Knife blade size acceptable range

Probably depends on what you typically do with it. If it's primarily to open the mail then small thin is probably best and you can get away with a keychain blade. If you are doing a few boxes then you probably want 2-2.5" (~5-6.5cm). Thicker boxes, wire ties, rope, bush, etc probably get you into the 3" (7.62cm) range and something to go hiking, wire stripping, hunting, etc could need something in the 3"+ (7.62cm +) range.

Smallest blade I carry is about 7mm. Good enough for just about anything but too big and heavy to hang off of a key ring although I prefer longer as I'm doing just about everything with my knives. Max is about 4" (10cm) unless it's in a sheath and I'm out kiking. After that the blade is too big and heavy for me even with CF or titanium.

 

The little 1.6" blade of my Leatherman Style CS is the absolute minimum for me. About three inches is my maximum for a EDC knife.

Of all the folders I own, my Victorinox Rucksack is the largest one I can pocket carry somewhat comfortably. The Rucksack is a 111 mm knife, but I do not know exactly how long the blade is. I think that if it is attached to a lightweight handle, I would say that around 3.5" is a maximum for pocket carry. For me, that is also the maximum blade length that makes sense in a folder. If I need a bigger knife than that, I prefer a fixed blade anyway.

 

I never carry or use anything under 3" (76mm), handles are just too small and uncomfortable

Upper end is 4" (102mm), but only because I currently own nothing larger. There are a couple in the 4.5" (115mm) range I am planning on picking up (which I will also carry and use), but budget simply has not allowed those particular purchases as of yet.

For me, 3.5" (90mm) seems to be the golden size. Easy to carry, and handles fit my hand well for extended/heavy use


I do not keychain carry anything, keychains are for keys only. Especially car keys, having extra weight hanging from the key can cause undue wear and damage to the lock cylinder - plus I absolutely HATE stuff hanging around my knees and legs when I am driving.

 

I found the golden rule for myself being this: Lay the knife onto your hand, the whole knife should be as long as your hand, from the wrist to the longest finger with a blade around as long as that finger.
For me the Caly 3 is perfect with this rule and also in daily use but of course many of my knives are a bit bigger or smaller, just to add some variance and it doesn't always have to be a decision of the mind, often the nice designs don't come in "my" size.

 

That is actually a pretty good rule of thumb (or, should I say middle finger?).

My good old Pioneer has a blade of just about that length, although a somewhat shorter handle makes it fall short of the overall rule by a centimeter or so. Anyway, I find that this humble knife is pretty much the perfect EDC size for me personally.

Pioneer on Flickr

 

I have found in my EDC that if I carry too small a blade I am more likely to hurt myself using it than not?
Same here for non-locking blades,if I can carry one that locks,I will.

I have no trouble at all opening mail with my ZT 0350 but I can not do much real work that I need too with a small blade either so I carry the 0350 if I can.

If not I still carry a Delica and can pretty much always do so without issue.

I love a Cadet for sure but it is an accident waiting to happen for me too.

 

I own many folding knives from a SAK classic with a blade barely over an inch, to a Kershaw with a 4 inch blade. I must be turning into a boring old guy but for all the knives I have, over the past few years, I have ended up settling on 2 knives for regular carry, the Spyderco Dragonfly in ZDP 189 for in town EDC and Delica in 189 for outdoors pocket carry. My other dozen or so folders sit collecting dust in a drawer. Even though the Dragonfly blade is only 2.25 inches long, it is long enough for most things I need to cut. When I am hiking/fishing/hunting I also carry a fixed blade

 

The smallest folder I've carried as primary is my Kershaw Ember with a 5.1cm (2') blade.

The larger blades I carry all have about a 8.n cm blade (3.25")... 10.n cm (4") would probably be my limit.

