NoahL
Well-Known Member
Hello, everyone!
As a bladesmith, I'm always curious as to what designs people like the most, and why, especially if they could only have one fixed-blade knife for everyday carry. Of course, I am well aware that no singular knife design is perfect for all situations and tasks, and I'm not talking about needing to use it as a machete in a jungle and a hatchet in a forest, but consider it a thought experiment. Maybe it's a production or custom knife that already exists. Maybe it's your dream knife that hasn't been made, yet.
As a follow-up to that, if your ideal knife exists, do you own and carry it? The reason I ask that is because I have found that, quite often, the things people say that they like the best don't end up being what they carry daily, even if they could. For example, I've heard from a ton of people who say that a 5"-7" clip point, like a Kabar combat knife, is their ideal, all-around knife if they could only pick one, and yet the majority of the the time, they seem to carry a shorter drop-point blade. I can't help but wonder why there is a disconnect between what people think they want and what they actually use.
For me, I would say my ideal design is a hybrid blade profile I came up with (as far as I know--I haven't seen it from anyone else) that is essentially a clipped Wharncliffe shape, around 3-4in long and 1/8in thick, full-tang, made from a simple high carbon steel, like 1095, and some sort of palm swell handle design, probably with a bit of a hook shape at the butt end, and either wenge (for looks) or micarta (for durability) handle scales. That said, I'm a bladesmith, and can make myself any blade I want. Is that what I carry? Well, almost, but when I made it, I stuck with a slight drop-point profile instead of the hybrid design I came up with, and frankly, I'm not even sure why. At some point I will make myself a new one with that blade profile, but for the last 7-8 years, this one has been working just fine.
As a bladesmith, I'm always curious as to what designs people like the most, and why, especially if they could only have one fixed-blade knife for everyday carry. Of course, I am well aware that no singular knife design is perfect for all situations and tasks, and I'm not talking about needing to use it as a machete in a jungle and a hatchet in a forest, but consider it a thought experiment. Maybe it's a production or custom knife that already exists. Maybe it's your dream knife that hasn't been made, yet.
As a follow-up to that, if your ideal knife exists, do you own and carry it? The reason I ask that is because I have found that, quite often, the things people say that they like the best don't end up being what they carry daily, even if they could. For example, I've heard from a ton of people who say that a 5"-7" clip point, like a Kabar combat knife, is their ideal, all-around knife if they could only pick one, and yet the majority of the the time, they seem to carry a shorter drop-point blade. I can't help but wonder why there is a disconnect between what people think they want and what they actually use.
For me, I would say my ideal design is a hybrid blade profile I came up with (as far as I know--I haven't seen it from anyone else) that is essentially a clipped Wharncliffe shape, around 3-4in long and 1/8in thick, full-tang, made from a simple high carbon steel, like 1095, and some sort of palm swell handle design, probably with a bit of a hook shape at the butt end, and either wenge (for looks) or micarta (for durability) handle scales. That said, I'm a bladesmith, and can make myself any blade I want. Is that what I carry? Well, almost, but when I made it, I stuck with a slight drop-point profile instead of the hybrid design I came up with, and frankly, I'm not even sure why. At some point I will make myself a new one with that blade profile, but for the last 7-8 years, this one has been working just fine.
