Know Your Blade: A Guide to Knife Shapes

Bowie Knife pocket knives popularized in Damascus, the wide variety of knives available ensures a blade or type suitable for any job. Familiarize yourself with the following types of blades to better prepare for outdoor adventures, survival situations, and everyday applications.

Drop point

Custom Damascus Folding knives Knife One of the most common types of blades, the drop point is the most popular in the field of larger Custom Damascus Folding knives and pocket knife blades, but this knife works just as well as a tactical knife or survival knife. Characterized by a convex angled spine and a lowered tip, the drooping blades are particularly useful for controlled cutting hunters and find that the large belly of the blade facilitates debarking. In addition, drop-point blades have very strong points that resist breakage, which is crucial in survival situations. The only drawback is that the wide tip of this blade is not suitable for drilling, especially with respect to the spike or tip clamps.

Clip Point

SOG Knife Elite Pup Knife Knife Another very popular blade design, the front half of the attachment point seems to have been "cut off", hence the name. The cut zone can be straight or concave, and the tip created by this design makes the blade capable of easily controlled cuts, just like the drop point blade. However, unlike the drop point blade, the point of the cutting point is much thinner and thinner to facilitate the stabbing. This is great for piercing objects, but this sharp point also makes the blade break easier.

A popular version of this blade design is a Bowie knife, often used for hunting. You saw a Bowie knife in action if you saw the Crocodile Dundee scene where Mick defends himself from an assault and exclaims "It's not a knife ... it's a knife!"

Point spear

Benchmade Pardue 530 Knife Symmetrical in shape, the lance point blades include a tip that aligns with the center of the blade. Often used on throwing knives, the lance-lance blades pierce effortlessly and stab. The sharp point of the blade provides strength, durability and long-lasting use. Its small belly may slice through objects, but it is not well suited for slicing and cutting compared to sheep blades, drop points or pliers.

Sheep

SOG Knives Nautical Knife The Sheep foot blade is a specialist in cutting and slicing. A long flat edge makes this blade popular with emergency responders who need a knife to cut seat belts and restraints. Sailors love this blade for its ability to cut through lines of varying thicknesses, small ropes, and rigging without piercing sails or navigation equipment. A minimized bias point prevents accidental punctures when using this blade.

Damascus1

Fixed Combat Blade Gerber Derived from Japanese samurai swords, the modern Damascus1 blade is an Americanized version popularized in the 1980s on tactical knives. Damascus1 blades are popular with military personnel and law enforcement groups for their strength and versatility across a wide variety of objects. This knife blade looks like a dagger with a gently sloping spine that meets the edge of the blade at a sharp angular point. Damascus1 blades can drill, stab and slice, making them versatile in outdoor applications and survival scenarios.

Blunt tip

The Blunt tips are not exactly a blade design - it's more like a modification to the advanced blades already used for gaming, kayaking and water sports. A blunt shape prevents accidental daggers when cutting your free boat from tangled throwlines or monofilament fishing line. These special knives are typically equipped with corrosion resistant materials such as titanium or stainless steel, and they often attach to PFD lashes for easy access when paddling.

Pocket knives

The versatility of all trades defines pocket knives and, more specifically, the iconic Swiss Army Knife. The Swiss army knife was born in the 1880s when the Swiss army bought pocket folding knives for their soldiers who used them to open cans and disassemble rifles. Victorinox and Wegner produce pocket knives under the name Swiss Army Knife, although smaller, non-branded manufacturers also make pocket knives.

Pocket knives do not have a specific blade type, but they often have drop-point blades and a variety of tools, such as scissors, can opener, tongs, toothpicks, screwdrivers and serrated saws. With their multi-tasking personality, pocket knives are perfect for everyday applications, and they work well for outdoor and survival scenarios where multi-use functionality is imperative. As a funny note, Wegner makes the world's largest pocket knife (it's probably not pocket, but it's next) with some 85 different tools that can be used in 141 ways.

Serrated blades

The serrated blades are advantageous when cutting the course, textured objects such as rope, tree branches or thicker objects that require a sawing movement from front to back. Often found on pocket knives and combo knives, serrated blades have serrated serrations that grip and cut objects relatively easily relative to straight blades. The disadvantage is that they tend to be more difficult to sharpen than straight blades, which requires a special sharpening rod that fits between the serrations.