Fighting Knife

[John Andrews]

I am a professional custom knife maker and say there is not a defining or pure example of a fighting knife. I made a few "fighting" knives per customer and they were all different. One was a short sword with a second 6" blade in the handle that folded and when open and pointed the other way. He wanted just a folder second blade but I made the 6" folder he wanted into an actual lock blade, for safety reasons. That was his wish for an actual fighting knife. Another customer chose a double edged Arkansas Toothpick.

 

[Joey]

I am a professional custom knife maker and say there is not a defining or pure example of a fighting knife. I made a few "fighting" knives per customer and they were all different. One was a short sword with a second 6" blade in the handle that folded and when open and pointed the other way. He wanted just a folder second blade but I made the 6" folder he wanted into an actual lock blade, for safety reasons. That was his wish for an actual fighting knife. Another customer chose a double edged Arkansas Toothpick.

Do you have pictures of some of your creations?

 

[John Andrews]

Do you have pictures of some of your creations?

Yep! This pair went to a great customer in KY that has 4 of my knives. I have more if you need to see them. Blades are, I think, cryo soaked 440C, handles are stabilized buckeye burl and mammoth ivory inlays, and furniture is silver nickel. He gave one to his son. They use them for hunting.

 

[John Andrews]

This design has always been very popular. Handle is stabilized Osage orange (called hedge here) . I cut most of my own wood, dried it, and had it stabilized.

 

[John Andrews]

My shop while I was working.

 

[Joey]

The buckeye burl is beautiful! Wouldn't mind having a set of BH grips made out of that! The Osage is no slouch either! Both are head turners.
PM sent

 

[Joey]

Dang, you haven't been around long enough to get a PM.

 

[warren5421]

Would Bill Moran's camp knifes be considered fighting knives due to their size?

 

[ex13F]

In my "fighting knife" category.

 

[Watertender]

I think these 3 would qualify as fighting knives. A Gerber Mark 2, an EK that saw service in Afghanistan and a Russian boar dagger.

 

[Killer Bee]

does my 26" cutlass count?

 

[GunnyGene]

I am a professional custom knife maker and say there is not a defining or pure example of a fighting knife. I made a few "fighting" knives per customer and they were all different. One was a short sword with a second 6" blade in the handle that folded and when open and pointed the other way. He wanted just a folder second blade but I made the 6" folder he wanted into an actual lock blade, for safety reasons. That was his wish for an actual fighting knife. Another customer chose a double edged Arkansas Toothpick.

Just out of curiosity, what modifications (if any) would you suggest for converting a Woodmans Pal into something more than a brush and vine cutter?

 

[eveled]

Anything you do to it that makes it more of a fighter, will make it less safe as a brush tool. There is a reason it wasn’t sharpened all the way to the tip.

An example would be to round off the corner and sharpen it all the way to the hook it would be a heck of a slasher, but not as safe as a tool.

To make it more tool like, I would square off the front and sharpen it with a single bevel (like a chisel) to use as a scraper or chisel.

 

[Jeepnik]

Just out of curiosity, what modifications (if any) would you suggest for converting a Woodmans Pal into something more than a brush and vine cutter?

Not a thing. Marines and soldiers used them to great effect, as is, during WWII. A Woodsman's Pal lives in the emergency bags in each of my vehicles.

 

[Watertender]

Not a thing. Marines and soldiers used them to great effect, as is, during WWII. A Woodsman's Pal lives in the emergency bags in each of my vehicles.

I keep a couple handy myself. They are one of the greatest things invented

 

[Joe Chartreuse]

Just out of curiosity, what modifications (if any) would you suggest for converting a Woodmans Pal into something more than a brush and vine cutter?

Not a thing. You have ( well, you and I ) have a great 2 way slasher cutter there that will leave a bit of space to work and quality steel.

 

[Joey]

Yep! This pair went to a great customer in KY that has 4 of my knives. I have more if you need to see them. Blades are, I think, cryo soaked 440C, handles are stabilized buckeye burl and mammoth ivory inlays, and furniture is silver nickel. He gave one to his son. They use them for hunting.

