Heavy duty? I think not.

hiwa

hiwa

Joined
Jun 7, 2009
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Having owned a few CS knives that I've been happy with ( Pendleton , Master Hunter, SRK) I was thinking of getting the new Leatherneck SF as a back-up/beater/truck knife.

I came across this vid this morning that surprised me and I'd thought I'd share it with you as this is a newly released knife. Please don't turn this into a CS bash-fest. I just want to show this to inform. I'm sticking with my Kabar Made in U.S.A goodness.

Watch the whole thing if you can , but the main point is at 2:40
Note: Video is not done by myself.

[video=youtube;SiVeNOpvYMs]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SiVeNOpvYMs&feature=player_detailpage[/video]
 
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The videographer's chopping technique might have been a bit sketchy, to loose a wrist (side to side) can result in those half-moon "mega-chips." But, since it happened while batonning, I'll give the guy the benefit of the doubt and say it was not his technique, but a bad heat treat. Which any manufacturer can be guilty of.
 
It looked to me like he the exact damage was done at the end of the last baton when he twisted the knife to get the log apart (bad technique!). I'm not so sure I'd blame many knives for losing a chunk of the edge when you do that while it's embedded in a knot, and I'm no fan of Cold Steel.
 
Kinda a shame...I like the looks of that knife a lot. There are far too few full flat grinds out there.
 
marcinek said:
The videographer's chopping technique might have been a bit sketchy, to loose a wrist (side to side) can result in those half-moon "mega-chips." But, since it happened while batonning, I'll give the guy the benefit of the doubt and say it was not his technique, but a bad heat treat. Which any manufacturer can be guilty of.
Click to expand...

I'm with marcineck, SK5 should bend/warp/dull all but chip
 
The mans batonning technique isn't the greatest I must admit , and like Alberta Ed I prefer an axe myself but I don't think that was serious abuse. I have put my knives through much worse when I was hard up and never had a fail like that. Hitting knots included.
 
Bad batonning seems to usually result in a snap/failure right around where the blade becomes the handle.

To me, this case all leads to bad HT.

Book 'em, hiwa.
 
A man tries to baton through knotty wood with his knife and the knife breaks - big surprise.

It's not the knife's fault the owner didn't have sense enough to use a splitting axe.
 
Am I the only one that sees the future of bushcraft in that vid? That little kid is going to town. His knife is bigger then mine.:eek:
 
I wouldn't blame any knife for breaking out under those conditions. Anyone who has split more than a little bit of wood knows a knot like that is not trivial. There may be reasons not to like this knife, but this vid is not one of them IMO.
 
Shotgun said:
Am I the only one that sees the future of bushcraft in that vid? That little kid is going to town. His knife is bigger then mine.:eek:
Click to expand...

I didn't want to bring it up but dang "daddy" - but it's about the little critter in the background. He's going at with a big shank like a hamster onn a treadmill while you're breaking your knife. Maybe he should do the wood processing and you can play around with other details. :) :p
 
[pulls up chair]
[leans back, sets bowl of popcorn on belly]
[grins big and prepares to watch the show]
 
like em sharp said:
It looked to me like he the exact damage was done at the end of the last baton when he twisted the knife to get the log apart (bad technique!). I'm not so sure I'd blame many knives for losing a chunk of the edge when you do that while it's embedded in a knot...
Click to expand...
I do not see the "bad technique" you cite... when did he twist?:confused:
The initial bend in the edge occurring in the 1st minute, I don't see any twisting there; nor does the user appear to manually induce any lateral stress at or after the point of fracture 2:48 when the blade slides free through the round.
Obviously the edge took the initial deflection on a knot in the first round (I've had that happen on my thin-ground axes too, by the way).
To then introduce that deflected edge into a second round, knot or not ;), IS begging for a fracture (or a tear, in the case of INFI), as that section of metal is trying to move at a diagonal along the wood grain while the rest of the blade is trying to travel vertically. In this instance, however, it appears that the bend embedded in a knot in the second round and then REdeflected to the other side of linear, severely weakening an even larger section of edge, ultimately resulting in the fracture experienced (is this what others see or am I crazy?).

The CS Leatherneck-SF is 3/16 thick full flat ground on a blade how wide? Most "combat" knives of similar proportions to this knife (including the two mentioned in the video captions) have saber grinds, with a thicker slab of metal behind that edge, resistant to lateral deformation. The leatherneck looks designed to be a slicer like the BRKT Bravo1, NOT knot-busters. That said, those that criticize the HT may have a point, afterall the ESEE-6 is a similar blade in 1095 and anecdote suggests that it could have handled that knot... Is the ESEE-6 thicker behind the edge than the leatherneck? Anyone have both to give comparative measurements?
My concern is that the SK-5 is NOT SK-5 at all, rather it's some chinese knock-off steel with poor QC or an unproven HT... but perhaps I am paranoid. :p
 
chiral.grolim said:
I do not see the "bad technique" you cite... when did he twist?:confused:
Click to expand...

2:50 minute mark. He just hits the knot and the knife won't go any further in, so he twists the handle in his hand to lever the wood apart instead of bringing the knife straight back up. But you're certainly right about the other things - FFG knives, even thick ones aren't great for batoning, and he shouldn't have even tried once the edge took a roll.
 
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