Extrema Ratio M.P.C.

[NervousXtian]

I recently spent a few hours cutting up rhubarb using the Fulcrum alongside a few other knives doing runs of 500 cuts, it required 5-15 lbs of force compared to 0.5-1.5 lbs. One cut it doesn't matter, 500 gives you a different viewpoint.

See, this is my problem with Cliff's reviews. Why would you use a tactical folder to do something you should of been doing with a kitchen knife.

Right tool for the right job.

If I'm going to chop wood I grab an axe, I'm going to cut veggies I grab my chef's knife, I'm going to cut cardboard I grab a box knife. If I'm gonna grab a beer, I'm gonna grab one that's dark and cold.

That's pretty much it.

 

[Cliff Stamp]

Why would you use a tactical folder to do something you should of been doing with a kitchen knife.

I wanted to see how the steel in the Fulcrum handled a corrosive enviroment and Rhubarb is really acidic, it will actually corrode a O1 blade that fast you can watch it happen during the cutting. I ran the Fulcrum alongside two other stainless blades to see if there was any significant effect on the edge. I am going to try some salt water cutting later on, probably hemp soaked in sea water.

-Cliff

 

[knifetester]

See, this is my problem with Cliff's reviews. Why would you use a tactical folder to do something you should of been doing with a kitchen knife.

Right tool for the right job.

If I'm going to chop wood I grab an axe, I'm going to cut veggies I grab my chef's knife, I'm going to cut cardboard I grab a box knife. If I'm gonna grab a beer, I'm gonna grab one that's dark and cold.

That's pretty much it.

You can't always have the right tool with you, so you want the tools you carry to have the broadest scope of work possible. Then you can add some specialized pieces, like an AG Russell Deerhuner or light cutting and such.

I carry a Victorinox Spirit because it will handle most jobs and fits on my belt. No it does not work as well as a full tool box, but I can usually get the job done.

That is my perspective at least.

 

[Cliff Stamp]

Pretty much, it also depends on what you conclude, not simply what is done, the Fulcum IID contains a pretty large food prep section and its ends with :

"Thus in short, as long as it is properly sharpened, the Fulcrum IID can cut meats, breads, and soft fruits, but can only crudely chunk up thick vegetables and takes a lot of force and will crack them rather than make thin slices."

The work just quantifies this in a little detail. Now of course if the summary was :

"The Fulcrum IID does poorly on food prep, this is a horrible offering by ER, someone needs to teach them how to grind."

There would be reason to argue, because the knife isn't designed to be a good kitchen knife so it should not be heavily critized for its performance there. The main focus should obviously be can it handle very heavy work and then outline the cutting ability, as anything can be tough if you don't care how it cuts.

As well of course there is a huge cross over to other media, it isn't like a knife will cut poorly on binding vegetables but then glide through thick ropes, cardboards, woods, and such with ease. Yes there are various differences such as recurves on various media or just raw size/weight of a knife but in general there are also broad patterns of performance based on cross section.

Everyone has to make a personal decision on toughness vs cutting ability, some knives go more one way than the other, this isn't really good or bad in general, the maker just needs to be clear on the performance so the users can decide what is the best knife for them. I do a lot of work in general, pretty much whatever is at hand with whatever knife I have at hand, the work done in the reviews is as much for me to learn about knives as it is to "review" the knife.

-Cliff

 

[knifetester]

As well of course there is a huge cross over to other media, it isn't like a knife will cut poorly on binding vegetables but then glide through thick ropes, cardboards, woods, and such with ease. Yes there are various differences such as recurves on various media or just raw size/weight of a knife but in general there are also broad patterns of performance based on cross section.

Yes, this is an essential point for understanding the reivews, or any review and making it applicable to the readers use of the knife.