A W&SS standardized knife test.

S

Sharp_newbie

Joined
Aug 12, 2007
Messages
701
I have been a active reader on this forum (not so much on the posting side, but I have had a Very busy 2009) and i have always enjoyed the knife reviews. the problem is that i find only a small percentage of member actually go out and do a full review of the knife. so i propose that we put our brains together and come up with a standardized knife test that anyone could do in any region. that way if all the knifes are doing the same tests it will be easier to compare between knifes. so what do you guys think is this a good idea? and what would you all like to see in the test?

i was thinking we should have 3 sections:

Fit and finish
Ergonomics
and knifecraft.

Fit and finish
a detailed look at the knife. looking at the grind, the fit of the handle slabs the quality of the makers work.

Ergonomics
How the knife feels in the hand? any hot spots, how is the knifes overall flow. how easy is it to sharpen

and finally

Knifecraft
a test of the knifes abilities
-chopping
-batoning
-fuzz sticks
-fine carving etc.

I'm open to any and all ideas on the topic. Maybe we can make a template and get on of the super-mods to sticky it so that anytime anyone does a review of a knife we can have a running comparison to everything else and maybe we could also derive a scoring system.

Just a thought.

Gilles.
 
problem is many dont review knives by a standardized test.... many test in their own way, to see if the knife meets their usage needs.
 
I agree on some points. I would like to read more comprehensive reviews. I am always uninterested in the rhetorical review that only goes over initial impressions and fit and finish only, which seem most common.
 
Bushman5 said:
problem is many dont review knives by a standardized test.... many test in their own way, to see if the knife meets their usage needs.
Click to expand...

Very true. Sometimes knives arent users either. I still enjoy impressions people have etc, even when not used. I just like pictures hehe
 
I don't know about anyone else, and this is truly my humble opinion: I get bored with knife reviews that do the same thing over again. So it made fuzz sticks, Oh lordsy me its a winner call congress! What other things can you do with that particular knife that makes it unique? What makes it different from a Mora 510 or a Convex beauty. What can you do that hasn't really been shown often, and make that task highlight the knife. Just my 2 cents.
 
Joezilla said:
I don't know about anyone else, and this is truly my humble opinion: I get bored with knife reviews that do the same thing over again. So it made fuzz sticks, Oh lordsy me its a winner call congress! What other things can you do with that particular knife that makes it unique? What makes it different from a Mora 510 or a Convex beauty. What can you do that hasn't really been shown often, and make that task highlight the knife. Just my 2 cents.
Click to expand...

Well put.
 
Bushman5 said:
if it can cut the head off a chicken, or a goat or lamb, its a good knife in my books.
Click to expand...

could this said goat be used in your stew?

kidding aside everybody is going to get a different opinion from every knife even a standardized review would always be different according to the size of the users hands or even skill level
 
Good idea but I have found that many on here don't want to upset the maker of their latest knife and so gloss over the truth a little !
 
Joezilla said:
I don't know about anyone else, and this is truly my humble opinion: I get bored with knife reviews that do the same thing over again. So it made fuzz sticks, Oh lordsy me its a winner call congress! What other things can you do with that particular knife that makes it unique? What makes it different from a Mora 510 or a Convex beauty. What can you do that hasn't really been shown often, and make that task highlight the knife. Just my 2 cents.
Click to expand...

I think the issue here is that, well, a knife is a knife. In the bush a knife is quite likely to be used to carve fuzzies, prepare fire materials, or build a shelter. Or it'll be used to clean and dress fish or game. Or it'll be used to carve a spoon and a bowl. Or, of course, all of the above. The thing is, most knives can do what most other knives can do, so unless it's a curved blade carving knife that puts out production-worthy spoons and bowls, or a 7" fillet knife that'll cut a salmon so thin you can read through it, most blades are going to be capable of pretty similar stuff.


I like reading knife reviews regardless, though I definitely enjoy ones with pics from out in the bush more. For standardization, I always like in-hand shots to get an idea how the handle fits, and some general useage stuff(fuzzies, chopping, batonning) is always fun to look at. If it's a collector/safe queen, glamour shots are fine;)
 
Originally Posted by Joezilla View Post
I don't know about anyone else, and this is truly my humble opinion: I get bored with knife reviews that do the same thing over again. So it made fuzz sticks, Oh lordsy me its a winner call congress! What other things can you do with that particular knife that makes it unique? What makes it different from a Mora 510 or a Convex beauty. What can you do that hasn't really been shown often, and make that task highlight the knife. Just my 2 cents.
Click to expand...

I agree, what i was thinking was taking something from the Northern bushcraft books. it would be a great put up or shut up too and thee is a ton of good knife tests that we dont do every day in there.
 
Handle shape shot from spine side, preferably compared to well known object
is always welcome for me. Aside that, I always look forward to see the field, rather
than the blade itself. If the blade is working well in the field that I would like to go, then
it should be a good news for me.
 
