I now have the video posted. part 8 tip
www.knifetest.com
I placed the broken half of the blade in a vice and used a large crescent wrench
on it.
There was a small chip that occurred on the concrete portion of my test.
so it may have added to the tip easily breaking.
I will note though the Cold Steel bushman suffered a large chip midway on the blade and was still able to survive a lot of flexing.
Anyways I did it. It is now available for debate.
Ahh! That's better.:thumbup:
Noss,
I don't care what anyone thinks of me. I'm going to say, "Nice job."
People give you too much crap.
I can't help noticing how many people HAVEN'T posted here. Normally, you'd get a bunch of people jumping on you. I suspect they're as fascinated as I am. Most of them are my friends. I hope they just decided to give you a break and be entertained as I am by your efforts.
Sure, it wasn't a 'scientific' test, but it was WAY more illustrative than the tests we've seen from Cold Steel.
You've gotten a lot of positive feedback. Frankly, I'm not surprised. I mean, really, EVERYONE wants to know what would happen if they tried to stab their knife through a metal chair 20 times, etc. You're just doing what most people can't afford to do and I wouldn't be a bit surprised if you get a big following.
I'm sure more scientific, controlled, tests would be more useful overall, but this kind of GRITTY test is very illustrative, fun and will probably end up being pretty popular.
I don't know if I'd recommend any knife based on your tests alone, but I think your videos could serve as a supplement to what people already report on the forums. I certainly think Bladeforums is a good venue for this and I think you should continue. I don't even think it's bad for the knifemakers.
I don't know if you're into guns, but your tests remind me of the Marshall & Sanow book "Handgun Stopping Power" I'm currently reading. Basically, they tossed all the labratory ballistics tests and gathered records from street cop shootings to see what really happened in real life. Although, technically, your tests aren't 'real life' they absolutely do simulate what most people wonder what their knife can do.
I'd like to see you test a
Chris Reeve knife soon. We have a lot of Reeve fans here. I prefer them and would love to see them treated this way, especially since I would never do it myself. I suggest a Chris Reeve One-Piece design which are their flagship designs. Perhaps the Shadow IV which is a very popular mid-size model.
Also, the knives you've tested have performed well. But I'd like to see you test other lower-end knives to see if they perform less well or break sooner - for comparison. (I'm sure a $100 Kershaw D2 Outcast wouldn't do as well as a Strider, but let's see what the difference is.)
I'd also like to see a resharpen sometime during the tests. There's a lot to be said about how a knife can be resharpened in the field. I know Chris Reeve intentionally makes their fixed blades a little soft so they can be resharpened more easily in the field.
As a constructive criticizm, I'm not sure that extensive cement block/brick chopping illustrates very much at all. I don't know that I'd expect any more from a knife than any wedge-shaped chunk of steel or a chisel for that use. Even MY level of curiosity dies here. It seems like one minute worth of block chopping or chiseling with the tip would tell you all you need to know about a knife steel. After that, it ceases being a knife. I'd rather see you skip to another material or 'use' after a much shorter time on the block/brick.
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