This is really interesting and good stuff but I wonder if the HRC values for one model represent one measurement on one knife, multiple measurements on one knife, or what? I gather many of these measurements come from knives that users send in, so asking for 3-5 measurements may be too much for people, but a single measurement isn't necessarily indicative of the actual HRC. For example, you wouldn't take the height of a random coworker and extrapolate that as the average height in your building. It would be interesting to sacrifice a cheap knife to take multiple measurements within the same areas along the length of the blade to see what the standard deviation of the HRC is like.
And don't take this as me trying to refute the BM test results, I'm just curious about the variability of the test results and material itself. And if you are testing a knife, might as well make a couple more measurements to get an average (assuming there is observed variability between measurements).
Good questions and this is the dialogue that furthers the conversation. Each of the Bailouts (3) were measured at least 2 times. The first knife that was tested was measured 3 times. 2 times on the coating and once on the blade with the coating removed. We’ve done a lot of testing and my memory may be fuzzy, but I think that knife may have even been hit once or twice on the blade tang. The other Bailout(s) that Frankie Blades tested were hit twice on the exposed tang of the blade. Frankie got 55, all of the readings on the blades I sent in were around 56-56.5.
We try to get as many samples as we can for specific models and/or specific steels. In this case, I emailed Benchmade and they confirmed that the numbers we saw on the first blade were indeed exactly what they wanted. I posted that email earlier.
So, you can only have data on the knives that have been tested, but in this case, Benchmade has supported the findings.
I have avoided adding my info here because it has already been said that a certain level of “fame” is being desired. This testing has been going on for months and months, as you guys can see that from the chart and the 195 knives that are listed on the chart. Several more have been tested since then, but the gent that manages the list is very busy.
I said all of that to say this, if you search #makeknifesteelgreatagain on IG or go to my YT Page, you can see all of this info, in full detail. With comments from other Bailout owners.
In my last video, I also included direct links to all of the gentleman involved in the testing and all of their cut tests, etc, can be found there.
In that video, I also address what has been said here multiple times. This is NOT about Benchmade. For whatever reason, saying Benchmade’s name made everyone look and start to pay attention. This is about gathering information, having discussions, and growing in our steel knowledge as a community.
Somewhere along the way people took that as clout chasing (as the kids say) and Benchmade “hate”. The chart has 195 knives listed and only 6 are Benchmades. I believe in letting facts speak for themselves. If 3% of the knives in an on going project is hate, what about all the other companies that make up a much larger portion of the testing?
I do believe you have a genuine question that moves the conversation along. I’m speaking about this general situation.