The more skill a user has, the more they can do with a knife of any size. This means both tackling big tasks with a small knife and tackling small/detailed tasks with a big one! Just look at what a skilled user is able to do with a machete, for instance. I do find that knives between 5-9" are in kind of a no-man's-land under most circumstances and either larger or smaller tend to provide greater advantages and greatly reduced tradeoffs for it.
for me it's mostly handle length - I started with a 3, then 6, then 4 (added TKC scales which helped, but not enough), then izzy, then izzy 2. tried a 5 - concluded it's not what I wanted in a larger knife. kept the 6 & izzy 2 - gave the original izzy to SWMBO, sold the 3 & 4 -- the handles were small enough they hurt to use. I'm curious about the 3 & 4 HM -- and would be ecstatic if someone came out with an extended handle for the izzy 2.
I have lost track of how many whitetails, feral porkers, and drum or white perch I have put in a cooler with this. Now when it's finish processing time I use an old CS Bushman, thin and fast. For kitchen work I have a CS Elk Skinner , Carbon V @ 1/16"...they were $10 with no sheath in a discount store then. Wish I had bought 20 of them!!
My custom BK11, gifted to me by @Creaky Bones , has been a go to for some time now. I have huge hands,and the extra length handle works out great for me: For sh*ts and giggles, my Frost mini: And my custom mini ulu:
This just in...feels great in the hand! Will be making a sheath this week, then putting it into daily rotation
also depends on what a person calls a small knife..... For me anything under a 7” blade is a small knife. 7” - 16” is a medium knife and any blade over 16” -30” is a large knife / short machete (Blade length, not overall length) Big knife less effort/time/physical exertion/caloric expenditure . Small knife more effort/time/physical exertion/caloric expenditure
The logic is only true for large tasks....which make up a small portion of my cutting tasks generally speaking. Bear in mind I'm not saying that one size knife is better than others....but this is based on my personal experience and also the experience of watch students struggle with tasks with an unnecessarily large knife....often handing them my CR2.5 to try and normally having a hard time getting it back. For me personally, a small knife covers 95% of my cutting chores...even if I'm dressing deer, I still prefer my CR2.5 due to the fact that a longer blade can, at times, be at risk to my support hand while doing gutting duties especially when working blind in a chest cavity.
Couldn’t wait to carry this one, so I made a sheath today. Did some quick whittling with it. Especially liked the ergonomics and Blade to knuckle distance.
BOOM! there is the thing right there - task size and % You said small cutting tasks make up 95% of your knife duties................hence your use of small blades. Whereas ......,.....large tasks make up 99% of my knife duties. Hence my use of cleavers, chopper knives , machetes and thick 1/4” to 5/16” thick knives (I pry fat wood out of rotting stumps and hammer with my large knives) I used to have a Candiru with g10 scales. Tried to like it. Used it mostly for cutting tape on boxes. Handle too small for comfort when cutting wood or similar. Had the Candiru had a full size handle I would use it more, a lot more
Totally off topic for this thread, but I got a new one I will be putting thru its paces. 2mm-3/32" thick...really thin and whippy. . Soon my Canuck comrade, soon.
all good. I find that i spend about 80% of my knife usage time Chopping/hacking/slashing. 15% slicing duties (mostly food prep and shavings), and 5% fine detail work (notches etc). I like where Shane is trying to go with this thread......I will admit I AM totally out of my element when forced to use a small knife . (i know that if i ever attended The Ranch, Jeff and Co would pin me to the ground, take away all my big knifes and hobble me with a 3/4" long, thin blade, just to spite me.... ) But i just enjoy my med to large blades too much, and my cutting duties (see above) just don't warrant a small knife. I have very limited experience butchering/processing game (no hunting license, no firearms license (do have LOTS of rifle time though) yet.) I tend to not dress game (when out with hunting friends) into the proper cuts, rather I simply hack large man sized steaks out. (GrayMan Knives Style - see his website). (90% of my hunting friends make sausages with their kills, so deli butcher style cuts are simply not needed) I DO have a tiny knife....that i use a lot. The Grumpy Lobster (WHERE THE HE** ARE YOU BUD?) made me a FULL sized handle, 1.5" blade knife many years ago. Its a lot of fun to use. but i like chopping and hacking.
Small knife and an ax. My Izula has unzippered a couple of moose. Need no more. I find a big knife unhandy inside the body cavity. Its my goto Old pic posted here before. Izula on left shoulder harness. Went through the big knife phase. I Use an old green river knife for butchering at home or camp Moose feed me I really need to start to take more pics but dont like to put living on pause to snap a pic. Like looking after tho..
Full tang D2 and micarta with a full flat grind and an acid wash finish. 90* spine and a great stock thickness for its size. Doesn’t get a whole lot better for the price!
I fall onto the spectrum of small-ish knife, meaning about 4" or less. Pretty much all I use now for the woods is my BK16 or Izula for finer work. EDC is my SAK or Izula.