The first Bushcraft knives I made had thinner handles made from 3/16″ and 1/4″ thick materials. I did this to keep the knife light and easy to carry, since there was plenty of palm swell built into the profile of the full tang.
After receiving feedback from customers who wanted a thicker/larger handle, the 3rd Gen Bushcraft was born – with handles made from 3/8″ thick material. I dropped the front lanyard hole and kept both pins. I could not contour the handles without risking removing the pin head and leaving the exposed shaft (unsightly at best, unstable at worst). So there was no contouring on this run.
Most customers enjoyed the larger handles, but I still wanted to return to something slightly thinner, yet still hand-filling. So I dropped the rear pin, making it possible to provide a full palm swell.
Here are some quick shop pics to illustrate the new Gen4 handle profile:
