Extreme Folder testing

R

rule9

Joined
Dec 27, 2013
Messages
45
Hi fellow, knife folks
I have been thinking of the reviews and there doesn't seem to be a clear quantifiable method of rating a knife much less testing a knife. Sooo I wanted to ask you guys for ideas on how to test a knife and we could subject them and develop a chart on performance to these tests. The title says "Extreme Folder testing" but I don't want to test in a ridiculous manner (like run over it with a Hummer 10 times) but at the same time I don't mind testing to failure if we can get a clear "number" for instance how about a folder lock test under a press with a pressure gage attached? Or even how many times it can cut a 1 inch rope? Give me some ideas..

Also I am sure I don't want to test customs

I worked with Ernie at Hughes Aircraft some 25 years ago and the criteria the Seals gave him were quite different from what this test would measure:

They wanted the following (forgive me if I don't remember them exactly or if I leave something out)

1. non slip handles- This was stated something like "if we hit a bone we don't want our hand to slide over the blade" ouch!!
2. We want the stop pin to be very strong- cutting thru some kelp the stop pin on a folder (not Emerson) failed rendering the knife useless-this is interesting to me since they were concerned with the knife stop pin when everyone else (including me) was concerned about the blade lock failing.
3. Butt end of knife needed to be beefed up so they could hammer intel out of captured sources-ouch!!
4. lastly they wanted the swiss army tweezers to set timers on mines-really?

One thing about Ernie - he doesn't screw around he had a prototype (CQC-6) done in a week-yes it takes a week (40 hours) to make one. He is more efficient now but still the time is intense- so all of you that ask is he really that busy-yes he is!

Ayway give me some ideas on how to do Extreme testing and I'll give it a go.

Rule9
 
I've seen videos of a Russian guy brutalizing a few knives. They were cool and all but it's not something I'd do with a knife that I paid money for. How extreme were you thinking?
 
Do it and share the results. Just one quick aside, the more variables you control for the more valuable and objective your conclusions will be, but controlling variables can also get very tedious and very expensive pretty fast. That's why there's so little hard data on the actual performance of various knives.
 
same thing I am trying to determine, damaging the knife is not the issue but testing it to the extremes of "normal" usage. Years ago I read Paul Poehlman's pamphlet on his knife and the reason he started making them, seems he was some kind of safety inspector for tires and he would have to cut tires apart for analysis, he said the knives he used would be destroyed after a short time-I guess he didn't want to carry a fixed blade. Therefore he decided to make knives, well it looks like he got sidetraked because he is more known for his innovative locking mechanism rather than a strong functional knife. But cutting tires apart is not what most people do with their knife.

I also get bugged by some of the comments of locking mechanisms on knives and blade rock etc. but none of these "issues" tell me it is a non-functioning knife-my EDC is a Raven Ernie gave me 17 years ago and it still functions perfectly for my needs-opening boxes or cutting boxes up. If I needed to cut cord or tires I am more than confident it could handle the task.

just 2 to 5 easy tests that would measure the strength of the knife-I am sure most knives would be able to pass these tests, but their rating numbers may tell some interesting differences.
 
Knife torture test, or performance test are deceiving. I am not picking on Cold Steel but I was told by a guy who use to work for them, their U-tube presentation are real. But let's say ever detail is tested before hand to make the buyer believe those blade are out of this universe.

Real deal is like and photo prop are not off the shelf of the local ace hardware store, or butter shop. The meat they cut is kept at an optimal tempeture. Some time rope, or twine is dressed with a coating to the item easier to cut. Like in the case of fibrous cords.

So how any knife works in the real world, is the real test, real U.S. Navy Seal Team Members work place it just that. The real world, not the set of some U-tube or Hollywood Movie where not everything is real.
 
Akapennypincher-I like the name- you're super right about the integrity of the testing, the more honest and transparent the testing the more respect and validity in the long run. I don't want tests that leave to much for interpretation - maybe this is much more complex than is possible in a few simple tests or just a litle thought-maybe this will take a lot of thinking and planning to do right
 
this guy does some hard-use testing:

It's in Russian but there are subtitles you can enable.
CQC-7 vs ZT350:
[video=youtube;TEevz-fh7cU]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TEevz-fh7cU[/video]

ZT550 (although this didn't surprise me very much, it did give me newfound respect for it)
[video=youtube;AW0TVkcBFkw]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AW0TVkcBFkw&list=PLY9D3AYsrgroHCmnTqjeiSphI_-726zhE&index=36[/video]

Benchmade Adamas (I don't have one, but it's the favorite "hard-use" knife for many)
[video=youtube;LWz_JLXgIL0]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LWz_JLXgIL0&list=PLY9D3AYsrgroHCmnTqjeiSphI_-726zhE&index=14[/video]
 
this guy does some hard-use testing:

It's in Russian but there are subtitles you can enable.
CQC-7 vs ZT350:
[video=youtube;TEevz-fh7cU]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TEevz-fh7cU[/video]

ZT550 (although this didn't surprise me very much, it did give me newfound respect for it)
[video=youtube;AW0TVkcBFkw]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AW0TVkcBFkw&list=PLY9D3AYsrgroHCmnTqjeiSphI_-726zhE&index=36[/video]

Benchmade Adamas (I don't have one, but it's the favorite "hard-use" knife for many)
[video=youtube;LWz_JLXgIL0]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LWz_JLXgIL0&list=PLY9D3AYsrgroHCmnTqjeiSphI_-726zhE&index=14[/video]
 
thats really cool Gooeytek! not very scientific but very entertaining-he could be a real tester if he had better equipment-Thanks
 
rule9 said:
Akapennypincher-I like the name- you're super right about the integrity of the testing, the more honest and transparent the testing the more respect and validity in the long run. I don't want tests that leave to much for interpretation - maybe this is much more complex than is possible in a few simple tests or just a litle thought-maybe this will take a lot of thinking and planning to do right
Click to expand...

My world of operation was the News Industry and being Freelance, and not Staff I got to cover a variety of hard news, and features coving a very interesting gamet of subjects, and personalities.

May times I was at a News Event, and when home to watch how it was cover on TV that night, or read an account of home the story was covered the next morning in the local rag. Let's say some times I was surprised, pissed off, about the part of the story that was cover, and what was let out because of political correctness, or the political stand of the agency covering the story.

One of my favorite saying is ALL NEWS STORIES are like looking at a circle, and unless you are there to see what really happened. You get a Pie Wedge the reporting News agency decides to show you.


Many times I worked a story for a few days or week only to have that story killed because some bigger, better, or more high profil happened. I leaned not to question that why a story was killed, just to submit my invoice for date rates, expenses, mileage, and only wait for my payment.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top