought a Spyderco Enuf warny for mounting on my PFD (lifejacket). The lack of sharp tip makes it safer for slipping blade under line and cutting when you find yourself entangled, a possible hazard in the water. But over our two week trip, I found the lack of point not something that I missed. I keep a more traditional bushcrafter in our gear packed but I found myself satisfied in most cases with the Enuf that was mounted right there on my chest. A warny plus serrations = amazing safety/utility cutter. Spyderco hit a homerun with this one!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top