Field testing knives

N

nikko

Joined
Oct 19, 2008
Messages
24
Hi All, I 'm Nik, and this is my first post. I've been a knife enthusiast for a while, and have starting building a few from kits. I've never got into the finer details of knives, I just enjoy their beauty and power. I have a few collectibles as well, My Grandad's WII Kabar, his Schrade Automatic, and a few others.

My question is about field testing. Whenever I see a report of a knife test, it sometimes shows a stick with a bunch of curled shavings. What is this test for? Edgekeeping ability? I'm building a knife for an upcoming Boundary Waters excursion I'm taking, and I want to be able to objectively evaluate my blade. I'm building an SG4 Darrel Ralph design from a kit, with Kydex sheath.
 
First off Welcome, I hope you stick around and become an active participant...THere are a few things I think a woods knife should be able to do. SOme folks opinions may differ..Shaving wood curls means to me that a knife can effectively produce tinder from a larger piece of wood (handy for fire making) While I think that that is an important part of field testing it is one of many tests that should be conducted if you are serious about field testing your blade
 
If it can make nice curls, it can do most slicing chores easily.
The all important arm hair shaving is done to check edge holding ability or ease of sharpening.
Some other tests are try and use it to carve a cooking implement, spoon or anything you want.
Food prep is always a big one as well, cut up some tomatoes, peppers, sausage, cheese, make yourself a nice sandwhich with it.
If it looks like it might be able to batton or chop, give that a try as well.
A mora is usually what I test most other knives against for general slicing, that scandi edge is hard to beat. (had to get a mora shout out just in case he doesn't have one yet.:D)
 
I like making a figure 4 trap, that helps get an idea of a knife abilities and ease of use for me. Also, useing a knife to make your fire, shows you a lot about it. If you can baton a small log into useable pieces, then shave curls to get secondary tinder, then scrape up a pile of tinder that will catch a spark, then start the whole fire with a firesteel. After all that, check the edge, see how it's holding up.

Shaving curls gives a good idea of how the blade will work with wood, you should easily be able to shave thin curls without the knife wanting to dig too deep or wanting to skip across the wood without biting in.

The best test of a knife is to use it how you plan to, and see how it holds up, and how easily it re-sharpens.

Oh, by the way, WELCOME!!!!
 
Those curly cuts are called fuzz sticks, they not only give an indication of the edge geometry and slicing ability of the knife, but also come in very handy for starting a fire.

If you get a chance pick up Mors Kochanski's book "Bushcraft" it gives some good advice on the use of a knife. It is a good starting point.
 
Welcome to the forum Nik.
Glad to have you aboard.
The ability to make fine curls also tells you something about the cutting geometry of the blade. Some blades make longer and thinner curls more easily than others.
 
Making "fuzz sticks" will tell me a lot about the knife and how it will perform at other tasks. If the knife glides smoothly, effortlessly and at a comfortable angle, I know I probably have sharpness and blade (edge) geometry appropriate for "woodworking." You can have a knife sharp enough to shave with that won't cut wood for snot - I have had many such knives and they will make you work harder than you should. This is a key test point at WSS because of the "survival" aspect of WSS. Unless you're lost in the mall, it's a pretty good bet that being able to make a shelter and a fire could save your hide, so, this task is pretty popular, not to mention apparently addictive when you find a knife that makes long curlies effortlessly. It is a test I prefer to do comparatively - using a "standard" against which to compare the "new" knife or "new" edge, such as one of my knives that I know cuts especially well. From old woodworking habits, I find that a cutting edge properly prepared to cut wood will serve most other cutting tasks, at the very least, passbaly well, while the converse is not necessarily true. To me, my knives are woodworking tools that I also use for other stuff when I have to.

All that and there are a lot of "fuzzy junkies" here. If you want a good standard to test a knife against in this manner, try a $10 Mora first, the do it with your "new" knife.

Welcome and bring pics of those kit knives.:thumbup::thumbup:
 
Welcome Nik, I hope you hang awhile.

Can't really add much to what people said about the fuzz sticks, but after you do fuzzies baton with the knife, even against the grain of the wood if you really want to see how it holds up. Then do the fuzz sticks again. You can tell how well the edge is holding up after that. I don't feel the knife needs to shave hair off your arm to have a great wood working edge, but if it can still make paper thin curls of wood after all the other tests:thumbup:
 
Thank you all for the replies! I knew this was an active community, but WOW! I remember from Boy Scouts what fuzzy sticks are, but didn't realize what a valuable knife evaluation tool they are.

I'll post pics as soon as I get my sheath finished.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top