Knife Failure Survey

scrumpy jack said:
A Cold Steel LTC i think it was called (not the machete type) broke at the tang just splitting some wood for the fire.
078.jpg
Click to expand...
Your fault !
Cold Steels are only meant to be clamped in a vice and bent in a circle, or used by people with mean ninja looks on their faces as they assault large pieces of raw meat and car hoods..
Cutting brush or chopping firewood is a nono ;)
 
I broke a Schrade Stockman about 10 years ago. I edc'd that knife for a couple of years. One day I pulled out one of the blades and it snapped right in half. I tried to keep carrying the knife, but it kept snagging the broken blade on my hand and pocket so ended up just throwing it away. That was before I knew about their warranty and that it would have been replaced for free.

I'm sure there have been others, but that's the only one that comes to mind.
 
Last edited:
Toucan Oasis said:
Your fault !
Cold Steels are only meant to be clamped in a vice and bent in a circle, or used by people with mean ninja looks on their faces as they assault large pieces of raw meat and car hoods..
Cutting brush or chopping firewood is a nono ;)
Click to expand...

Tell that to my Cold Steel Spartan that replaced the aforementioned and much more highly regarded Manix...there's a dud that gets through QC at every manufacturer, I'm sure...but for a khukri? next time go Himalayan baby!!! :p A Cold Steel Khukri? That's like getting a corvette from kia.

Like me pa used to say, stay stick with one that brought ya to the dance. :cool:
 
I broke 2 inch long pieces out of my Red Scorpion six predator.Just like a beaver had bitten it.I did it chopping a tree with some friends.Ironically, telling them how bad-assed the knife was.:(
I've broke more cheapies as I can count.I keep getting them though.like my Buck 110 failed clone that opened up way farther than it should.the lock section wasn't right and it would open past the open position.way past.I tossed it in a fire somewhere in Alberta.
 
All my knife failures are of the broken tip, chipped edge type....because I'm too lazy to use the proper tool to pry on things. Has always been my problem.

New Years Resolution: Stop using my knives as a pry bar and carry my widgy bar with me.
 
Vivi said:
I just remembered, I had an Opinel #12's blade blow out on me once. After cutting some wood it looked like someone took a hatchet to the knife edge. All my other Opinels served me well.
Click to expand...

This reminded me that I had a similar experience with an Opinel. I picked one up at Williams Sonoma, as my wife dragged me to the mall, and that was the closest thing to a knife I could find. I took that thing into the woods to see what it could do, and the blade might as well have been made from a section of a Coke can. Just cutting through saplings mangled the edge so badly, it looked like I had run it through the Dispos-all. :barf:

That Opinel was hands-down the worst knife I've ever tried to use. El-cheapo gas-station knives included.
 
Opinel. That reminds me that I had an Opinel that broke too. Once again, I think I was levering with the blade and it snapped about half an inch from the handle. But the heat treatment that gave the blade that brittleness also gave the blade the quality of holding a wonderful sharp edge. So are Opinel knives bad? No. A knife with this degree of temper makes a poor crow bar, but it is an excellent, durable knife for normal food preparation and general camp chores. (Although I can't explain the problem that Moonwilson had).

I feel a bit uneasy about all the brand names being mentioned in a thread like this. But like somebody mentioned above, the odd 'bad' one can slip through quality control in the best of factories. And even a top quality knife can be broken if enough force is applied.

Some of our ancestors had only brittle obsidian or shell for cutting work. I guess they wouldnt have dreamed of having the ultimate survival 'knife' for hammering, levering and cutting. Gotta have the right tool for the job, but that hasn't stopped me from using a knife as a lever..... so when I've broken a knife, it has generally been my fault.

I also recall the edge of an axe blade shattering in what I believe was normal use. I think that it was way under-tempered.

If this thread had been about knives we've lost, I'd have a few stories to add to the list.

Seasons Greetings..... Coote.
 
