Knife destruction test question

BS Monk , I had a knife fail on me that could have taken my life! You better believe I want to know now how much these knives can withstand. Chopping wood and the next thing I know 14 inches of blade is flying and I am left ducking and holding a handle and thanking the lord my children were not there
 
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JAMerolle said:
BS Monk , I had a knife fail on me that could have taken my life! You better believe I want to know now how much these knives can withstand
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If you had been using a knife that looked like this, you wouldn't have had any difficulties:

June%2B23,%2Bwrought%2Biron%2B015.jpg


After all, it would have excelled in destruction tests. ;)
 
BePrepared said:
BS!! if that were true, the CRK Green Beret would have beaten the Busse Skinny Ash in Noss's destruction tests by a wide margin... instead, it snapped in half very early in the testing, and then skinny ash survived almost to the end.

There's a lot more to it than thickness.
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Noss also altered the skinny ash, by sharpening a 1/4" off and removing the choil, thus making the edge spine much much more thicker
 
Crash testing cars is testing a scenario that is not only forseen, it happens all over the world every day. It is something the car must be designed to handle. Knives, however, are not typically designed to chop wood. That is really what axes and hatchets are for. Now, I'm not one of those guys that says you should never baton or chop wood with your fixed blades, and I even know a way to baton with a large folder without destroying it (typically), but I know that these are not uses most manufacturers forsee when designing their knives. So, if you are using a knife to do the job of an axe, and the knife breaks, you shouldn't really be surprised. Especially since axes are usually left softer to absorb the shock, but knives are harder to maximize edge holding. If a knife maker was tempering his blades as soft as an axe, everyone would blast him for poor heat treat, but then people cry when their knife that holds a great edge (due to higher hardness=more brittle) breaks while they are chopping/batonning. To me, it's like saying "Parachutes are made of silk, so I'm going to skydive with my silk shirt, and if it doesn't work, the manufacturer must have screwed up."

Just my opinion .

Ken
 
Kbrasmodeler said:
Crash testing cars is testing a scenario that is not only forseen, it happens all over the world every day. It is something the car must be designed to handle. Knives, however, are not typically designed to chop wood. That is really what axes and hatchets are for. Now, I'm not one of those guys that says you should never baton or chop wood with your fixed blades, and I even know a way to baton with a large folder without destroying it (typically), but I know that these are not uses most manufacturers forsee when designing their knives. So, if you are using a knife to do the job of an axe, and the knife breaks, you shouldn't really be surprised. Especially since axes are usually left softer to absorb the shock, but knives are harder to maximize edge holding. If a knife maker was tempering his blades as soft as an axe, everyone would blast him for poor heat treat, but then people cry when their knife that holds a great edge (due to higher hardness=more brittle) breaks while they are chopping/batonning. To me, it's like saying "Parachutes are made of silk, so I'm going to skydive with my silk shirt, and if it doesn't work, the manufacturer must have screwed up."

Just my opinion .

Ken
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ken when carrying weight is an issue in most cases u have to choose what your going to carry , a knife or an axe but not both if weight is an issue
 
We have lots of threads about destruction test and how they don't apply to normal use. Maybe they don't apply to normal use but sometimes you can't guarantee that your knife will only be used for normal use. I've read about people that got locked into a building and had to pry a door open with their knife to get out. I've read about people that got stuck in a burning building and had to cut through a steel door to get out. I've read about people that were trapped in automobiles and had to cut their way out through sheet metal. I have no way of knowing if all of these stories or true or not but they could be somewhat plausible. I don't expect to have to do anything like that with my normal EDC knife but you never know. I work in a highrise building and who knows if I would have to cut my way out sometime so I have a knife that I consider to be relatively tough (it did well in the Noss tests) in my emergency bag in the office. Yeah that's not normal everyday knife use, but if the knife is the tool that you have in your hand, and you need to do something like this, the knife better survive for your sake. I will likely never have to do this. I wear my seatbelts in my car everyday but in 40 years of driving I've never needed them, and I may never need them just like people that carry a knife for survival may never need it for more than opening a bag of chips or slicing an apple.

I have several knives that were handed down to me from my father, all with broken tips. I gave a knife to my nephew and he broke the tip off. I've read threads here where people have broken tips. So yes knives need to perform for more than just slicing or they will end up being thrown away and replaced. If manufacturers did more destruction testing they might make knives that were less prone to breaking their tips. I fell like I am too careful with my knives for fear of breaking a blade. I would like to see more destruction tests of common EDC folders so maybe I would have more confidence in use of mine.
 
