Long Blade Folder Guys ... what you cutting?????

[cycleguy]

This may seem like a dumb question but I am wondering what all you millie/police guys are cutting where the long blade folders become helpful/preferred/needed???? :confused: :confused: :confused:

I EDC a Delica or UKPK or a Sage 5 and for my needs I don't recall a situation where I didn't have enough blade for what I was cutting. I can say the same for the Chaparral but I do prefer the comfort of a slightly larger handle. I'm also fine with a larger folder like the Rockjumper or Stretch 1. I actually prefer to carry these when I go hiking after dark in nearby open space where I have seen signs of homeless activity ... so possible self defense or visual deterrent. I've recently acquired an Endura and it still carries well clipped in my front pocket but I'm not finding any value in the added blade length. In fact, I tend to do a lot of tip work and find that the tip on a shorter blade is easier to control.

I can understand the larger handle may be more comfortable when applying considerable force, or a better fit when wearing a heavy glove, and I understand the added reach may come in helpful at times; but I'm thinking it must be specific job related activity where these knives have their place.

Care to share?

CG

[Wartstein]

Sure!

- Number one: Food prep. Might be on a hike, or when having a break during work time (I am a lot on the road then, by bike or car), or in the kitchen of folks I visit who only have dull knives... longer blades are a lot better for breadloafs, apples, ham... almost anything in food prep

- Stuff with larger diameter, like styrofoam, plastic tubes or canisters and the like

- Then there are the many advantages a longer blade has anyway, even when NOT cutting stuff that has a larger diameter:
+ Stays sharp longer;
+Will more likely have some really sharp sections left after a lot of cutting
+ Has more reach (nice to have in several situations, like cutting or puncturing something harder to reach or to have more clearance for the hand when cutting on a board)
+ Makes MOST cuts more convenient: Just ONE single cut, no back and force like with a smaller blade; In things like cardboard more a drawing motion than to having a short blade press downwards

- For some (not for me though) self defense might be a reason for longer blades.

Anyway: A longer blade in my use is often superior over a shorter one, but never inferior (If I really need a "short blade" (I rarely do though) I can just pinch grip my long blade. But I can NEVER make a short blade longer).
A universal, really versatile EDC folder for me just has to have a longer blade.

[yablanowitz]

Have you ever done drywall repair? As in repairing holes in walls where tenants have punched or thrown things, or rammed furniture into walls hard enough to break the sheetrock? Making a good repair means scraping (or in my case, filleting) the old paint and texture around the repair down to the paper. A longer blade keeps me from wearing the skin off my knuckles.

[VooDooChild]

Food prep is better with a big blade.

Any knife can be used for self defense but I do like having a folding pocket sword just in case.

Its funny, the other day I needed to make a cut and my poice 4 was a terrible choice. I ended up using my manbug salt and it was the perfect knife for the job.
But I cant filet a fish with a less than 2 inch blade.

So... all sizes good, all sizes necessary, good excuse for many knives. :)

[ladybug93]

i also agree with food prep. i have small kids and we often get food for them to share, which means i sometimes have to cut things up for them. you don't want to try and cut a slice of pizza or a burger in half with a dragonfly. you'll get food all stuck in the pivot. pull out a resilience though, and you are golden. just wipe down the blade, put it away, and wash it later if necessary.

[Woodpuppy]

Trees and car doors!!

Seriously, I like the longer blades for yard work, camping/woods bumming and food prep. There’s not a lot I need to cut that requires a blade longer than 2.5-3”, but over time I’ve decided largely that I don’t want to mess around with small handles. I’d rather have a big handle even on a 2.5” blade. The Millie’s handle rocks, with or without gloves. The Delica is just too small. As is the Para 3 now I keep the Urban as my workplace friendly knife, the large rounded butt of the handle nestles into my palm and the knife is well supported, even for piercing/ push cuts. It’s a good design. But for most any other use I want a full handle, and if the knife has a choil, I want a full grip behind the choil. Hence the new/coming cliff jumper is attractive: no choil and a hand filling grip. Looking forward to that in SE!

