Something new from Jesse Davis

[hso]

Jesse did a variation on the small WC Davis "chute" knife I picked up in an estate sale.

The balance point is just on the index finger and the knife is very comfortable in the hand.

The ricasso is very pronounced and allows for a thumb or finger in front of the guard with the rest of the hand securely gripping the micarta/guard.

The blade is 440C that Jesse carefully heat treats and cryos to optimize performance. The guard is the nickel alloy (nickel silver) seen on many nicer knives. Pins are mosaic.

We're still playing around with variations on this design, but the slightly larger knife is about ideal size for a chute knife style. Next variation will have no ricasso, like the original from WC Davis, but a 1/3 sharpened top edge. Perhaps flat grinds, too.

 

[Kookla]

That is really cool. I like how the bottom one has those two scalloped parts towards the hilt (apologies for poor terminology)

 

[hso]

Some might call them a choil, but they don't serve the utility purpose of a choil and would better be referred to as notches. They make for an easy way to begin the sharpened edge.

The lines of the lower knife are more appealing, but I'm still handling the slightly larger one and getting a feel for it and that odd ricasso is sorta growing on me.

 

[JShirley]

I like the lower knife better, as well.

 

[hso]

Yeah, the lines are more appealing. The balance is awful though and I have no idea why WC didn't taper the tang or lighten it with holes to move the balance point forward to the index finger instead of being as far back as between the ring and second finger.

Our goal is to get this style balanced and then play with seeing how far we can push the length out before it looses the appealing lines.

 

[Kookla]

Lol, so while it has the look, doesn't have the feel. Man, just shows how much goes into this stuff.

That being said- the top one is growing on me. I don't know why.

 

[JShirley]

The top one's guard looks really archaic to me.

 

[Bobson]

What's the role of a chute knife?

 

[rcmodel]

Parachutes?

From an article in the Jan '06 Blade:

"A chute knife is basically a fairly small, compact fighter/survival knife. It is short, light, double edged and strong, but not out of heavier stock than 3/16 of an inch. There are holes in the guard and rear of the handle to allow lashing of the knife to a pole or limb."

Quote from Ken Warner:

"Warner stresses that, being a purpose-designed piece for someone who parachuted into unknown terrain, the original chute knife was built in exacting detail. 'A lot of people are making chute knives, and once in a while someone gets it right.....There are several things a guy has to do in [parachute] rigging. One is to cut. Say the guy is on his way down; he really can't dig around searching for an edge..."

Hence the double edge.

Quote from Bob Loveless, maker of the first chute knife:

"'I basically took the bowie, or the so-called bowie knife, with a top clip [swedge on the blade spine ending at the tip] and sharpened it,' Loveless explains. 'I brought the main blade bevel up about halfway, maybe two-thirds or three fifths of the way up toward the spine, and left a big flat on the upper side of the blade for trademarking. I made the knife with a double guard and pierced holes in the guard so that Harry could lash it down onto a pole if he needed to--all of the original chute knives had those holes for years, but the don't anymore.'"

Here is an early Loveless for sale.
(But be setting down before you look at the asking price!!)

http://boblovelessknives.com/for_sale_harryArcher.html


rc

 

[Shanghai McCoy]

That Loveless knife really has that 70's custom knife look . The sheath is pretty cool looking too, might have to try making one in that style sometime.

 

[Valkman]

Wow a Loveless/Steve Johnson knife? No wonder it's got the price it does. Those are rare.

 

[JShirley]

It looks slightly recurve? Out of place on that knife, IMO.

 

[rcmodel]

Not if you are hanging in a tree, reaching above your head, trying to snag some shroud lines to cut yourself down.

Less recurve would let the paracord slip right on down a straight blade grind.

Remember the knife was designed for a specific purpose.

Not to please everyone's personal preference in what a knife should look like.

rc

 

[JShirley]

I was actually thinking practically, rc, as I usually do. A knife supposedly meant to use for survival purposes should be easy to sharpen with the most rudimentary means.

This means recurves are out.

The knife I may be proudest of codesigning is a recurve, so obviously being a recurve is not something I'm automatically against. I do, however, like tools to do the job they're designed for.

My complaint is the opposite of the one you've lodged against me~ I believe the recurve on the knife was purely stylistic.

I'm also going to just state that you don't seem to have any experience cutting lines under pressure if you think a cord holding 180 lbs of more is going to let a sharp edge "slip right on down". I, however, have cut things subjected to pressure.

 

[rcmodel]

Yea, I guess I never cut anything 'under pressure' hanging from a parachute.

But I did see a lot of guys carrying nice knives in the army that were so dull it wouldn't matter if there was 180 pounds of pressure on a static line, or not.

A straight blade would slip where a recurve 'might' possibly give enough angle over your head to get a grip and cut it.

I think that's what Loveless was going after.

But maybe he just be stylin!
I do not know what he was thinking about.

Wish I did.
I could be famous too if I was dead, and could sell my knives for $13 grand.

rc

 

[Jeff White]

I have 432 jumps in my log book. I spent four years in my younger days jumping from perfectly good airplanes for fun.

I carried a hook knife that thankfully I never had to use. It was a copy of the USGI parachutist's knife (I will dig it out and post a picture) only it wasn't automatic opening. I carried it with the hook blade unfolded in a pocket on the thigh of my jumpsuit.

The purpose of the hook knife was to enable the jumper to cut just one line safely. This was to be done as a way to clear a line over or "Mae West" malfunction. It was called a Mae West because a line over a round parachute made it look like a huge bra.

I am thinking that this type of knife would only have been useful as a survival tool once on the ground or for a jump master to carry so that he could cut a static line and free a towed jumper on a static line drop.

I wouldn't want to use a knife like that under canopy. Too easy to cut something you didn't intend to cut.

 

[hso]

A chute knife wasn't primarily intended to be used to cut parachute lines except as a last resort. The primary role was a compact survival/fighter.

 

[kBob]

A Mae West is in my direct personal experience a "Bad Thing". If my Orthopedic Doc and wife would ever let me near another parachute, I would like to have a hook knife......just saying.

I would think something like seat belt cutter on some modern folders might be a good thing. Perhaps something like one of these little fixed blades with a seat belt cutter in the pommel?

I always thought a Bowie with the false edge straightened and sharpened would be called a Randall #1.........

-kBob