Thick vs Thin handles

[Kels73]

The Pacific Salt (original) and the PM2 have good handle thickness for most of my cutting applications. They feel comfortable in the pocket, yet I am able to maintain adequate control during use.

If I need a more substantial handle for heavy cutting, I will usually reach for a fixed blade.

[Featherblade]

10mm (.40") - too thin for easy opening but more pocket friendly - Delica, UKPK.
11.5mm (.45") - easy opening, bulging pockets - Paramilitary, Manix LW.
I find both the thicker and the slimmer handles convenient to use if they have rounded edges.

3D scales, thicker in the camber mean-line (midline from the pivot to handle butt), would be more comfortable but they demand more pocket space.

Watu has perfect ergonomy :
- thin chamfered neutral (without finger groovs) handle;
- because of the compression lock (less resistance) the slim handle is not an obstacle for easy opening.

[kennethsime]

My Stretch 2 is my favorite EDC folder. It strikes the perfect balance between ease of carry and useful blade length, and the aftermarket micarta scales complement the refined ergonomics very, very well.

Second to that is probably the Shaman, mostly because I enjoy the Micarta. It's obviously a lot thicker & heavier, but the handle is just so **** comfortable.

Finally, the Military. Really, bigger than I need most days, but that is a **** of a blade in a very thin, lightweight package. I really admire that quality in this design.

I will say that I'm wearing jeans most days, and when I'm wearing shorts, especially made of lighter-weight material, I prefer an even lighter weight knife. The Para 3 LW is probably my favorite lightweight EDC.

I don't have the knives handy, so I'll have to come back and add the thicknesses.

[Wartstein]

Really somewhat two camps here, depending on what one values more

Camp 1: "When do I really need a thicker handle, there are just very few times when it even makes a somewhat noticeable difference in typical EDC tasks, not worth it to always carry an even just slightly bulkier knife in pocket"

Camp 2: "A thicker handle feels more comfortable in almost any task and I almost never notice that a knife is a bit thicker in pocket anyway"

Both totally valid.

I am a "camp 1 guy": My first two quality folders were a Delica and a BM Minigriptiian. Literally the first thing I preferred in the Delica was the flat, thinner handle and "flat carry", while the ergos for me were still better than on the (rounder, thicker) Minigrip.

Said it above already: I think this is one of the genius aspects of many Spyderco designs: Amazing ergos, sometimes due to a taller handle (think Stretch), but still that flat, thin, profile that makes them such a great carry.

[Evil D]

I think a lot of this discussion has to do with how hard people use their knives. There's just no getting around the fact that a thicker handle distributes the pressure of your cut through a wider section of your hand, and that's more comfortable. That's not my opinion, it's the same principal behind an edge being thicker or thinner, the handle is essentially trying to cut through your hand and the thinner it is the more you'll feel this effect. In casual use this may never make a difference to you but I like knowing that I can bear down on a knife and especially use it hard for extended periods with the most confort I can get.

And I'm sure some of you are thinking "but but but fixed blade" and yes you're correct, if you're working that hard a fixed blade is probably a better idea but you also know it's not always practical either. Believe me if I could get away with carrying a Bushcraft on my hip everyday I would. Fixed blades have handles this way for exactly the reason I'm talking about, but they also don't have to fit into your pocket (usually). I'm just looking for a happy middle ground. In the pants I wear I honestly can't tell the difference between a stainless Police and an Autonomy and the Autonomy is probably twice as thick as the Police. I'm more aware of overall weight than I am of thickness.

[Evil D]

I just remembered...I do recall a situation where the thickness of a handle did make itself known to me, maybe some of you dress like this...


When I was in a more business casual dress type of job I had to wear khakis a lot. Most of the time they were what I'd call "Dickies style pockets" where the pocket opening is slanted to the side seam vs the style of pocket you have on a pair of jeans. Well, I had a hard time finding khakis I liked and for a while I ended up wearing these Dockers that had more of a "jeans style" pocket opening, and during that time I also carried a Vallotton...and that knife is a BRICK. I do remember the pocket gap that a few of you have mentioned, so in this situation I totally get y'all's side of the debate. That was also a job where the hardest use I ever encountered was cutting up boxes, and even on the busiest day I could get away with cutting them up with the thinnest knife out there and it wouldn't have killed my hand.

