Spyderco Forums

I understand the arguments made around blade length being defined by the task and and handle length being defined by what’s comfortable. In many Spyderco knives this means the blade is somewhat shorter than the handle. I have no problem with that outright.

However, I have small hands and so at least a portion of that handle length (that allows others a full grip) is wasted on me and just makes the knife less comfortable to carry (as my frame and pocket size is correspondingly small).

Folks commonly modify their blades, but has anyone bobbed a handle to reduce the blade:handle ratio closer to 50/50?

Search DigDug72 on this forum to see his handle mods

You have to be sure the handle still has enough length to enclose the blade into. For example you could shorten a Military handle a good bit and the blade tip would still be covered...you can't always do that.

It's impossible to have 50/50 blade/handle ratio with traditional pivot type folders. You have to at least take 2x the distance from pivot to front of handle and make the handle that much longer than the blade, typically around 1 inch.
The larger diameter of bearing surface around the pivot, the longer the handle has to be compared to blade length.

That's why I don't complain about handle/blade ratios. I like large stout beefy bearings and pivots, like most liner locks have (military series).

If you want a blade close to 50/50, I would just stick to blades without those finger choils that take up part of the blade.

My intent here had less to do with blade/handle ratio but more with eliminating a lot of extra or unnecessary handle length. The material removed doesn’t change the ergos, and allows for front flipping action.

spyderg wrote: ↑

Thu Aug 16, 2018 7:37 am

My intent here had less to do with blade/handle ratio but more with eliminating a lot of extra or unnecessary handle length. The material removed doesn’t change the ergos, and allows for front flipping action. 6DFC60D7-6D80-4B7D-9330-59E71153C82D.jpeg

Thank you all for the responses.

Spyderg: that’s my primary concern as well - reducing extra handle material. I’m not directly concerned about actually obtaining 50/50 blade:handle, so your mod is a good example of what I’d be going for.

Did you complete the mod yourself?

Germinalphrase wrote: ↑

Thu Aug 16, 2018 8:30 am

spyderg wrote: ↑

Thu Aug 16, 2018 7:37 am

My intent here had less to do with blade/handle ratio but more with eliminating a lot of extra or unnecessary handle length. The material removed doesn’t change the ergos, and allows for front flipping action. 6DFC60D7-6D80-4B7D-9330-59E71153C82D.jpeg

Thank you all for the responses.

Spyderg: that’s my primary concern as well - reducing extra handle material. I’m not directly concerned about actually obtaining 50/50 blade:handle, so your mod is a good example of what I’d be going for.

Did you complete the mod yourself?

Sorry for not responding sooner, my iPad tells me this site is insecure everytime I log in so I don’t very often. Yes I chopped the handle and made the scales, even the denim “micarta” is from my old jeans.