Hello everybody!
My name is Dan and I live in Romania.
After a lot of searching and taking decisions for buying a survival knife i came to a point where i must choose from two Smith & Wesson blade shapes:
and

Both blades are made from 440 Stainless Steel and are black powder coated. Total knife length 13-3/4", the blade length is 8-1/2" and weights 17. ounces.
We are talking about these two knives only, as these are the only ones that I can buy here and have the quality that i'm looking for at an affordable price.

I know there are better knives. I wish I had the chance to buy a Gerber BMF, a Tracker, or an Wilkinson Dartmoor. Khukuri or parang knives were also a choice, but all these are nowhere to be found here and ordering them from outside makes them greatly expensive.

I'm 47% willing to buy the left classic shape one and 53% the right recurved one.

The question is: What would you choose from these two only and why?
I'd like to know also why not to buy anyone of these two, if there is such an opinion.

Thank you!

(please excuse my poor English)

P.S. I forgot to mention why i like better the bolo/khukri/recurved/whatever shape over the classic straight shape.
I once watched a documentary reguarding japanese swords where i learned something.
A katana is cutting so deep and fast because it's edge is curved and not straight. It starts cutting in a single point (a curve edge is tangent to a surface in a point), so the cut is quick and precise.
Opposite, the classic european sword cuts along a line (a straight edge is tangent to a surface along a line), and in fact these swords were more smashing/ripping than cutting, when not used for stabbing.
So, i believe that even if it's a little bit dull, a recurved blade would cut better than a straight one with the same sharpness that might not even cut at all.
The problem with the bolo blades (as i understand from people who really seem to know what they're talking about) is that they are a harder or trickyer to sharpen.
But when somebody recomended me to buy a special sharpening tool if i decide to go with the bolo blade, i realised that this problem can be passed.
So the "contest" is still going on.

Personally, I'd go with the one on the left, if forced to choose from these two. That big recurve on the right would be a lot more difficult for me to sharpen. But that's just me...

You mention a special sharpening tool. That's fine, but even so, it's still a pain. If you're just starting out with knives, you may want to go with something a little more conventional (the straight edge), until you have enough experience to see the tradeoffs between the two.

The straight edge is a perfectly acceptable choice. And a recurve that big is going to make certain chores more difficult than the straight edge... it's a specialized blade shape designed for certain tasks... which means it'll be better at some things and worse at others. The straight edge is a great all around shape.

Welcome, Dan.

Of those two, I like the bolo shaped one on the right a little better.

Tom

Interesting choice. Based on looks, or some deeper knife-fu?

Hi Dan!

Hey, we now have a girl ( well, 26 year old) from Romania living with us now, in Oklahoma. She loves to tease me about my SURVIVAL PREPS & such!

Re: the knives.....I like the one on the left

Bine ate venit to ETS and buna dimineata from California. Is this going to be your only tool? Do you have a smaller pocket knife or saw? Niether knife is going to handle smaller, delicate duties very well. If this is to collect and split beech firewood or deal with an unruly carpathian bear the bolo would be my choice. With their limits either knife will serve you. Many people have done so with much worse. If you believe your knife is urat the results will be too. Something like our effforts at english and romanian <img src="/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

Guessing at uses - Chris already mentioned some. Think past just gripping a knife on the handle; there are several different uses for the curved blade with different grips on the spine - and that shape will chop better. If I had to slice veggies with one of these, I would choose the clip point blade over the curved blade. Overall, I would prefer the curved one for a GP survival knife in wooded terrain, but the clip point would also serve nicely.

Thanks!

I would go with the one on the left, simply because the shape is similar to the knife I hunted with for the first 30 years of my life.. The one on the left looks cooler though--but when was the last time that really mattered?

They both look like pretty good blades though <img src="/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

Regards, Vince

If I wanted to stab & cut up people I'd go with the one on the left. For general camp/outdoor stuff I'd take the one on the right, backed up with a SAK.
Dave

I guess ETS really is a survivalist site. Look at Doug's picks from "Gear and Equipment":

Becker Knife and Tool Combat Utility 7:


Becker Knife and Tool Crewman:


Benchmade Rant DPT:


Benchmade Outbounder:


Benchmade Model 190 Drop Point Hunter:


Ontario Knives RAT 7:


Ontario Knives TAK:


Cold Steel Master Hunter:


Whew. The others are similiar. Didn't see a recurve in the lot.

<img src="/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

I choose the straight blade for ease of sharpening. Yes - there are tools to help sharpen the curved blade, but that is one more thing to carry, loose / break etc... Keep it simple ...

Firstly I agree that the curved design would cut easier and it also would have a longer surface cutting edge.
The straight edge has its advantages too, like using it on a flat surface where the full straight edge is used without having to change the height of your hand. (Hope you understand)
If you have to sharpen it and you are in a situation where you havent got or have lost your sharpener, the straight blade would be the easier knife to sharpen, or easier to get hold of a sharpener.
The other point to consider is that the first part which will probably fail is the tip. So you want maximum stregnth at the tip which looks like the curved design will give you.
I have broken tips on knives similar to the straight design shown.

I have a similar problem to you, being that I cant find any suppliers of quality knives close. I ended up buying a couple of knives from the U.S. and another from a supplier I found across the other side of the country nearly 3500 kilometers away.
Have you searched eBay? because one of the knives I bought from the U.S. over eBay I ended up ordering 3 more for friends who wanted similar knives.