This just happened about an hour ago ! I was chopping up some limbs that the snow had broke out, the largest limb was about the diam. of my leg. The tree is a Bradford Pear & the temp outside is 40deg. I'm gonna E-mail ColdSteel & see what they say !
Picture227.jpg
[/IMG]
Picture228.jpg
[/IMG]
Picture229.jpg
[/IMG]
Picture230.jpg
[/IMG]
 
Nope, never had one break/fail on me. Then again, I'm pretty careful about how I use my knives (e.g., not as a prybar). This thread is interesting, since I don't see any pattern of brands that consistently fail. I know that the results of the thread are far from statistically valid, but it's interesting nonetheless.

- Mark
 
That's sad Coaldigger. Nicely shaped ax head though. I imagine Cold Steel will come to the party.

I'd be interested to know how the edge of that blade 'feels' when you try to file it. I would use a slightly worn, good quality fine file. If the file skids across the blade or barely scratches it, I'd say the blade was too hard. The hardness may vary across the ax head.
 
Last edited:
coote said:
That's sad Coaldigger. Nicely shaped ax head though. I imagine Cold Steel will come to the party.

I'd be interested to know how the edge of that blade 'feels' when you try to file it. I would use a slightly worn, good quality fine file. If the file skids across the blade or barely scratches it, I'd say the blade was too hard. The hardness may vary across the ax head.
Click to expand...

The head was alot harder than my Wetterlings...it came very dull out of the box & I tried a cheap file on it but it wouldn't hardley do it...it more or less just slide across the head ! so I figure the head was way to hard !
 
I broke a Cold Steel Recon Tanto a few years back while using it to baton. Snapped right at the tang junction.
 
yes - the summary to me so far is

1. Very few knives fail - especially in any name brands
2. There can be the odd dud even in good qulaity names - from issues largely beyond reasonable human control
3. Knives do occasionaly fail when used beyond the purpose i.e pry bars and beyind the design intent of that specific knife. Most here know this and don't really blame the knife for that

A couple of brands have been more regularly mentioned - but considering they are also the most poular brands (most of us here would have them) it would be very brave to draw a concusion as to whether they have an increased failure rate.
 
broke the tip off a buck 119 last year, stuck it in a log and some :jerkit:kid at the same camp as me kicked it:eek: because he was pissed off at something else, i had that knife for 3 years, when i gt a new one the leather on the sheath was half as thick and the grind was uneven:mad:
 
I got a cheap kitchen knife set and broke about 3 or 4 of the knives using them before I threw them all out before I hurt myself. I then bent a Boker "candy colored folder" the first time I used it. Pissed me off. I now buy rediculously well made knives. Busse, Rat, ZT, Dingo... I know.... overkill. I did buy an Ontario machette and I chipped the heck out of it but don't care. My $9.99 "cheaper than dirt knife" has been a beater champ. Get one!!!
 
moonwilson said:
This reminded me that I had a similar experience with an Opinel. I picked one up at Williams Sonoma, as my wife dragged me to the mall, and that was the closest thing to a knife I could find. I took that thing into the woods to see what it could do, and the blade might as well have been made from a section of a Coke can. Just cutting through saplings mangled the edge so badly, it looked like I had run it through the Dispos-all. :barf:

That Opinel was hands-down the worst knife I've ever tried to use. El-cheapo gas-station knives included.
Click to expand...

I'm sorry for being a necromancer and resurrecting this post from it's deathly slumber... but an Opinel for wood processing?! No, no, no! Don't blame the Opinel! You use it to cut cheese, twine, things like that. It's not an axe.

- Mag
 
I took a trip to acadia NP in Maine a couple weeks ago with a good buddy. Drove to his house and left my ESEE junglas in the Jeep by accident. The only knives I had in my bag were a Mora 911, a spyderco 3.5 folder, and a rick lowe custom 2.5" EDC. I was pissed when I found out I forgot it by time we got to NH.

Anyway it had been raining for a week and everything was soaked. I started processing wood for a fire (needed to split it cause it was soaked) batoning trough the 3rd piece of wood I snapped the mora's handle off. Dont get me wrong mora makes a sweet knife for the price but def not a hard use knife. It was my fault and I was just using what I had. We still had a good time though cooking lobster on the sea wall mourning the mora.

No pics of the broken knife but cookin' lobster, potatoes, and corn on the seawall!!!
lobsta.jpg

p2609111823.jpg

p2609111826.jpg
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top