Knife Blade Types Guide

There are many different knife blade types that are used for various tasks, and it can be difficult to know which knives are essential for your kitchen. We broke down the knife types and provided explanations of each and what they’re used for.

There are so many different types of knives which are used for different purposes. It is very difficult for a person to choose among different blade types. To make your life easier, we have written detailed articles on each type of knife/blade. As knife is most commonly referred by its blade type and the type of knife blade among major factor for choosing a knife for its purpose?

But before we start, you should know major parts of a Knife / Blade

Understanding Anatomy of a blade

Understanding the parts of a knife is very important as its key to understanding different knives types and their uses. Following Image shows the main parts of a knife and it helps you to understand and identify your usage.

Following is an explanation of different knife parts:

Point

The point is the tip of the knife. It’s mainly used for piercing through object.
Like Meat, wood, etc.
The Shape of tip or its presence and absence also defines knife type.

Tip

The knife tip is considered most used part of knife as it does most of the cutting and separations in object.
The shape of tip really matters like the point in defining the tasks.
For Example, rounded tips are mostly for slicing whereas pointed ones are for piercing tasks.

Edge

The edge is the sharpened side of the knife’s blade that you use to cut. Keeping your knife’s edge sharp prevents accidents while cutting.
Its most important and vital part of the knife as it gets most of the beating.
Different alloys and different techniques are being used over centuries to retain the edge.
there are many types of edge grinds on different knives but will be discussed some other time.

Bolster/Guard

The bolster is mostly found in forged knives. It’s a thick band of steel used in blade and it not only prevents its user’s hands from slipping but also balance the overall weight of the knife.
Where as in Stamped Knives, you will find Guard in them, for the same purpose.

Tang

The tang is the part of the blade that extends into knife grip or knife handle to provide balance and grip on blade.
There are full tang blades which considered superior in balance and durability and mostly survival knives or full tang knives.
A half tang or sub tang knife is less durable but more economical and most folding folders (blades/knives) have sub or no tangs even.

Butt/Pommel

The butt is the end of the knife’s handle and in survival knives you will also find lanyard hole at the butt and at times solid metal for hammer purposes as well.

Handle

The handle is the section where the user holds the knife. This acts as sheath for folding knives and different knife handle shapes and materials are being used over centuries and even till today.
This part of the knife may also be referred to as the scales and there is a variety of scales too, like bone, Micarta, G10 etc.

Heel

The heel is the rear portion of the blade, and it’s most often used for cutting tasks that require a lot of force, such as cutting meat or dense vegetables.

Spine

This is mostly dull side of the knife blade that is opposite the edge. At times there are serrations on it and in double edged blades spine is also sharp.

8 Most Useful Knife Blade Shapes

There are so many different knives types but among them there are most popular blade types which are very useful and also they are most popular among its users are as under:

Wharncliffe Knife & Sheepsfoot Knife

A Sheepsfoot knife & Wharncliffe knife are both alike with just minor difference in their blade building. In Sheepsfoot blade, it has straight edge, with unsharpened little curved back, and has a false idea since the curve fulfills the straight edge.Whereas in Wharncliffe knife, its back or spin is tapered (can be curved). Thus, the only difference between two is tapering of unsharpened back or spine. Wharncliffe Knife & Sheepsfoot Knife With the above stated, they are not like or in no resemblance with referral to tasks done with Tanto blades, clip point and so on. In other

All About Spear Point Knives

This Guide is about Spear Point Knives. As real spear point knife has two sharpened edges– one on the top and one on the belly or bottom. However, some blades are called spear points that have a similar shape, while really having only a single sharpened edge. These single-edged “spear point” blades are not what this topic is related to. You will come to know why as you read along. Spear Point Blade Definition A spear point blade resembles the needle-point blade in that benefits piercing. Its point is stronger and it contains a

All About Clip Point Knives

The clip point knives are one of the 3rd most common knife blade shapes chosen by people. Clip point blades have the look of having the forward 1/3rd of the blade “clipped” off. The clip itself can be straight or concave. The other two are Spear Point knives & Drop Point blades. If you’re looking for an excellent versatile blade, then you’ve come to the right location. A clip point (along with a drop point) is among the most popular blade shapes in use today. The most recognizable knife that includes a clip point is the Bowie knife, but

All About Tanto knives

In this article we will be discussing what are tanto knives for? Uses of tanto knives. Advantages of tanto knives, where to use tanto knife and much more. In some cases, you do not want a versatile knife. You want a knife that does one thing and does that one thing actually well. If you’re searching for a knife that stands out at piercing difficult materials, then the tanto blade is what you’re searching for. There are so many tanto knives in the market from famous brands like Browning Knives, Cold Steel Knives, Case Cutlery, Marbles Knives, TOPS

Reverse Tanto Knives

With the style ending up being more popular, we need to ask ourselves what it is about reverse tanto flipper knives that has everyone so interested? A modern-day take on an ancient style, reverse tantos have actually been gathering notification among knife lovers as more knife makers end up with their own variations of this blade. What Is A Reverse Tanto knife? To understand what a reverse tanto is, first we should take a look at the tanto. Tantos are Japanese short swords whose blade curves approximately the tip, and the spine is almost the

All About HawkBill Knives

It’s crucial to have a great concept of what you’re trying to find in a knife prior to you purchase one and to understand if you’re possible option will have the ability to fulfill your requirements. When you mean to rely on a product in survival circumstances, this is specifically real. If you’re taking a look at a tactical hawkbill knife, which has an uncommon shape, you wish to make sure you comprehend its advantages and any disadvantages, depending upon the circumstance. What are Hawkbill Knives? A Hawkbill shape resembles its

All About Drop Point Knives

The drop point blade shape is the most common blade shape, Its practical, simple and visually pleasing. You will be hard pressed to find a more useful all round blade shape. A drop point (together with a clip point) is one of the most popular blade shapes in use today. The most identifiable knife that features a drop point is the hunting knife, although it is utilized on lots of other kinds of knives also, including the larger blades in Pocket Knives or Every day Carry (ECD) Knives. What is Drop Point Knife or