This was the result of a combination of tighter fitting pants with a certain style of pocket opening which puts the knife more on the front of my hip than on the side, and it was a knife that is among the thickest I've ever had. The pants I wear at work now are your typical blue collar uniform pants much like Dickies and the knife carries more on the outside seam of my leg and they're loose enough that the thickness is irrelevant but also not so loose that the knife flops around when I walk.


Out of curiosity, who in this debate also carries a firearm IWB? What do you carry and how? I see more of an issue here than I do with my knife because...well I'm not pulling out my gun and firing 200 rounds a day everyday, it NEVER leaves my holster unless I'm at the range. This is what makes me feel like those of you who want paper thin knives must not use them very often or not very hard, if they never leave your pocket like my gun never leaves the holster then I guess it makes sense to prioritize how they carry vs how they feel in use.

[aicolainen]

This is what makes me feel like those of you who want paper thin knives must not use them very often or not very hard, if they never leave your pocket like my gun never leaves the holster then I guess it makes sense to prioritize how they carry vs how they feel in use.

That’s exactly it.
In an office job where I only occasionally have to do practical work (electrical and or mechanical) and the typical work wear is slim fitting jeans and shirt/t-shirt, the carry comfort wins over hard use comfort every day of the week.

Finding the perfect EDC knife is a constant evolution. For me it’s about striking the balance between very basic cutting needs, carry comfort, strict legal framework and concealment. The Manbug Salt showed me that it was possible to carry clipless, and while I really like the MBS, I seem to prefer a clipless DF2 even more. Depending on my pants and how the pockets are designed I carry in watch pocket or back pocket. The knife disappears in either case, both to me and anyone around.

That said, Sal’s question is not a simple one to answer. Work carry only account for about 1/4 my time and about 1/3 of my awake time.
Working on my own projects around the house and elsewhere certainly tilts more toward blue collar work. And my hobbies such as hunting, hiking, backpacking and just about anything outdoor, generally benefits from more substantial knives than I typically EDC.

Like other have pointed out, the reductionistic approach of looking at handle thickness alone is probably deceiving. At least the ratio between width and height matters to some degree, it it could be even more complicated than that. We like what we like, and the reasons why aren’t always easily rationalized.

[Cl1ff]

This thread is older than me lol

I think for a knife to carry well every day, it has to be either thin or short, or varying degrees of both. My old Endura works just fine, but I’ll say that I’ve noticed myself to be rather “open handed” (like open minded, but with your hands). I can adjust pretty easily to different thicknesses so that I find handles like the Bushcraft/Proficient comfortable as well as ones like the thinner Gayle Bradleys.

And I think those examples sum up my thoughts. For everyday carry, a handle that is thin and light but still a little contoured. While something like Chris Claycomb’s or Thomas Zoomer’s is more specialized.

Hopefully there’ll be more discussion of ergonomics, because I enjoy this just as much as I do steels and blade features.

I suppose I should clarify that my answer above was primarily referencing fixed blades because that was what I had in mind.

When it comes to folders, I really don’t generally care about thickness in regards to carry (ergonomics is obviously the hugely important factor). Weight or concealment is a bigger issue when I’m moving around a lot or in public, respectively.

I’m the kind of person who spontaneously climbs a tree or chases after a snake and a big bulky knife can be genuinely dangerous if it falls out of my pocket, impedes my motion, or jabs and bruises my body. Though my idea of a big bulky folder might be different than others.
A Shaman doesn’t count. The Subvert or Vallatton would.

Occasionally I could see myself carrying two knives, one thick/heavy and one thin/light, but I haven’t done that yet.

[JonLeBlanc]

Yeah to me I guess it depends (like others have pointed out), but sometimes I'm not sure if it matters all that much. Closed length and weight might be just as important. That said, my Goddard OD Sprint is not a small knife, but it feels like it just disappears in my pocket.