When it comes to pocket knives, what do you think these are needed for? Well, they can be quite beneficial in several aspects, but only when you know about them properly.
Choosing a knife can indeed be a challenging task. Furthermore, the peculiar terminology employed to explain them doesn’t make things any simpler. Although it is simple to assume that knives are straightforward implements, they are actually rather complex compositions with many different parts.
In the following part, you will learn about every part of a pocket knife so that you can stay careful while using it and use it accordingly.
Some Important Parts of Pocket Knives: Everyone must know!
Here, you will be introduced to all the parts of a pocket knife. So take your pen-paper and start taking notes as we begin our discussion:
The sharp part
The component of a knife that is meant for and most suitable for cutting is widely recognized to be the blade. The term that is most literal is “the flat, pointy portion of a blade or instrument used for slicing.” The fact that there are several terminologies to designate the kind of blade, its unique structure, as well as other added or removed pieces within is less commonly recognized.
1. Back:
This describes the side of the blades that haven’t been honed on single-edged knives.
2. Base:
The lowest portion of the knife that is attached to the grip.
3. Bevel:
It is that part of a knife’s blade where the edge was created by grinding it down.
4. Choil:
Serrated blades recess at the root of the blades and below the tip. It can serve as a palm and fingertip protection.
5. Deployment:
This method is used to separate the blade of a pocket knife from its grip.
6. Edge:
It is the blade’s thinly edged portion.
7. Flipper:
It is a backward-facing projection in the blade’s bottom that serves mainly as a compression bar to unlock the blade. However, whenever the blade is open, it may also serve as a guard over your finger.
8. Front:
The portion of the blade with the sharpest point.
9. Grind:
You will see the blade’s bevel and edge were applied, as well as its process and style. When viewing the blade from tip to base, this may be seen by glancing along the length of it. Different grinds produce various profiles, including but not restricted to:
- Flat: A uniformly curved bevel that extends from the knife’s rear to its tip.
- Hollow: A straight razor’s usual flat beveled edge. Although very sharp, it does not keep its edge properly.
- Saber: Identical to a flat grinding; however, the bevel begins at the center of the blade as opposed to the back. It is referred to as a “V-grind,” too.
10. Hardness:
An evaluation of a knife’s molecular densities using the Rockwell Hardness Scale, most frequently abbreviated as HRC. In contrast to sharper blades, which maintain an edge better over time, softer edges are simpler to sharpen.
11. Jimping:
A row of notches that extend past the handles and are located on the knife’s unsharpened part.
12. Nail Mark/Nick:
Some folding knives include a curved groove in the blade that you may pierce with your thumb or fingertip to release the blades.
13. Point:
It’s the knife’s polished point. There are several distinct kinds of tips, including but not limited to the following:
- Clip: It looks like a blade that has had the top third of the rear “clipped” off at a straight or curved inclination towards the blade edge.
- Drop: a blade with better strength along the whole blade, with a rear that gradually convenes toward the tip.
- Sheepsfoot: A blade that is more severe than a drop point and lacks a real cutting tip, having a straight front edge and a convex, sloping, unsharpened rear. Though comparable, a Wharncliffe has a longer, relatively moderate convex inclination.
- Spear: It is indeed a dagger, which has a dual blade and is typically used for slashing or piercing. Similar to needles, but with a narrower, more pointed tip.
- Tanto: A tanto blade is highly popular with strategic-type knives; it features a high flat-ground point, and the top and rear curve toward one another rather than dipping downward.
14. Retention:
This term refers to how effectively a blade maintains its edge. Higher HRC scores frequently correspond to improved edge durability.
15. Ricasso:
Exactly above the grip, the unhoned part of the knife. The area of the blade that contains a choil.
16. Serration:
The edge of This blade resembles a jagged saw. It can wrap around the whole blade or only a small section of it.
17. Steel:
Most knife blades are made of an extremely tough alloy of iron and other metals. Iron and chromium are combined to create stainless steel, an alloy that resists corrosion and rusting more quickly than other metals.
Although it is most often manufactured, carbon steel, which is comprised of iron and carbon, has fewer uses in the field of EDC knives.
18. Swedge:
This one, which also refers to a false edge, describes an unsharpened bevel on the rear of a blade that is typically near the tip.
19. Tang:
A projection that extends from the blade’s base toward the tip. Folding knives are typically relatively short; however, they can be longer in friction folders or for aesthetic purposes.
20. Thumbstud:
The thumb stud is an option to the nail marking and an opposed component to a flip. It is a projection out from one or both edges of the back of the blade’s core that can be utilized to flick the knife open.
21. Thumb Ramp:
This blade’s back base may have a concave angle and serves as a guard as well as a way to provide more pressure or strength.
THE DULL END
The grip is the portion of the blade that is held in the hand. When a pocketknife is folded, the grip also serves as a storage space for the blade, along with any other hardware, moving components, or accessories.
In contrast to blades, handles may often be made of a far larger variety of materials, including metal, synthetics, natural materials, and/or mixtures with any of the above. Here are some phrases you could hear to explain the grip, its components, and its design:
1. Bolster:
A heavy steel junction between the knife blade and grip is usually found on cooking knives but occasionally found on pocket knives as well.
2. Guard:
It’s an uncut projection that prevents the hand or fingers from sliding up the handle and onto the blade. A guard is not always included on blades.
3. Inlay:
Any substance, generally decorative that is incorporated into the handle.
4. Joint:
A foldable knife’s tip, which is where the blades and grip meet, and a pivoting pin, connect them.
5. Lanyard:
A length of leather, rope, twine or other material is frequently found on hunting and traveling knives and is used to attach a knife to a pack, bag, or another object.
6. Lanyard Hole:
A machined passageway where a lanyard could be threaded is typically found near the handle’s bottom.
7. Liner:
This describes a sheet of material that rests involving the grip and the knife and is meant to shield the various components from harm. It is often composed of a soft corrosion-resistant alloy.
8. Lock:
A device that maintains the knife’s position whether it is opened or shut. The lock is typically included in the blade’s design and must be released by applying pressure from you.
9. Pocket Clip:
In addition to a knife that lets you to attach the folding knife to the belts, pockets, or other locations. It may be permanently attached to the handle or detachable.
10. Spine:
An alternate word for the rear of a blade; additionally, in back locking flipping knives, it refers to a section that increases the grip’s length by using steel.
11. Spring:
A piece of metal that applies pressure in one of three ways: to help a blade move, to hold it closed, or both.
12. Standoff:
The knife is prevented from warping by a spacer inside the handle casing.
To Wrap Up
Finally that you are informed about every component of a typical pocket knife; you can explain to any smith with ease what is incorrect with your blades. We really hope that this information has been extremely useful and that you will always put safety first while using a pocket knife.
