My understanding of that particular issue is that batoning is more stressful than chopping. A few Becker BK2s have been broken when batoning and they have full width tangs. Some knives just seem more able to handle this stress than others. Batoning technique also seems to be a valid issue. There are plenty reviews of the BK2 where the knife didn't fail when used for batoning or otherwise. Several years back someone posted a lengthy article about the proper batoning technique. He was using the most basic Mora with red wooden handles. One technique broke one and another didn't. I'll try to find the post or article.
I have several knives that are more than capable but I'm still curious about the Recon Scout's radius issue in regard to chopping. If chopping is less stressful. As with the BK2 there are many test reports of the RS that show the knife batoning and chopping with no issues. I've got to wonder if the RS's that didn't fail have been weakened from this activity and will eventually break or if the radius issue was overcome by "proper" technique. I had a CS Trailmaster that I beat the hell out of as far as cutting and chopping and had no problems. I have a RS that has done some chopping without issue also. In neither case was the knife used to baton. Both were purchased many years ago. Long before there was talk of any correction on the tang radius. I'm thinking that the RS may be fine as a chopper but questionable as far as batoning, allowing for "proper" technique if that is a valid question.
I'm still not sure what to make of the broken BK2s. Tang cutouts, user error, wrong batoning technique,QC issues,heat treatment? I suppose some of those elements could be at fault on the RS as well. I am a fan of both company's products so I'd like to get a true understanding of these issues.
There is a thread on a BK-2 breaking from
chopping. The poster had the pictures and seemed credible... I find this completely incredible but there you go...
The issue probably has to do with vibration pattern: The BK-2 being incredibly massive mostly in the handle... There is probably not much vibrations going away from the tang into the short blade (the blade being actually shorter and less massive than the tang), so the tang is basically most of what vibrates, given its relative length and mass...
A smaller tang will vibrate less and be less easy to break, which is why you rarely see broken full width hollow handle tangs...
That being said, the BK-2 tang would not break so easily if it wasn't skeletonized.
The Recon Scout has sharp square inner corners, and don't buy any of the crap about those corners being now rounded off...: They would have come out with two pages glossy adds about it if they had done so... Cold Steel being all modest and subdued about a
major change done to a twenty plus year old model? Really?
The convex geometry of the San Mai stuff is poor. My SMIII Trailmaster performed like crap chopping because the convex was so fat... I would say avoid the current San Mai III convex for that reason alone... (But not the San Mai SRK which is a good sharp hollow grind)
The handle on all these types of Cold Steels knives are way too thin to allow a good transfer of force while chopping: The Trailmaster and RS would perform way better with proper thicker handles and thinner edges...
Gaston
