Blind test

coop1957

coop1957

Joined
Oct 22, 2002
Messages
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A life long friend of mine who is blind helped me out with a little knife quality experiment. He is no knife nut but does carry a small SAK that he uses quite often. I had him handle several of my production folders to get his feed back.
The 18 blades that he handled were:
Al Mar SERE 2000
Benchmade Mini Grip 555
Benchmade 707
Benchmade Barrage
Bradley Alias
Buck Mayo Waimea
Buck Vantage Pro
HK 14210
CRK Sebenza Small classic
Kershaw Junkyard Dog
Kershaw OD-1
Kershaw Blur
Kershaw Shallot
SOG Twitch 2
Spyderco Delica 4
Spyderco Caly 3 VG10
Spyderco Para
Spyderco Sage 2
Spyderco Tenacious


I gave him a little explanation of each knife and how it operates. He was examining for feel, overall quality, blade sharpness, handle comfort, balance and lockup. The last knife he handled was my CRK small Classic Sebenza. He felt that the Sebenza was of better quality than all the rest. I asked him to explain but he said it was a matter of feel and over all quality.
The knife he didn't like was the SOG2 Twitch.
He felt that the Bradley Alias was a lesser quality knock off of the Sebenza.
He loved the Axis locking system on the BMs.
I know that this is just a subjective test but it was interesting.
And no, he did not cut himself.
 
coop1957 said:
I gave him a little explanation of each knife and how it operates. He was examining for feel, overall quality, blade sharpness, handle comfort, balance and lockup. The last knife he handled was my CRK small Classic Sebenza. He felt that the Sebenza was of better quality than all the rest. I asked him to explain but he said it was a matter of feel and over all quality.
The knife he didn't like was the SOG2 Twitch.
He felt that the Bradley Alias was a lesser quality knock off of the Sebenza.
He loved the Axis locking system on the BMs.
I know that this is just a subjective test but it was interesting.
And no, he did not cut himself.
Click to expand...

I really like the concept.
I know you stated it was a subjective test. That being said, it would be interesting to get his opinions if he handled the knives again, in a random order, without any "explanation" of each knife. Those types of things (explanations, etc.) can influence his perceptions. Also, to do it again (whilst switching up the order) would help to eliminate what's called the "recency effect" which is basicaly showing favor to the most recent item.
Still, I like the idea.
 
Let me explain the test a little further. I did not tell him the names of the knives. They were numbered. They were given to him in random order. When I explained the knives to him all that I told him was how the knife opened and the locking mechanism. No rush - He had several days to complete the test.
His background: He is 58 yo and was a mining engineer for 21 yrs before he went blind 10 years ago.
 
That is a very interesting test.

I like to do something similar albeit not with someone who actually can’t see. It seems that for the most part if someone has an expensive hobby or knowledge of engineering they can generally pick out the good stuff.
 
coop1957 this was an amazing test. revolutionary of yourself to conceive it, & made for a very interesting read. thank you.
 
Interesting idea. I wonder if you did this with a blindfolded group of people, would there be an obvious pattern... you could have separate groups of knife people and non-knife people.. would be interesting to see the results...
 
Thats a very good idea and well thought out way of doing it. Thanks for taking the time to experiment and share with us.
 
One other thing about this "Blind" test. My friend is not a knife nut but he is a quality nut. He ties lures for fly fishing. He maintains/rebuilds fishing reels. He has hiked most of the Appalachian Trail. He has help in that his wife is great outdoors women and he has a talking GPS. An all around good guy who is very capable in providing a respected opinion on quality.
 
I find it interesting that your tester reached the same conclusions that are often voiced on the forums about these same knives.

Great confirmation. Thanks for posting this.
 
Very interesting test. What surprised me a lot is the comment that "He felt that the Bradley Alias was a lesser quality knock off of the Sebenza."
They do look similar when you see them (overall blade profile, color of beadblasted titanium, stonewashed balde, blue thumbstud), but if I close my eyes and handle them, they feel quite different (blade grind, swedge, handle shape, pocket clip, blade opening cutout, lockbar jimping). I'm not a blind guy, and I'm not questioning his opinion, I'm just wondering how those two knives got connected. The only similarities that I can feel are one sided thumbstud and beadblasted titanium texture.
 
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