How do you get to be a knife tester?

[golok]

I read in the forums now and then that so-and-so has just tested a variety of knives and proceeded to post his written reports either in magazines or on the Net.

Actually, who are these knife testers and how do they get to that position where they are the recipients of prototypes?

Of course, not everybody gets into that privileged position.

I reckon the tester's reputation precedes him. He would probably a man of some repute as far as knives are concerned, or he could be an expert of some kind who has to use knives in his line of work.

What else have I missed out?

 

[Cliff Stamp]

I don't consider myself to be a "knife tester" as to me that implies a job, while my reviews and opinions on such matters I would view as a hobby. However I have been asked to look at prototypes and such.

Anyway, my history is quite simple, I bought a khukuri back in 98 from Bill Martino. I made some comments about it on the forum. That was the first "review".

At the time I started reading about knives and found the work of Mike Swaim who looked at how performance was effected by geometry and grit of sharpening. Joe Talmadge and Alvin Johnson were very informed in those areas as well.

I did some work along those lines exchanging emails with others who were interested in similar aspects of performance.

As I did the work I bought knives of various shapes and steels to have a range of them to work with. As I was doing this I made posts from time to time about the results with generally positive feedback. On occasions other users sent me knives, and I sent out mine.

Later on a bought a belt sander mainly to fix some knife at the time I think (that was why I bought a dremel earlier), and then started modifying profiles and looking at NIB performance as well as what you could bring out by altering the geometry either lightly or heavily.

I made contacts with makers along the way and some wanted my opinion on some things mainly as I had used a lot of different knives from different people by then. Same thing for other users who also approached makers/manufactuers for test blades.

I never imagined it would go where it went. I have learned a lot about knives from the work done and the many exchanges with others users and makers, the list is too long to mention. There is still a lot of things I am interested in looking at, and a lot of people, users and makers, interested in working with me on those issues, so I can see it continuing for some time.

That is about it.

-Cliff

 

[Daniel Koster]

Cliff - you and I have a lot more in common than I thought.

Very interesting...

 

[Bruz]

You may want to check out www.folders-r-us.org . Brownie on this forum does torture tests on blades.

Also might want to get in on a "Passaround" in the passaround forum. Give you alot of experience and a chance to "publish" your results in the thread.

 

[brownie0486]

I got into testing knives by request after I started instructing at S+W as their defensive knife instructor, a knife reseller, as well as my background in other areas.

Never gave it much thought before that.
Contacted another who might sponsor a website where information could be gleened by others and the rest is history.

Sometimes I review and sometimes I test them for edge retention, ease of carrying [ergonomics ], and tip strength.

I don't involve myself with steels testing specifically like Cliff. I attempt to give an objective opinion on the cutting performance and blade tip strength as well as overall performance.

Brownie

 

[T. Erdelyi]

You gotta love knives to begin with, if you want to test them just so you can get new knives for free, get in line, there are probably a million people in front of you.

If you want to be a tester, start testing your own, and then write some reviews on this forum, get involved in a passaround and write about your results here. These guys will read almost anything posted here.

People will read your reviews, and either respect your opinions or laugh at them, if enough people like what they read, they will seek you out on their own.

As you know from reading the posts, people can be brutal, they will pick at spelling, content and anything else they find.

 

[stich]

You left out a comma.

 

[Keith Montgomery]

Originally posted by stich
You left out a comma.

No he didn't.

Cliff sent me few machetes to check out and then report my findings to him. If I remember correctly, all I did was respond to a thread that Cliff started.

 

[Jay Maines]

Hello Golock,

I have a "Field Testers" section on my Web-site, were I offer all my customers the opportunity to send in a report on their new Sunrise River knife. I have a list of questions they can answer, if they need a little guidence and direction. So far I have recived about 8-10 reviews, and have them posted on my Web-site at, www.sunrisecustomknives.com Stop by and read a few, I think you might find them interesting.

Best Regards,
Jay Maines