You inspired me. Ordered these buckeye blanks, going to try to make a set of BH grips from them. See what you have gone and done??!!!

 

[Fox Mike]

This, to me, is a fighting knife.

 

[Watertender]

This, to me, is a fighting knife.

View attachment 93201

Fairbairn-Sykes! Great fighting knife for sure

 

[Jeepnik]

Decades ago a parachute demo team from England participated in an air show at my base.
Long story short , one of the Brits gave me his knife.

 

[usmc69]

Just out of curiosity, what modifications (if any) would you suggest for converting a Woodmans Pal into something more than a brush and vine cutter?

Not a thing. Marines and soldiers used them to great effect, as is, during WWII. A Woodsman's Pal lives in the emergency bags in each of my vehicles.

I was taught an E-Tool that had been sharpened or a KaBar. I have a WW II Case XX Survival Machete that would be pretty good. But a gun is always better.

The Marine Raiders during WW II had a stiletto for a while. They decided to switch to a KaBar or that style of knife. Read the "USE" paragraph. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Marine_Raider_stiletto

 

[John Andrews]

Just out of curiosity, what modifications (if any) would you suggest for converting a Woodmans Pal into something more than a brush and vine cutter?

I would remove the hook on the front of the blade. And it looks like the knife is very front end heavy.

 

[John Andrews]

You inspired me. Ordered these buckeye blanks, going to try to make a set of BH grips from them. See what you have gone and done??!!!
View attachment 93181

LOL! It's easy to catch the fever, right? Edited to say, when you order those scales, order stabilized scales. So then you will never have to add any type of wood finish, and you can sand it and polish it to look like marble if you like. A resin is forced clear through the wood in a vacuum chamber and it preserves the wood and color. Stabilized wood is impervious to water and most chemicals. The resin is also food safe.

 

[Joey]

Too easy when you are retired with too much time on your hands!!

LOL! It's easy to catch the fever, right?

 

[Jeepnik]

I would remove the hook on the front of the blade. And it looks like the knife is very front end heavy.

Oh heavens no. That brush hook can be used in oh so many interesting ways.

 

[GunnyGene]

And it looks like the knife is very front end heavy.

It is, and not by accident. That weight at the front acts much like the design of a camp axe in terms of delivering a heavy blow. As for the hook, you don't strike with it, you hook a vine, etc. at a slight angle and pull and it slices right thru it.

The design of the tool is ideal for cutting a trail thru underbrush if you don't have gas powered machinery handy.

Anyway, I appreciate the discussion by everyone. I won't be modifying mine.

 

[Joe Chartreuse]

Some great suggestions here. The only ones I am not a fan of are those with round grips. They can get slippery during wet work. There are some, like Fox Mike's, that have enough drainage to work around the problem.

 

[Jeepnik]

Eons ago when I was learning Kali a fellow did a rather interesting demonstration with a couple of Kris. It became very clear why the soldiers in the Philippines wanted something that stopped better than the .38's they were issued.
Personally, for something like that I found a Bolo style felt better. Although, I imagine if you went around with a couple of 12 to 14 inch Bolo's on your belt you might attract some attention from law enforcement. Though it would probably be legal. Hmm, gotta check on that.

 

[John Andrews]

Eons ago when I was learning Kali a fellow did a rather interesting demonstration with a couple of Kris. It became very clear why the soldiers in the Philippines wanted something that stopped better than the .38's they were issued.
Personally, for something like that I found a Bolo style felt better. Although, I imagine if you went around with a couple of 12 to 14 inch Bolo's on your belt you might attract some attention from law enforcement. Though it would probably be legal. Hmm, gotta check on that.

Knife laws are vague, at best. LEOs make decisions that are quite often wrong.

 

[el caminero]

The Bowie. Crazy stories. On average, the first one seems to have been a seax, the second one a slightly shortened messer, then the third was a bit shorter and a lot wider and with a clipped point and sharpened backedge. Every other Bowie since seems to have been variations or combinations thereof. The civil war resulted in lots of broken swords which kept their d-guards and were shortened to "Confederate Bowie" knives. Many stories abound.