oH tHe TiP iS ToO FrAGilE

[5-by-5]

My fav splinter picker.

[Evil D]

My fav splinter picker.

Aren't those still fairly thick at the tip? I really would love to have a larger version of the Worker, I may have to make one out of a Pacific or something.

[5-by-5]

My fav splinter picker.

Aren't those still fairly thick at the tip? I really would love to have a larger version of the Worker, I may have to make one out of a Pacific or something.

I wouldn't call it thick at all. It is well supported by swedge and bevel grinds but that tip is needle sharp.

[ladybug93]

i prefer the more stout tip on my pacific salt due to the slight sheepsfoot. in my opinion, it's the perfect balance of having a stout, blunt tip for use in emergencies while still maintaining a tip that can be used for piercing if necessary. if spyderco changed the tip the way vivi would want, i'd be forced to use an atlantic salt, which has a more comfortable grip for me, but far less piercing capability.

i never pry with my folders. i prefer the stout tip so i don't have to worry about using the knife and breaking the tip on accident. i've never needed a more acute tip, but i've often wished for one that was more robust.

i suppose you could make the argument either way that if the knife you are using isn't designed for a specific purpose and you need a tip that is more acute or robust, there is probably some other tool besides a knife that is better suited for what you are doing.

[JD Spydo]

I would love to see that C-01 Worker back in the main line up. Not only because of it's extremely fine point. It's also a great "splinter picker". For years I've wanted to see what a C-01 Worker would be like in ZDP-189 or some other supersteel.

Evil D has inspired me to maybe start carrying one of my C-39 Dyad Junior models where a short blade could probably avoid me some legal trouble. I've wondered how a smaller scale JD Smith or C-60 Ayoob model would be like with the nice points that those models have.

[Jazz]

Points are good, just not too pointy. To me, those acute points make a knife useless. I guess I’m not in the “wafer blade” camp. I like them just right. The wharnie Delica is pointy, but not delicate, for example. Anyway, I’m not anti-point, as this mod done yesterday shows. I have an all black that I kept the stronger tip on.

[Michal O]

Can I dig up this topic after 3 years? :D

For me fragile tip isn't something new but in cheaper knife it's more acceptable and I feel more free to use such blade. Expensive knife may end like safe queen for some time. OP presented as example rather budget blade, now maybe rare piece but still cheaper than Spyderco Watu, which is rather good example of Spyderco with fine tip in $200 range, where some people may feel afraid of using it.

Because some knives I have with thin tip from factory or after regrind, I must admit that knives with fragile tip for some people, are just regular tips for me (PM2, Para 3) and normal tips are super thick (Amalgam, Endura saber grind, Shaman). Anyway there is some comparison of few blades, it's old picture which inspired this post:

Vendedouk, BM 940 with custom blade, Smock, WE Fornix, LUDT, BM 908 and 913 after regrind.

Vendedouk is cheap beater, carbon steel, probably 56 hrc at most, so it was never an issue.

When LUDT was my new purchase 3 years ago, I considered that it has very fragile tip. Maybe because many people misused it and broken tip, tactical heritage is his curse. Tip in LUDT is pretty normal for me now. Same with Smock.

Custom 940 not a problem at all, it's high tool steel.

Fornix, same story as LUDT, WE anyway is mastering art of fine tips.

Benchmades after regrinds are cutting like lasers, 0,2 mm bte, but even knowing that regrind job will weaken tips, I was shocked with results.





Later I can make some new pictures with more Spydies.

[JSumm]

Reinforces for me that the Smock is the Spyderco equivalent of the BM-940.

[Michal O]

This is custom 940 blade, asembled to 943 handle. So it's thin bte, original is thicker, probably with tip like in Shaman. Smock has decent, thin edge.

Now I wonder if I should add Watu to that group.

[James Y]

Spyderco still makes very pointy blades with narrow tips. The Native Chief is a definitive example. Also the Military, PM2, Tasman Salt, H1 Salt 2 Wharncliffe, etc.

Jim

[z1r]

I like the tip on my Stretch XL. The Native Chief is right there too.

[Michal O]

[embry386]

I like those pictures, Michal -- thank you for sharing them! It's always interesting and useful to see how different models compare to each other.

My favorite knives used to be the splinter-picker type, but turns out the broader ones are more useful to me, because the most common task I do with my EDC is food prep, and have you ever tried to spread peanut butter on a sandwich with one of the pointier knives? It's like trying to do the job with a toothpick. Especially when compared to something like the Amalgam, which is like using an awesome sharp-edged metal spatula.
...With that said -- I do still enjoy my pointier knives! Just prefer broader ones for my particular EDC needs.

Never had a problem with breaking the tip off a knife due to overwork, but the pivot on my Amalgam isn't as glass-smooth as it was, ever since I used it to hack/pry a baseboard off my house. Would the tip have snapped off if it'd been a pointier knife, like my Endura 3? Maybe, but because of the more delicate appearance of the blade, it's less likely that I would've even tried to pry with it in the first place -- probably would've waited until I could bring a screwdriver with me instead. Broader, stronger blades can make it more tempting to use them for things that you probably shouldn't. Not necessarily a problem, just something to keep in mind (especially if your knife runs on ball-bearings like my Amalgam).

What I'd really like to see, on almost every knife I own, is not pointier tips -- but thinner bladestock. More slicey and more lightweight.

[Blerv]

Many would say a knife is a tool that is designed to be used hard.

Others would say that’s why people have multiple tools. I’m personally more in this camp; if I need to go camping with a folder I’ll probably pick one from the lot that’s more well rounded. If a day at the office a bit thinner and pointier.

[Wartstein]

The Stretch XL taught me to appreciate a really fine tip (again) (even finer in the SE chisel grind mine has).
I do love the "original funky" Stretch blade shape, one reason for that was the more robust tip it offers
But now after I put quite some use on the Stretch XL I must say: For most "normal" EDC use the very pointy tip is really useful.

Still: While the XL has also become my main outdoor / hiking knife: Whenever I bring the knife also as a more general "hard use emergency tool", the tip of my H1 sabre hollow Pac Salt SE gives me a better feel, even though that tip does work less well than the XLs in normal "knife tasks".

[Ramonade]

In my opinion, thin tips are cool. There are knives with 1/4" tips I can take if I need a shovel or an axe. But this is just because I like it this way, and I can allow myself to have several knives for several uses.

Forgot the Yojumbo on my pic... But this topic made me check my knives, thinking I had mostly "normal tips", and a couple very thin like on the Kizer Sliver, Chaparral, Des Horn... But it's not exactly true, the Des Horn doesn't have the thinnest of tips, the Chaparral either !



From left to right :
- Chaparral Sun & Moon
- Des Horn
- Delica 4 (PE)
- Kizer Sliver
- Swayback
- Chokwe
- Watu
- Dragonfly 2
- Native 5 (The S35VN linered G10, weirdly not the same tip as on the more recent ones)

[Michal O]

Looks like Swayback has more fine tip than Watu?

[Ramonade]

Looks like Swayback has more fine tip than Watu?

Surprised me a lot ! The crowned spine made me think that, even with the hollow grind, it wasn't that thin. Well, tip is even thinner than the blade I'm working on

[Superflex]

The tip of the swayback is nice for detail cuts
Used mine yesterday to remove a tag affixed to a new pair of shorts with multiple strands of thread

[Michal O]

I watched almost every Watu review and looks like tip isn't that bad as described. Of course most ffg are fragile for people used to saber grind Endura.

Here is Para 3 and Smock compared to my two thiniest tips in knives. Kizer Sheepdog and WE Miscreant.


Miscreant and Smock