Drop point... clip point...???

[TheViking]

Hey

What does it mean when it's a 'drop point' and 'clip point'?? I know it's something about the point, but clip and drop??
Please show pictures!! :!: :idea: :-D :-D

[leon-1]

Viking, I prefer drop point to clip point.

The guys from british Blades would probably be better at describing it than I am and I don't tend to have examples of different types of knife at work.

This is a rough description,

A drop point is pretty much what it says on the tin, the back edge of the blade gently curves (drops away) with a convex curve towards the cutting edge. Thus the blade ends up with a slightly spear point shape.

With a clip point, the blade appears to have either a straightedge or a concave curve that slopes towards the point of the blade.

If I am wrong the guys from british blades will correct me, but I believe that this is pretty much what it is. :-D

[Bex]

The definative drop point:

http://www.knivesplus.com/BE-201A02-Beretta-Loveless-Field-Hunter.html

The R.W. Loveless design drop point hunter as made for and sold by Beretta. Loveless is credited with designing the modern drop point.

Clip points are commonly found on bowie knives. Take a look at this thread on knifeforums:

http://www.knifeforums.com/ubbthreads/showflat.php?Cat=&Number=42673 1&page=0&view=collapsed&sb=5&o =&fpart=1

The classic folding Buck Hunter also has a clip point:

http://www.buckknives.com/catalog/detail/224/238

Hope this was of some help.

[Hoodoo]

http://www4.gvsu.edu/triert/images6/dropvsclip1b.jpg

[ChrisKavanaugh]

Hoodoo's photo shows a very conservative clip point. The actual difference between these two in strength and usefullness is very little. Many clip points are much more extreme. The german Linder hunting knives, US Camillis/Ontario service issue survival knife and the fighting bowies are examples. The clip will have a false edge, or even a sharpened one for backslashes or even using the tip as a crude drill. What you have in the real world is a tip prone to breaking and more likely to penetrate organs when skinning and butchering. Clip points are created by simple grinding against a somewhat more precise process on a drop point. I suspect that led to the more radical examples: make a mistake and you just grind away more.

[Stuart]

I really really dislike clip points they weaken the blade enormously, you have essentually removed the spine of the blade towards the point

[Martyn]

Clip points make good weapons - that's thier primary function in truth.

[Gary]

I prefer clip points but only in cases where the removed metal from the spin is replaced in the swell of the belly. For example the Brusletto Bamsen - a fine knife I used for many years in the army and one that didnt cost me and arm and a leg.

The arguement that a clip point weakens the blade is relative as I wouldn't intend to use it climbing trees or some such. And as long as the point is alined with the center of the tang the blade and the knife will remain strong through out whethers its a clip or a drop.

A clip does make many tasks easier (skinning and butchering) as well as offering a flat surface to the baton for splitting.

The Mora Classic - the red wooden handled knife (recommended by some of the best schools and instructors in the business) upon which most modern bushcraft blades are based has a slight clip point itself.

But as we have said on other threads - the best knife is the one to you have and given the choice the one you have is the one you like. Its more important to be familiar with, and know how to use, your tool no matter what the design than it is to have the latest and shinest brand name on the market!

[ESpy]

The "traditional" Sheffield sheath knife invariably had a clip point. Whether this was a throwback to the time when Sheffield was exporting Bowie blades to the US, I don't know.

[Andy]

the concave clip point tends to make a much finer edge though not as strong. I like my lock and mora knives with a clip point, but the sheffield sheath knife suffers in a bushcraft roll. I hope this is ok in a historical sense though I'll edit if needs be. the clip point was designed to lower the point of the knife to a level inline with the center of force when it is thrus forward. it was curved in oder to allow the knife to go through the rib cage ad into the heart better. the straight clip point wont do this as much