Balance

[bgoode315]

I just ordered two new knives from Knife Center- a Pacific Salt, and a Pakkawood Hap40 Endura. They came today and I wasn't sure which one I was more excited about. The pacific salt I got for work, for when I have to do landscaping stuff. The fact that someone on here described it as a 'chainsaw of a knife' (along with all the other positive things that people say about their beloved pac salts) made me think I was just gonna love it for that work. And the Pakkawood endura I just had to have, because the endura is what I carry 90% of the time now, and because wood and hap40. I'd wanted this version of the endura since I first saw it, but I had dragged my feet a little bit because, influenced by online knife reviews, I was slightly put off by the weight.

When I unboxed them today I was immediately struck by how much heavier and more robust the saber ground salt's blade was. I'm fairly new to the party, and I've never handled a saber ground spyderco. My first endura was FFG. And one of the things I love most about it is the relatively thin, long, slicey, practical blade. It does everything well. From cutting kinda delicate curving arcs, to sawing through rope, to making peanutbutter and jelly sandwiches. The clunky blade of the pacific salt seemed to take away a lot of what I enjoyed about the endura. I also noticed that the handle of the pakkawood endura, w it's steel backspacer, was indeed heavier that the frn version that I'm used to. This was not unpleasant though. It made the blade seem lighter and more maneuverable. And without meaning to I set up the perfect example of how balance effects the feel of a knife.

The pacific salt, with its heavier than FFG blade, and lighter, linerless handles (a feature I had been excited about) felt so front heavy and awkward, compared to what I was used to. And the pakkawood endura, with its pleasant heft in my grip and thin FFG blade felt like wielding a lightsaber. Basically the same pattern, but with totally different balance points and polar opposite feels. And even though lighter is supposed to always be better, I prefer the heavier knife by far. I prefer the pakkawood endura's feel even over my trusty frn version, which rests almost dead center between the two, in terms of balance.
Im very pleasantly surprised.

So there it is. A stumbled upon lesson in knife design. One that I'm sure many of you already knew. But in today's world of 'lighter is better', I certainly never realized. A little weight is good, as long as it's in the back. Reminds me of that Spinal Tap song... :)


PS- I tried to add a comparison picture, but it just keeps saying the file is too large. Any advice? It's just a cell phone camera pic. Not sure how to shrink that as a file.

PPS- If you have a pakkawood endura or delica, try sanding all the corners smooth. It makes for a nicer feel in the hand, looks nicer (imo) and you don't even have to refinish it. The wood is impregnated w so much resin it's 'finished' all the way through. Just use some 220 grit on it. Looks great.

[TriggerThumb]

I had the same problem with the picture size (I'm new lol). Your phone should have a resizing option, and mine even let's me save in a lower quality after resizing. I didn't know how small it needed to be, but 50% worked. Also maybe see if you have the option of lowering the resolution before taking the picture? Can't wait to see your pics!

[SG89]

I use imgur for posting photos here. as for the pakkawood exclusives they are so nice. I had the delica and loved it. I hope they use pakkawood for future knives

[Eee]

I actually like the balance of the Pacific Salt because it balances on my front finger, like my favourite small and mid sized fixed blades. Agreed though, balance does make a surprising difference. My Atlantic Salt is actually blade heavy and doesn’t feel a comfortable as the Pacific.

[holeshot]

PS- I tried to add a comparison picture, but it just keeps saying the file is too large. Any advice? It's just a cell phone camera pic. Not sure how to shrink that as a file.
I had the same problem. My son told me to get a photo compression app and viola, no more problems. :)