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Ok, since I'm the new owner of a few Benchmades (806D2, 921, and 940-all plain edge), I figured I would do a couple tests of their cutting abilities to see how sharp they really were. I could tell right out of the box that the edges on the 921 and 940 were impeccable. They were the sharpest Benchmades I have ever seen out of the box. Not bad for a company who used to get many complaints about OTB sharpness. Good to see they are improving. I could also tell the edge bevel on the 806D2 was rather steep, much more so than the other two, and more than I care to have. I will definitely have to reprofile its edge before I will be happy with the 806. The last Benchmade I owned was a Stryker 910HSSR with M2 combo edge. I have since lost an interest in combo edge knives because I have never had a use that required one. Anyway, I wanted to see how well these three new knives performed with various cutting tests. These tests are very simple, and in no way scientific, but do show real world results. After all, this is what we want to know about our knives. So, without further ado, on to the tests.
Test 1: Shaving hair
Shaved a few paths of hair off my leg (I have no more hair on my arms) to see how well the knives performed.
940- Razor sharp, popped hair without any pulling. Clean path with one swipe.
921- Exact same as the 940. Super sharp.
806D2- Would shave hair, but not well. A lot of pulling, and took several passes to clear a path of hair.
Test 2: Shaving paper.
I laid a sheet of magazine paper flat on a table, and then shaved a section of print without going through the page.
940- No problem what-so-ever. Was able to shave several sections with ease.
921- Again, the results were same as the 940.
806D2- I could shave some sections, but went through the page more times than not. Bevel seemed too steep. You really need to be able to lay the knife pretty flat to do this test.
Test 3: Mail Opening.
I took yesterday's mail delivery, and used each knife to open several pieces. In case there are different ways that people use to open mail, I'll explain my method. I took the knife and sliced the flap on the top by inserting the tip into the corner just under it, and cutting the fold in the flap. This is mostly a push cut, that tests the edge for it's ability to slice paper with ease.
940- Push cut very easily without any hangups or tearing. Virtually took no effort at all. Only problem with this knife is the reverse tanto blade shape made it somewhat more difficult to get the tip of the knife under the flap to start the cut.
921- King of this test. The wharncliffe blade shape easily went under the flap to get started. It was so sharp, it almost seemed like the paper was cutting itself before the blade touched it in sheer fear of the blade. No real perceived effort, and some times the blade would wander out of the fold, and actually slice the flap itself. Absolutely no hangups or tearing with this knife.
806D2- Blade shape made it easy to get under the flap, but the knife seemed to require more pressure to cut the paper. The cuts were no where near as smoothe or clean as the other two knives. It was almost as if the blade was more or less tearing the paper very cleanly as opposed to slicing it. It would create more paper dust than the others, suggesting the paper was tearing somewhat. Had a few hangups where the envelope would tear obviously a bit, and then the knife would begin slicing again. No where near the performance of the other two knives.
Test 4: Hanging Rolled Towel.
I rolled a terry cloth towel that was 2' x 3' in a tight roll along the 2' section (so I had a 3' long towel roll). This made a very tight roll that had 12 layers in the cross section which was almost 2" thick. I tied it in several places with 550 cord to keep it rolled, then I hung the towel and proceeded to take a swipe with each knife. This makes for a similar test to rope cutting. I made several passes with each knife on a fresh section to get an average feel for their abilities.
940- Would cut cleanly to the last 2-3 layers, but never completely through. I'm sure different technique could make a clean through and through cut, but I couldn't do it with the hanging towel. Not enough blade length for my swing.
921- Consistently cut down to the last layer, with one time through and through. If you look at a towel, you will see you have the reinforced edges where the terry cloth has been weaved a different way to prevent fraying. This is what seemed to hang the blade up most of the time, as it would get almost through in most cases. I'm sure with different technique, or another 1/2" blade length, this knife would consistently cut all the way through.
806D2- Here is where I have become rather disappointed with the edge on this knife. For a knife that is designed to be a good slasher for self defense, it really performed poorly on this test. It wouldn't even make it through the half way mark, except on one pass where it made it to the half way mark (not through). Not impressed at all. I doubt it would do well in a SD situation where slashing through clothes is done. Definitely would recommend stabbing, or thrusting applications.
Test 5: Towel Roll Pulled Tight.
Same towel roll as hanging test, but pulled taught, and even twisted to make it a tighter roll. Made several single passes with each knife to get an average.
940- Easily went all the way through consistently. Never had a pass that didn't cut through. Took some effort, but definitely wasn't hard at all.
921- Again, same as the 940. Never had one that went through. Hard to tell, but I think this knife took less force/effort. Again, this isn't scientific, but just seemed a slight bit easier to do.