Nice idea but it suffers from at least three problems:

1] When we were knocking around ideas for that custom knife competition thingy and how they should be compared I suggested a similar sort of thing. Essentially I proposed three broad groups with a bunch of subtasks a] performance at woodworking type stuff. B] performance at food prep type stuff, C] and performance at general utility – leather, rope, canvas, whatever. I figured that would introduce a desirable level of rigor and help put an end to the lie that any knife that is sharp is good enough. On the whole that notion was received with apathy.

2] Not all people are good at sharpening. We know this because we see members sending off knives to be sharpened or cooing over knives that came sharpened to dumb epithet level. That wouldn't happen if the ability to sharpen properly was common place. It would be a trivial given. Further clues lay in discussions where some members clearly aren't understanding edge refinement and how to make it harder to pry chunks out the matrix – preferring instead the the toothy scratchy edge that gives better initial bite but is much more fragile. We also have accounts of people that find it hard to sharpen a steel because it is stainless FFS.

3] Not all people use knives in the same manner and that can lead to weird results. For example, someone came up with something they call the “chest lever cutting method”. It seems some people like that, to me it is useless. Further, look at the discussions about choils and whether the cutting edge should come right up to the handle or not. In part I can see where the cutting edge coming right up to the handle comes from – it is clear that the further away from your hand the blade cuts the more leverage is being placed on your wrist. We all know that as obvious. What is less obvious to some people is that applies principally if you hold the knife as a kind of T shape with your wrist like Mary Poppins grips a pair of bicycle handlebars. I think that is a really weak way to hold a knife. If I am putting a point on a fat stick and whittling off big chunks I'm cutting down in a manner that the outstretched thumb and wrist are in a line and the knife addresses the material to be cut on the diagonal. The wrist locks and body weight can be used to deliver the cuts. Accordingly the business about choils and cutting edges ideally coming up right to the handle is completely overblown as the material usually misses that part of the blade regardless of what is there. For sure I can't match the power of a cut delivered like that with a T shape Mary Poppins grip. On that, blades can be totally unfairly judged because it is often about the competence the operator has at various tasks.
 
This is a fine suggestion for a well rounded review format.

I think many guys here share the same issue of time constraints as you. It can be a chore to really gather an in depth review, so most just record what they can and share it at leisure. Responsibility sucks.

Ultimately, I will be grateful and applaud any member here who shares his thoughts by review with the community. No matter how simple it is. Pictures are a big time bonus though.
 
Standardization is probably not the best word...maybe recommendations. Fit/finish, handling and maybe a quick overview of the sheath and wear options are good for standards but uses vary with the design of the knife. I was doing some clearing yesterday and I had a Fallkniven H1 and a M43 Khukuri; I had to cut some electrical wire (not hot of course), and the M43 was the tool of choice.

Recommendations would be different depending on the design and intended uses...bushcraft, camp blade, skinner/hunting knife, heavy chopper, light chopper, axe, etc.

Magnussen demonstrated how a large bladed knife can do small-knife tasks and several here have shown how a small knife can do large-knife tasks through various techniques.

I think some standards would help new knife reviewers get their bearings with recommended ideas, but I would add some encouragement for unique uses as we've seen a combat tomahawk used for bushcraft and we've seen Mistwalker make a bamboo fish spear (I think it was Mistwalker:o). Not everybody battons, but it's a good recommendation for a general review.

A good idea overall, just avoid a cookie-cutter knife review as that would get boring quickly.

ROCK6
 
Joezilla said:
I don't know about anyone else, and this is truly my humble opinion: I get bored with knife reviews that do the same thing over again. So it made fuzz sticks, Oh lordsy me its a winner call congress! What other things can you do with that particular knife that makes it unique? What makes it different from a Mora 510 or a Convex beauty. What can you do that hasn't really been shown often, and make that task highlight the knife. Just my 2 cents.
Click to expand...

You sound kind of cranky for a Newly Wed, shouldn't you be locked up in a room with your new beautiful wife.:confused:

I think fuzz sticks actually do tell you something. Yes fuzz sticks can be made with any knife, but the user can definately tell a difference between knives. Some knives glide through with minimal pressure, and some get hung up and pop out of the grain. You can tell in pics when people are forcing their knife through wood to make a fuzzy..

I do hear you about the same old stuff in a review, but it does make sense to do the same old stuff, as long as the reviewer can be honest about which is better or worse..

As for showing what makes the knife special and stand out; I am all for that! But I think we shouldn't leave out the basics either.

Just my crappy oppinion:)
 
pitdog said:
Good idea but I have found that many on here don't want to upset the maker of their latest knife and so gloss over the truth a little !
Click to expand...

That's a good point. When I send out a few knives for a pass-around, I want honest opinions. The pass-around is the best way I can think of to get feedback to improve a design.

So, everyone, don't hold back. If you think I've made a POS, I want to know why, so I can fix it.
 
more photos of the knives people are reviewing

pics

- of knife held in hand
- spine shot
- handle/frame shot
- knife next to a beer can (universal sizing device) for size comparision
- side shot
- knife in sheath shot


etc
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top