Little Big Knives (LBK's)
LBK stands for Little Big Knife. The origin of the design comes from the original Wilderness model 2 blade, which has recently split into the LBK and the Puget Sound Trapper. I wanted the big knife handling and feel in a knife with a small package and a short enough blade for small knife nimbleness. While some variations, such as the Combat LBK, are a bit longer, the general knife is a good 2-4 inches shorter than a comparable large knife.
I tend to advocate a straight spine and a lueku or puukko derived blade for bushcraft. I like the added ease and safety for draw cutting and batonning. And nothing gives you a good pinch grip like a straight spine. However, I chose a spearpoint for this style. Spearpoints have a lot of strong points - from the extremely strong point, long belly, and dropped edge for hand clearance, to the added stability of a wide blade without adding undue amounts of mass. A long thumb-ramp, dropped edge for grip security, and a comfortably curved handle are all design points.
There are three main types of LBK: The woodsman, the SERE, and the Combat LBK.
The woodsman is the original. Made of .095 15N20 steel, with a convex taper and a differential temper. This is a very lightweight and compact knife, with an overall length of around 8.5 inches and a tough, thin, lightweight blade. It batons and digs safely, but it is not quite an axe or a prybar.
Woodsman LBK
While I am perfectly comfortable with the wooodsman model as a survival knife, the trend and desire for most people is to have a thicker bladed survival knife. The SERE edition is designed as a compact but thicker version of the LBK . The steel is 5160 with a tang thickness of .165 to .175 inches. The blade starts a full distal taper at the hilt and has a very full convex grind. This provides extra mass, lateral strength, and whatever chopping ability you can get in a 4 to 5 inch blade- while retaining maximum cutting ability and edge strength. The added thickness and convex grind also make this a superior batoning, splitting, and digging blade.
(Pictures coming soon!)
The Combat LBK, or CLBK, is the heaviest, thickest blade I've made under 10 inches. Tang thickness on this is around .20 to .22 and the whole knife is very massive. With the full distal taper and convex grind, there's still a lot of cutting ability, but this is a brute. It's not going to break against gear, body armor, magazines, or anything. The mass actually helps with a solid stab or slicing motion in this blade.
Combat LBK
