Knife failures

S

superc

Joined
Sep 30, 2003
Messages
382
I'm sure it has happened to many. You have a specific task in mind, pass by a store and see a knife that looks perfect for your hand and the task. This one was pretty once. It felt good in the hand, and the blade looked perfectly capable for the intended task of being a camp and deer knife. Needless to say, I became suddenly very disappointed and was happy I had thought to bring along a Kabar as a 'just in case.'

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Let's see some of your disappointments...
 
Looks like it was used for prying? Doesn't look like the knife was cutting to create this kind of blade damage.

If a customer returned a knife to me in that condition, I would say 'warranty voided buddy'.
 
Nope, the major damage didn't result from prying. Just chopping (or attempting to) through a deer/s pelvic bone and rib cage. Something my Dad's Kabar, my Case Q-knife, and even my SRK routinely did/do with no problem. Put the edge on the bone and smack the back with a handy log or rock. I think some call it batoning. Whatever, this 'hunting knife' blade simply broke like it was glass. Now the ripples near the tip were from trying to lever a shoulder bone out of the socket. Again, something my other hunting knives do without damage. Gave up at that point and went back to Dad's Kabar. This was back in 84 or so. I have kept the Case Pawnee around in the hopes of someday thinking of a use for it. A shame as I really liked the sheath and the rosewood felt right. :)
 
I don't know of any butchers who baton bones and pry joints, even if I have done it field dressing. The Kabar did it better because it's a low alloy carbon steel designed to withstand prying. The Pawnee obviously failed because it's a higher alloy hard blade designed for slicing.

Knife design and steel selection will have better and worse attributes in some tasks, and the overall performance will be a result of the combination chosen. Sticking to the Kabar is choosing the tool for how you use it, and works.

Having seen a hunter dress out a doe with a 2 1/2" Case Stockman, I've learned that others can do that job with a different tool in a way that matches it's design. I also learned it's better to choose my shots better rather than let somebody else claim my deer.

There's something to learn every time I go out, it's not always what I expect. It's part of why I still hunt.
 
Superc,
You don;t say what brand of knife, type of steel, primary grind, of place of manufacture. Now, I'm taking a giant leap here but, JUST judging by the picture and results of your bone cutting, I'd say HECHO IN CHINA!!!!! (Just a guess, mind you) :D
 
StretchNM said:
Superc,
You don;t say what brand of knife, type of steel, primary grind, of place of manufacture. Now, I'm taking a giant leap here but, JUST judging by the picture and results of your bone cutting, I'd say HECHO IN CHINA!!!!! (Just a guess, mind you) :D
Click to expand...

If you are talking about the damaged Case, it's made in the USA and I've seen one just like it cut through the pelvic bone of a buck without damage. So looks like about any knife at times may break. We never tried to baton the blade through but my Dad did cut through with the same knife.
 
Ahhhh...now I see the logo on the sheath. I agree though, any knife may break, especially batoning through bone.
 
Dad puts the tip of a skinner blade, into opening of the pelvic bone and then hits the butt of the knife with the heel of his hand. Once the bone starts to pop it splits right on up. The blade getting wider as it's driven inward seems to make it easier.
 
Well, I can tell you that the experience turned me off new knives made by Case. Since their warranty excludes both Use and Abuse, I saw no point in grieving it. To me, as I had done 20+ or so deer the same way with other knives and no problem in other years before then, this was normal use for a hunting knife. T'was kind of a shock to encounter a hunting knife that couldn't.. I can tell you the experience has sworn me off hunting knives that don't have blades at least a 3/16 of an inch thick.

Total agreement however that a blade can fail at any time. I once saw a new ax blade (not mine thankfully) do the same thing on a frozen wooden log. In both experiences the implement was new from box. Having seen the abuse suffered at knifetests.com I guess my experience is fairly standard. No question the steel composition makes a difference.

Last year I invested in a small battery powered saw. I have to admit the Dewalt really speeds things up. Takes no longer than a opening a zipper..

The blade profile of the Pawnee is what originally attracted me to it as I have no real use for a blade made for stabbing, or bigger than 5 or 6 inches. I suppose I needed to find a blade of that general shape, but with 1/4 blade thickness and a full tang. The old army quartemaster knives come pretty close though and I now have a half dozen of those as well as half dozen old Kabars. [Viva Ebay.]
 
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