I like to pair a big strong knife with something that offers more precision; often a small PE knife like the Urban or Ladybug, and a workhorse like an SE Salt series or Military or Shaman or PM2. A SE Pac Salt, Endura, or the coming Cliff Jumper would fill this secondary role well too.

The para3 I’m afraid has become a bit of a tweener for me. I think it is a fantastic workhorse where laws limit blade length but otherwise I’ll be grabbing a bigger knife.

[Burton Knut]

Two inch red rubber hose is the first thing that comes to mind. It can be done with a smaller knife, but with more blade I don’t have to twist the hose as I cut.

[VashHash]

Bigger handles fit my hands better and I prefer more blade than less.

[Evil D]

Just like carrying a gun, it's better to have it and not need it than to need it and not have it.


You already mentioned self defense. Just yesterday I was charged by a pitt bull at work. I stood my ground and he stopped just a few feet from me and we had a little stand off for a moment before the owner got to him. It would break my heart to hurt someone's dog but I'm not getting mauled either so that's a very real concern. I also work in the worst parts of town where violent crime is common, you just never know. If it came down to using my knife to defend my life, I would sure rather have a Military than a Chaparral.


More edge length means more edge retention whether it's 420J2 or Rex 121. Being able to distribute wear over a larger edge means you can use the knife longer.

More edge means more serrations. This goes hand in hand with the previous point, because serrations effectively increase the actual length of cutting edge.

Slicing action is just better all around, again especially with serrations. Having more blade to draw across material usually means cutting it in one motion vs sometimes more than one with smaller blades.

Longer edges reduce the chance that material can slip off my blade mid cut.

I have big hands, so I tend to like handles that fit my hand, and with that usually comes bigger blades. While I do love my Dragonfly, I just can't use it anywhere near as hard as I can a Military because there's less to hold onto and it cramps my hand.

Food prep is always better with larger blades. Again, not something I do everyday but if I ever need to cut a sandwich in half I'd rather not smash my way through with a 2.5 inch blade. Actually, I was at a birthday party in a park once and nobody brought anything to cut the cake with and all I had at the time was a Caly 3....it didn't go well....pivot full of icing.

Reach advantage. I kinda wish there was a Worker XL.

[MFlovejp]

Knives with larger blades tend to have larger handles, which are more comfortable for me specifically for repetitive, extended chores like rigging shrimp pots, boating lines, etc. Related to those sorts of marine tasks is the cutting of line: anything over 1/4" line is easier to cut with some length and some belly. I also process a lot of salmon, and gilling/gutting/finning tasks are easier with a 3.5-5" blade with some weight to it whether it be fixed or folding.

It's also easier to get shavings and split small wood with a longer blade , and sometimes I just bring a light saw and a large folder on say a two night backpacking trip, no axe or heavy duty fixed blade.

Food prep, as many have said. My Native 5 is a great knife, but it won't slice an onion, quarter an apple, or reach in to a peanut butter jar as well as my Police 4 LW.

I thought it was a good point that a longer blade will stay sharp longer or have sharper sections for a longer period during repetitive cutting. That's certainly true when you're making 50 cuts through 1/2" buoy line.

Smaller knives are good for many things as well. It just depends on your environment and the tasks you'll be performing. I've got both, carry both, and love them all.

Edit: I generally carry a sturdy 4" fixed blade and a long, thin folder for hunting. The folder makes some of the initial, precise cuts much more easily than the thicker fixed. Especially the piercing and separating cuts around the rear end.

[kobold]

Gardening - grasses, cane, cattail, weeds, vines, saplings, anything and everything. The bigger the blade the more life it has, before it goes dull and the amount of material that can be cut at one time is larger. This results in faster, more efficient work. Harvesting of all kind. carving poles, stakes, cutting twine and sheet materials.

