I agree, in small fixed-blades, I find that any issue in utility almost always stems from a lack of solid purchase rather than blade length. For me, it is important that I am able to really bear down on a knife to cut through dense or fibrous material without sacrificing precision, and that usually means having solid contact between the handle's grip area and my extended thumb and at least my first two fingers, to keep the knife from twisting in hand (think modified sabre grip or a variation of Janich's "Filipino grip").
For me, this isn't just a matter of handle length, but also of handle "height". A thumb ramp can help in this regard—a great example of this in a folding knife is the Dragonfly 2, which feels much bigger in hand than it looks.
Of course if I'm carrying a small fixed-blade in pocket, it's for use mostly as a utility/convenience cutter, not as a scaled-down bushcraft tool or camp knife, so a blade length upwards of, say, 2 or 2 & 1/8th inches is sufficient. Absolute handle length is trickier to estimate, since some of my favourite efficient small knife designs (like the aforementioned Dragonfly) blur the line between blade and handle somewhat, but I think an overall length (blade + handle) upwards of 5 & a quarter inches would serve for small, medium, and large hand sizes.
Yeah, LC200N is a really great choice of steel for the new Swick. I like how CTS-BD1N has held up in my Ronin 2 & if I understand the chemistry correctly (and if my experience with the Waterway is anything to go by), LC200N will offer similar edge retention while being significantly tougher and of course, be exponentially more corrosion resistant.vivi wrote: You'll love the Swick. It sits right between the Street Beat and Ark in terms of size, but handles a lot closer to the SB than Ark. Nice palm filling grip for how compact it is.
Still wild to me we're getting these in LC200N with scales and sheath. If you let me pick any model and any steel for a sprint this combo would be in my top three.
