How do you test your knives?

J_mcrane

J_mcrane

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Dec 7, 2013
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My buddy is going through a rough patch right now and I am wanting to cheer him up. I was thinking of a good old fashion cut some s#*t up along with steaks and booze. You know, get drunk, complain about women, and cut things. Along the way we could test performances of various knives we both have.
Besides cutting paracord and diaper box cardboard (thick), what else do you use to test edge retention and how else could we test our favorite knives?
 
J_mcrane said:
My buddy is going through a rough patch right now and I am wanting to cheer him up. I was thinking of a good old fashion cut some s#*t up along with steaks and booze. You know, get drunk, complain about women, and cut things. Along the way we could test performances of various knives we both have.
Besides cutting paracord and diaper box cardboard (thick), what else do you use to test edge retention and how else could we test our favorite knives?
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Are you afraid of getting rough with em? Go get a couple of golf balls and try to cut em. Go to where they're building a house close to you and grab up some waste wood and other assorted stuff that you find that they're throwing out. Hit up a Sam's Club or Costco or any grocery store and ask em for a bunch of boxes. Go for a walk in the woods with your buddy and find some saplings and fallen trees to hack on. Find some reclining chair or sofa on the side of the road and tear it apart. Find some old tires and start cutting them up. Nothing like getting drunk and tearing apart some random shit to make you feel just a little better.
 
I am a gardener and landscaper so I test my knives on branches and vegitation too. Also rope cutting, hang a rope and slash at it. Full water bottles, zombies...
 
When I want to really test a knife, I take it to work and use it as I normally would.
I can't really think of anything my knife edge doesn't come in contact with, so I guess to answer the question? - everything.
 
Anything and everything you can get your hands on, use them on your steaks to test their kitchen ability, cut up some trash, tires and thick plastic are always fun. If he's new to knives please teach him how to cut safely before hall get drunk. People get cut very badly when they're drunk and not used to knives. He guy in the link below was in Bryan Texas where my friend lives, he nearly died from blood loss. Have fun and be safe.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Kb8P6Sq9PDU
 
I don't do much testing, certainly nothing extremely scientific.

When I sharpen a knife I use the thin paper from the Sunday newspaper advertisements. If a knife will bite into the edge of the paper then it is as sharp as I can get it.

I've read about tests cutting cardboard. I happened to have a Manix 2 with M4 steel and another one with S110V so I did my own little comparison test. In my test the M4 steel won. I had some large boxes in my garage from a piece of furniture that my wife bought online and I sliced it up.

photo2014-11-13ab_zps6645e940.jpg


photo2014-11-13bb_zps22eabc77.jpg



After this cutting test I had the idea that I could do some similar cutting to evaluate a random knife. I had a small custom knife that I bought many years ago and I didn't know what the steel was or if it had proper heat treat. I thought I would start cutting and see how far it went. It didn't cut nearly as much as the M4 steel, but it did cut enough to tell me that it had reasonable steel for a knife and did have a heat treat so I wouldn't have to worry about using it.

photo2014-11-16b_zps57cd6b4d.jpg
 
I just use them normally and watch the edge closely at first for any obvious troubles.
With assisted openers, I play with them a lot before EDC-ing them. I want to feel like they are not gonna open in my pocket. I also will drop AO knives on the floor a few times and see if they open themselves. Sounds weird, but I had a Kershaw blur that would open on it's own if I dropped it. I took it back and got another and it did not do that.
 
I'd recommend doing the cutting first to work off some stress, and then coming home to the booze and steaks. I cut mostly man-made stuff in a warehouse, so cardboard, aluminum cans, old zip ties or pallet strapping, yellow pages from phone books (to test the ability of an edge to push cut without tearing the paper, trim some bushes in the woods, carve a few things... then head to the house, open the Southern Comfort, and fire up the grill.
 
I cut up paper then move on to a bit of cardboard. Then it's slicing up food and cutting up some steak. And finally if I think it's up to the task it's onto bushes and branches.
 
Get drunk and watch tv sports or movies, or go cut stuff.
Don't do both at the same time.
 
Sonnydaze said:
Get drunk and watch tv sports or movies, or go cut stuff.
Don't do both at the same time.
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While that may be the best advice, havent you been in a super low spot where doing stupid shit makes you feel at least a little better? It's reality, but they don't call it being stupid for no reason.

Sometimes being freaking stupid is just what the doctor ordered to make you feel alive again. If you have a buddy there watching your back to make sure you don't do anything TOO stupid, so much the better.

At least this guy is wanting to just tear some stuff up, not get drunk and shoot guns, not get drunk and go bang some ghetto hookers, or the worst idea, get drunk and call the boss or wife or whoever caused the ill feelings to begin with.
 
Thanks for the concern guys. We are both getting gray hairs. I doubt we have more than a drink or two. Fortunately he lives a short mile away and can walk home if needed. It's more about a sympathetic shoulder and a shared passion for sharp things.
 
Seriously, this is how I test them. Outdoors. LOL>
[video=youtube;zxrWQxq3Vf4]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zxrWQxq3Vf4[/video]
 
No no for what u suggest, melons pumpkins, de boning half a med sized carcass, you've got the BBQ and the desert wrapped up.
 
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