806D2- Again, the poorest performer out of the bunch. Even with a longer blade and a hard pass, the knife would barely get 3/4 of the way through. Not impressed at all.
Test 6: Non-hanging Towel Roll.
Rolled towel laid flat, and sliced the cross section, as if you were cutting a kielbasa sausage in half. I wanted to see how many strokes forward and back it would take to go through the roll. A forward and back pass counts as 2 strokes. I would start with the roll at the handle end, and pull the knife almost to the tip, and follow with a push cut back to the handle.
940- On average it took 3 passes with moderate pressure. Very good bite with the blade. It would almost go half way through on the first pass, and would get down to the last 3 or 4 layers on the second. Note, I didn't use as much force as the other tests. I wanted to see how the knife performed without really forcing it.
921- Seemed to perform a bit better than the 940. It would easily go past half way on the first pass, and would get down to the last layer on the second pass. A couple times it halved the roll in 2 passes. Very good performer.
806D2- At the bottom of the pile here again. It would only go through 3-4 layers on average on the first pass. It consistently took at least 4-5 passes to go through.
Last Test: Cardboard Box cutting.
I didn't want to dull the edge too bad, so I only wanted to make a couple passes to see how the knife cut cardboard, not test edge holding.
940- Cut it like it was butter. Very little resistance and clean cut each pass. Good performer.
921- Same as the 940. No real perceiveable difference in cutting ability.
806D2- Cuts not as clean as other two knives, but I have had worse. I feel the blade thickness was one reason it didn't cut as well, along with the steeper edge bevels. The sides of the blade seemed to be getting squeezed in between the cardboard, so this made for more work cutting. Would get tiring breaking down a lot of cardboard boxes.
Had to quit testing when the wife came home to find several of her towels in shreds
. Apparently this wasn't a good way to get her to appreciate my knife obsession 
. Overall, the 921 and the 940 ran neck and neck. However, the 921 takes the crown, mostly due to the ergonomic differences with the blade shape as it will be used for my day to day chores. I feel the S30V blade on the 921 will probably hold it's edge better than the 154CM blade on the 940. There was also a very slight improvement in cutting ability over the 940 in general, however these were almost miniscule. I feel the 806D2 has potential, but will be reserved for the harder cutting tasks that I don't want to subject to the thinner blades of the 921 and 940. I also feel that when I reprofile the edge down to 20 degrees or less, the edge will perform much better, although the blade thickness may still be a bit of a downfall for general light duty tasks. It will still be carried in my back pocket as a backup for the 921, which has earned its place in my right front pocket as my main EDC. I will occasionally rotate it out with the 940, because I still like the 940, and want it to get it's fair share of use.
Hope this helps if anyone has been considering any of these knives.
Mike
Test 1: Shaving hair
Shaved a few paths of hair off my leg (I have no more hair on my arms) to see how well the knives performed.
940- Razor sharp, popped hair without any pulling. Clean path with one swipe.
921- Exact same as the 940. Super sharp.
806D2- Would shave hair, but not well. A lot of pulling, and took several passes to clear a path of hair.
Test 2: Shaving paper.
I laid a sheet of magazine paper flat on a table, and then shaved a section of print without going through the page.
940- No problem what-so-ever. Was able to shave several sections with ease.
921- Again, the results were same as the 940.
806D2- I could shave some sections, but went through the page more times than not. Bevel seemed too steep. You really need to be able to lay the knife pretty flat to do this test.
Test 3: Mail Opening.
I took yesterday's mail delivery, and used each knife to open several pieces. In case there are different ways that people use to open mail, I'll explain my method. I took the knife and sliced the flap on the top by inserting the tip into the corner just under it, and cutting the fold in the flap. This is mostly a push cut, that tests the edge for it's ability to slice paper with ease.
940- Push cut very easily without any hangups or tearing. Virtually took no effort at all. Only problem with this knife is the reverse tanto blade shape made it somewhat more difficult to get the tip of the knife under the flap to start the cut.
921- King of this test. The wharncliffe blade shape easily went under the flap to get started. It was so sharp, it almost seemed like the paper was cutting itself before the blade touched it in sheer fear of the blade. No real perceived effort, and some times the blade would wander out of the fold, and actually slice the flap itself. Absolutely no hangups or tearing with this knife.
806D2- Blade shape made it easy to get under the flap, but the knife seemed to require more pressure to cut the paper. The cuts were no where near as smoothe or clean as the other two knives. It was almost as if the blade was more or less tearing the paper very cleanly as opposed to slicing it. It would create more paper dust than the others, suggesting the paper was tearing somewhat. Had a few hangups where the envelope would tear obviously a bit, and then the knife would begin slicing again. No where near the performance of the other two knives.