Because carrying a jack of all trades tool - a knife - is more doable than carrying shears, a sickle and other specialized tools.

Husbandry.
Food prep for my flock, opening feed bags. Cardboard and foodstuff for a worm farm.

In a pinch, butchering. Cleaning fish, eg sizeable carps.



.

[vivi]

Why do I carry a big folder? The same reason you wear the shoe size you do.



They fit me better.

Just because I carry a bigger knife, doesn't mean I'm constantly running into things a Delica couldn't cut. I went a month EDCing my Street Beat, and like you there was never a situation where I couldn't cut what needed cut.

The bigger knives simply do the jobs more efficiently and safely.

Think about your kitchen. Family comes over and you're cooking dinner for 8. Could you prep everything with a paring knife? Sure. But why would you when you've got 8" and 10" chef knives that can do the work 3x as fast?



Millie can cut an apple in half in one cut. Delicas take 2.




When breaking down boxes large blades are at least twice as efficient. I can stack layer upon layer and slice through the whole stack instead of doing it piece by piece.



A folder with a 4" blade is just as precise for tip work as smaller knives for me by using this grip.

The smaller knives don't offer me any benefits, just draw backs. Less efficient in use, less comfortable to hold, often times not built as rugged etc. Big knives tend to have stout locks, thicker hardware etc. that give me more confidence in use.

Taking a Delica for example, the handle feels bad to my grip. The handle isn't even as long as the width of my palm, and there's no good place for my thumb:



VS the Police:





Often times on old hiking & cycling trails there will be briars growing across. Using a Military or Police gripped behind the main grip like in the following picture, I can use them like a pocket machete to make the trail safer.



I can't safely hack down briars with a Dragonfly.





Yesterday I use a Pacific Salt to slice up a memory foam mattress. Delica would have been too short to slice through it in one cut as easily. In fact I had grabbed a longer knife because I wasn't sure if the Pacific would be long enough, but it ended up getting it done.



So it isn't so much that I'm constantly slicing up watermelons on the go or something. But rather more blade means fewer cuts to get a given job done.

Try considering it from my perspective:

1. There are no legal restrictions on knives where I live & work

2. There are no social taboos against 4-5" bladed pocket knives where I live

3. Even in my light summer shorts, I find 5oz and 5.5" closed to be my rough limits on comfortable carry. This includes the Military, Chief and Police LW. My Military is IWB in my running shorts right now, perfectly comfortable

4. As outlined above I find them more efficient in use, and even safer in certain situations.

5. I wear a size XL-XXL glove, so picking a folder that matches my hand size is simply logical.

[steelcity16]

I didn't read through all of the responses, but one of the main reasons I like a longer blade is cutting through bags because it goes through both sides. Dog food bags, mulch bags, chip bags, etc. I like the Endura in these cases.

Otherwise, I find the Endela the best blend of compactness and blade length that is long enough for most tasks. The Delica I find a tad too short these days now that I am used to carrying the Endura/Endela/Straigh Spine Stretch.

[TkoK83Spy]

Sounds like a lot of you should just buy a Z-cut and make a little sheath for it. Lots of food going on here. Save a lot of money that way too...for even more folders

[VooDooChild]

Sounds like a lot of you should just buy a Z-cut and make a little sheath for it. Lots of food going on here. Save a lot of money that way too...for even more folders

I actually agree with the "why would you use a folder for food prep?" argument.

But sometimes it has to happen.

I have an "office" that I can basically cook in but if you leave something in there (like a kitchen knife) it will disappear.

Also when youre at a friend or family members house and its clear that kitchen knives being sharpened is something that never happens.

[TkoK83Spy]

Definitely can't argue the friends/family members with butter knives...I mean steak knives for dinner. That's truly the worst!

