Are there any advantages in cutting with the recurve blade over a regular straight bladed knife?


Will a recurve cut/chop certain material better than a regular straight blade?

Whats your experiences?

You get a slightly longer cutting edge per inch of blade. You also get a cutting edge with an angle that varies as you are cutting, which should translate into more cutting power as well. As far as I understand (which may be completely wrong <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" /> ). I guess it would also aid pull/push cuts into something.

You do lose the ability to sharpen it properly without a little added skill/practice.

I love the look of recurve blades but I'm not a big fan of them for most practical uses.

Advantages:
- I believe that you get a better "shear" effect on soft objects.
- You get more weight at the front of the blade so your center of impact is closer to the tip.

Disadvantages:
- Harder to get the exact angle for the cuts you want compared to a conventional straight blade.
- Harder to sharpen.

The shape of the blade naturally pulls the material against the edge when you are slicing. It works great for me on chores like cutting plastic sheeting or slicing paper.

Great for brush clearing too, flexible stuff that would normally just sort of bounce away from the blade will tend to be pulled into the cutting edge better, and the slashes will be more effective.


This is WAY more pronounced on a deep curve, like a kukri, which is a brush-destroying beast.

gotta be honest and say i've never felt like i had an advantage with a recurve on a smaller knife. i feel like i have more control with a straight or subtly curved blade than with recurves. it's the main reason i rarely use my zero tolerance knives.

i have a couple large chopping recurves that cannot be beat. i heart khukris.

The recurve excells at the draw cut. As has been mentioned, contact with the narrow part draws the target into the belly of the blade when the knife is pulled back. I have some recurves that are good choppers and some that aren't.

On recurves, how do the Yard Hook and Yard Guard compare? I only have one recurve, the Yard Guard, so I don't know how it compares to others. I know at least Vic should be able to answer this one! <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif" alt="" />

the hook and guard are identical. some people just didn't like the hook on the mojo's so now we get two versions.

and here's another picture, just because.



i know the middle one isn't a recurve but it's huge. that's reason enough.

That's all there is to it. Same blades except for the blade catch.

I'm such an idiot! While in a rush, I worded the question incorrectly! I meant to ask how the Hook and Guard compare to other recurve blades out there. Is the recurve on the Hook and Guard effective?