Test 4: Hanging Rolled Towel.
I rolled a terry cloth towel that was 2' x 3' in a tight roll along the 2' section (so I had a 3' long towel roll). This made a very tight roll that had 12 layers in the cross section which was almost 2" thick. I tied it in several places with 550 cord to keep it rolled, then I hung the towel and proceeded to take a swipe with each knife. This makes for a similar test to rope cutting. I made several passes with each knife on a fresh section to get an average feel for their abilities.
940- Would cut cleanly to the last 2-3 layers, but never completely through. I'm sure different technique could make a clean through and through cut, but I couldn't do it with the hanging towel. Not enough blade length for my swing.
921- Consistently cut down to the last layer, with one time through and through. If you look at a towel, you will see you have the reinforced edges where the terry cloth has been weaved a different way to prevent fraying. This is what seemed to hang the blade up most of the time, as it would get almost through in most cases. I'm sure with different technique, or another 1/2" blade length, this knife would consistently cut all the way through.
806D2- Here is where I have become rather disappointed with the edge on this knife. For a knife that is designed to be a good slasher for self defense, it really performed poorly on this test. It wouldn't even make it through the half way mark, except on one pass where it made it to the half way mark (not through). Not impressed at all. I doubt it would do well in a SD situation where slashing through clothes is done. Definitely would recommend stabbing, or thrusting applications.
Test 5: Towel Roll Pulled Tight.
Same towel roll as hanging test, but pulled taught, and even twisted to make it a tighter roll. Made several single passes with each knife to get an average.
940- Easily went all the way through consistently. Never had a pass that didn't cut through. Took some effort, but definitely wasn't hard at all.
921- Again, same as the 940. Never had one that went through. Hard to tell, but I think this knife took less force/effort. Again, this isn't scientific, but just seemed a slight bit easier to do.
806D2- Again, the poorest performer out of the bunch. Even with a longer blade and a hard pass, the knife would barely get 3/4 of the way through. Not impressed at all.
Test 6: Non-hanging Towel Roll.
Rolled towel laid flat, and sliced the cross section, as if you were cutting a kielbasa sausage in half. I wanted to see how many strokes forward and back it would take to go through the roll. A forward and back pass counts as 2 strokes. I would start with the roll at the handle end, and pull the knife almost to the tip, and follow with a push cut back to the handle.
940- On average it took 3 passes with moderate pressure. Very good bite with the blade. It would almost go half way through on the first pass, and would get down to the last 3 or 4 layers on the second. Note, I didn't use as much force as the other tests. I wanted to see how the knife performed without really forcing it.
921- Seemed to perform a bit better than the 940. It would easily go past half way on the first pass, and would get down to the last layer on the second pass. A couple times it halved the roll in 2 passes. Very good performer.
806D2- At the bottom of the pile here again. It would only go through 3-4 layers on average on the first pass. It consistently took at least 4-5 passes to go through.
Last Test: Cardboard Box cutting.
I didn't want to dull the edge too bad, so I only wanted to make a couple passes to see how the knife cut cardboard, not test edge holding.
940- Cut it like it was butter. Very little resistance and clean cut each pass. Good performer.
921- Same as the 940. No real perceiveable difference in cutting ability.
806D2- Cuts not as clean as other two knives, but I have had worse. I feel the blade thickness was one reason it didn't cut as well, along with the steeper edge bevels. The sides of the blade seemed to be getting squeezed in between the cardboard, so this made for more work cutting. Would get tiring breaking down a lot of cardboard boxes.
Had to quit testing when the wife came home to find several of her towels in shreds
. Apparently this wasn't a good way to get her to appreciate my knife obsession . Overall, the 921 and the 940 ran neck and neck. However, the 921 takes the crown, mostly due to the ergonomic differences with the blade shape as it will be used for my day to day chores. I feel the S30V blade on the 921 will probably hold it's edge better than the 154CM blade on the 940. There was also a very slight improvement in cutting ability over the 940 in general, however these were almost miniscule. I feel the 806D2 has potential, but will be reserved for the harder cutting tasks that I don't want to subject to the thinner blades of the 921 and 940. I also feel that when I reprofile the edge down to 20 degrees or less, the edge will perform much better, although the blade thickness may still be a bit of a downfall for general light duty tasks. It will still be carried in my back pocket as a backup for the 921, which has earned its place in my right front pocket as my main EDC. I will occasionally rotate it out with the 940, because I still like the 940, and want it to get it's fair share of use.Hope this helps if anyone has been considering any of these knives.
Mike