JAMerolle said:
ken when carrying weight is an issue in most cases u have to choose what your going to carry , a knife or an axe but not both if weight is an issue
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True, so, when I am out, I usually carry a hatchet, and a folding pocket knife. I know survival situations will be different, though, so I have a question for the forum. Has anyone here been in a true survival situation, something remniscent of a Survivorman episode, where you had to use whatever knife was on you to build a lifesaving shelter, or fire, or build traps, or a fire, in order to survive? I don't mean "We forgot the forks on our picnic and had to whittle some", but an actual, life threatening situation? I would bet that it is less common than most think, and that a small folding knife would be more useful than many would suspect. Honestly, I can't think of a scenario where I would have to hammer my knife into a tree and stand on it, or break cinder blocks with it, to survive. And, if the need arose, I could probably find something nearby to use instead of my knife.

Again, my opinion only.

Ken
 
JAMerolle said:
BS Monk , I had a knife fail on me that could have taken my life! You better believe I want to know now how much these knives can withstand. Chopping wood and the next thing I know 14 inches of blade is flying and I am left ducking and holding a handle and thanking the lord my children were not there
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Did it ever occur to you that the problem was that you were chopping wood with a knife in the first place instead of using a proper tool? :confused: :rolleyes:

Also, if weight is such a big issue, then why not just carry a folding saw and a pocket knife instead of one of these two-pound prybars or machetes? You can do all the camp chores you need to, with the added bonus that your knife can actually be used to cut things. :thumbup:
 
bdmicarta said:
We have lots of threads about destruction test and how they don't apply to normal use. Maybe they don't apply to normal use but sometimes you can't guarantee that your knife will only be used for normal use. I've read about people that got locked into a building and had to pry a door open with their knife to get out. I've read about people that got stuck in a burning building and had to cut through a steel door to get out. I've read about people that were trapped in automobiles and had to cut their way out through sheet metal. I have no way of knowing if all of these stories or true or not but they could be somewhat plausible. I don't expect to have to do anything like that with my normal EDC knife but you never know. I work in a highrise building and who knows if I would have to cut my way out sometime so I have a knife that I consider to be relatively tough (it did well in the Noss tests) in my emergency bag in the office. Yeah that's not normal everyday knife use, but if the knife is the tool that you have in your hand, and you need to do something like this, the knife better survive for your sake. I will likely never have to do this. I wear my seatbelts in my car everyday but in 40 years of driving I've never needed them, and I may never need them just like people that carry a knife for survival may never need it for more than opening a bag of chips or slicing an apple.

I have several knives that were handed down to me from my father, all with broken tips. I gave a knife to my nephew and he broke the tip off. I've read threads here where people have broken tips. So yes knives need to perform for more than just slicing or they will end up being thrown away and replaced. If manufacturers did more destruction testing they might make knives that were less prone to breaking their tips. I fell like I am too careful with my knives for fear of breaking a blade. I would like to see more destruction tests of common EDC folders so maybe I would have more confidence in use of mine.
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I agree which is why I started the thread
 
bdmicarta said:
We have lots of threads about destruction test and how they don't apply to normal use. Maybe they don't apply to normal use but sometimes you can't guarantee that your knife will only be used for normal use.

I would like to see more destruction tests of common EDC folders so maybe I would have more confidence in use of mine.
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If you think there is even the slightest possibility of something happening that would require your knife to 'go beyond the call of duty' so to say, I'd suggest looking into getting a fixed blade. I'm not saying information gained via destruction tests done on folders wouldn't be useful, I just think a fixed blade would probably adapt more readily in an emergency situation.
 
WillardCorspe said:
If you think there is even the slightest possibility of something happening that would require your knife to 'go beyond the call of duty' so to say, I'd suggest looking into getting a fixed blade. I'm not saying information gained via destruction tests done on folders wouldn't be useful, I just think a fixed blade would probably adapt more readily in an emergency situation.
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I don't disagree. I put my fixed blade that I thought was toughest in the place where I thought I might need a tough knife the most. I am considering buying a fixed blade to try for EDC. I can't be confident that I can get by with an EDC fixed blade in which case my EDC folding knife might be at risk in case I just happen to need it to do some prying or whatever.
 
people walk into the woods without a hatchet or axe every day too. If I know my knife can tolerate axe duties if it has to, I'll gladly leave the axe at home.

Destruction tests definitely have their place, especially when you start reducing the redundancy in your gear loadout, or can't just grab a more optimal tool from the truck/shop/garage.
 
It is the perception of the Ideas that makes any Test wrong on the eye of the Masses.

This should explain pretty much why knife companies....don't publish the data or if they do, it's a distort truth.

Many years ago Cliff was hated because He expose some truth....they shut him down....Too Much scientific for many, Nowadays it's the contrary with Noss.

Doesn't really matter what you bring on the table....There will be always those who MOURN about something!



A piece of simple steel 1055, the CS G.I. tanto beat them all. Rank = #1
 
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