 

Of course it's not a "perfect" rule but it's good as a guiding line. Or smth like that

 

Smallest would be my kershaw chive and largest would be my zt0200 or zt0452cf. Or my adamas I suppose. Depends on what I'm doing. The chive works great around sheople for opening things (office setting, wife's work at bath and bodyworks,even my daughter likes using it) if I'm out in the garage or at work it's my zt0350 or larger (not the best neighborhood)

 

Minimum would be 6.35 cm and if I could legally my max would be just over 9.5 centimeters. At this point I don't own or carry a folder over 8.9 cm. I work in an office environment and rarely have need for anything larger than a Victorinox Cadet while at work. On the weekends I carry knives like the ZT 456, which is around 9 centimeters. I don't have keychain knives unless you count the Leatherman Squirt as a knife.

 

Generally, I carry no longer than approximately 10 cm (4") in my pocket. After that, it gets to be a hassle to carry. But everyone is different- there are people out there who carry 15,25 cm bladed folding knives in their pockets every day with no complaints, and there are some who think that anything larger than a 58mm SAK is too much.

Personally, I don't carry knives on my keychain. The keys and other tools (flashlight, prybar) get in the way of using the knife effectively, and it's too much of a hassle to disconnect the knife from the ring every time I want to use it. Thus, in my humble opinion, 0,00cm is the perfect size knife for keychain carry.

EDIT: It's worth noting that there is no blade length limit where I live (Kentucky, USA). Provided you aren't concealing it and are not threatening people with it, a Kentuckian can, according to the letter of the law as I understand it, carry any non-automatic, non-balisong knife of any size. Your mileage WILL vary, of course.

 

My personal limit around town and such is around 2,5" or 60mm or a 91mm sak since they are people friendly , at work there is always a fixed blade at around 4" and a smaller knife. In the woods it is similar too what I have at work.

 

The largest I carry is my small sebenza . My woods knifes are a Hess four inch or my ratmandu which is a little over five inches .

Jake

 

For me, the biggest blade length I carry is 3.5.

 

Kershaw Chive for small and ZT 200 or Benchmade Bedlam on the larger size. For me a small blade with some heft is ok to carry by itself. Thin one like my SAK's are only used as back up.

 

Putting knife types aside, and the reason for knife use, the best fitting and most comfortable size I have used in a folder is my Spyderco Tenacious which incidently is the exact length of my hand. A gentleman's knife is a good size folder and there is a reason this size is so popular.

For a fixed blade I find the Cold Steel Pendelton Hunter and Esse 3 to be the most comfortable.

The width and depth of a knife can be just as important.

 

Indeed. My Dragonfly is shorter than the blades on my Vic Cadet and Compact, but it is much wider. Both measurements can make a big difference depending on what you're cutting. The blade on a Vic classic is only about a centimeter and a half shorter than my Dragonfly's blade, but the classic is about half a centimeter wide while the D'fly is 2.5 cm at it's widest point.

Handle size is another interesting factor. I like smaller Spydercos and my Dragonfly and Roadie both allow a four finger grip while my Ladybug only allows a three finger grip, yet the ladybug is only a few millimeters smaller in blade length. This is especially important in a keychain knife as a smaller handle means less bulk on your keys.

Most of my blades are between 1.7 inches and 2.6 inches (sorry I'm too lazy to switch to metric). I have one larger folder that I don't carry out much just because it's bigger than I usually need and laws are mostly up to the individual police officer's decision.

Hmm... a quick glance at my ruler and I think the shortest I'd go for a keychain would be about 3.5 cm. That's roughly the length of a Vic classic. There's not much shorter than that anyway. 2 inches is just past 5 cm and I think that's about the biggest I'd go for a keychain. 3 in. seems to be about 7.5 cm and I think that's the max I'd go for an edc. If I think I need something more than that, I'll take my Mora fixed blade along.

 

Generally 3-4 inches. Years ago I went with a Boker Subcom (tad under 2 inches) or a Delica 4 FFG (tad under 3 inches) but that has changed. I have a big hand (2xl glove) and although I don't use a knife all day or every day, if I use it, I want to be comfortable.