[aicolainen]

This may seem like a dumb question but I am wondering what all you millie/police guys are cutting where the long blade folders become helpful/preferred/needed???? :confused: :confused: :confused:

8< ---------------

I'm leaning more toward the smaller end myself, and have been wondering about this myself in the past.
So much so, that I've started two threads over at EDCF that touch on this same topic
https://www.edcforums.com/threads/how-m ... hy.141330/
https://www.edcforums.com/threads/corre ... do.141534/

Obviously our environment and what we do impacts our preferences. Hand size and ergonomics is also a big one, but seeing some of the answers in in this, as well as the linked topics, there often appears to be a basic difference in philosophy, and I guess that's what surprised me the most.
As my line of work doesn't demand much from my knives in way of size, I mostly carry my knives as just in case items, which means I value carry comfort a whole lot. Or as Evil D wrote; "it's better to have it and not need it than to need it and not have it".
I just interpret that saying a little differently; if it's small and unobtrusive, there's no reason to not carry and it will always be with me when I need it. As for the cutting performance, my take is more in the line of any cutting edge is light-years better than no cutting edge at all, if something needs to be separated.
Another area where my philosophy differ from some others, is that I don't expect my just in case knife that I carry on my person to take care of every cutting task that arise through the day. For the few occasions I might need to prepare food during the work day, I have a dedicated knife at my work place (hygiene reasons, as my pocket folder see a lot of nasty materials I don't want near my food). I also have fixed blades stored in key locations (work place, car etc.) as well as a larger folder in my backpack that goes with me pretty much every day.

This philosophy is further reinforced by the fact that I have small hands (well, more like L in length, but not very wide/thick) and that smaller knives usually fit better, especially if they have any kind of finger grooves.
And, as I work with electrical systems and electronics, I often work in confined spaces where a smaller knife is easier to operate and a larger knife than required would just be harder, if not impossible to maneuver sometimes.

Now, that's my EDC and reasoning behind it. After working hours my priorities may change a bit, and I will just adapt my carry to whatever I'm doing. Especially in outdoor related activities I now often find myself replacing the traditional role of fixed blade with a folder. I've found there are many benefits to a folder in use cases where the strength of a fixed blade isn't required.
And the ability to more easily prepare food, is probably the primary reason my outdoor folders are generally larger than my EDC folders. And in contrast to my EDC environment, the outdoors is an environment where I generally agree that a larger knife can do most task as well or better than a small knife.

[ladybug93]

i mean, if we're honest, most people can probably get away with not carrying a knife at all. if we the following the logic of what we absolutely need only, that's what many of us would be left with. i don't need a knife every day. i don't need a big knife most day. i prefer to carry a knife. i prefer to carry a large(ish) knife. actually, i prefer to carry multiple knives. other people's preferences shouldn't dictate yours. :)

[Naperville]

Self Defense. But it is a hard sell for self defense. The primary difference is a 4" blade vs a 3" blade, so not much more in capability. A real self defense knife I figure to be 6 to 7 inches long so that it can reach all of the targets, but if you know where to target a 1 inch blade is fine.

But self defense is many things, #1, if you plan to scare away the baddie, the perp has to see what you have. That defeats many attributes to self defense, but it may be enough to stop an attack. And that is all that matters. Nobody wants to be in a knife fight.

[Evil D]

i mean, if we're honest, most people can probably get away with not carrying a knife at all. if we the following the logic of what we absolutely need only, that's what many of us would be left with. i don't need a knife every day. i don't need a big knife most day. i prefer to carry a knife. i prefer to carry a large(ish) knife. actually, i prefer to carry multiple knives. other people's preferences shouldn't dictate yours. :)

I've actually gotten by with my Dragonfly many times. It stays in my backpack that goes to work with me and has saved me several times when I forgot my main EDC knife. I will openly admit that a big part of my size preferences are based just on liking them and nothing more complicated than that. Sometimes I think when these discussions come up we almost feel like it's not ok to just say "because I like it that way" and really never need more justification than that.