I just compared a Ritter S30V fixed, Ritter M2 Grip, Benchmade H20 and japanese blue/white folder. I'm testing most of them with the stock grind and sharpening. With the exception of the M2 Grip and the H20, these knives have'nt been used yet. The M2 Grip has served as EDC a couple times opening letters and boxes. The H20 was used as a dive knife during a recent trip and was only used to open food packaging and cut paper for the most part before. Due to this I gave them both 2 swipes on a BC loaded strop. At this point all the knives would pushcut paper.
My test was to use each knife to collect and prepare wood from a local stand of trees to make a small fire using only matches. This could be a test of my skills and fatigue as much as the knives but lets move on.
Let me just say that all 4 knives excelled at one facet of my not-so-scientific tests.
Benchmade H20- Fixed, thin, half serrated, flat ground blade. Accelled at cutting small branches with its serrated portion and it felt great in the hand. It was difficult shaving large sections of white wood for kindeling in a side grip due to the serrations. It really chewed the wood up pretty bad and I didnt get the kind of kindeling I was looking for. This is actually a very small fixed blade in X15 since its a dive knife. I was very surprised how well this knife worked at everything since its a superstainless steel. 23 matches to get the fire started. The smallest kindeling was not so small and took forever to catch. Lots tinder brush was needed to get the thing going.
Benchmade Ritter fixed blade- Fixed, thin, flat ground blade. By resting the thumb on top of the scale it chopped decently well for a small knife. It was the most comfortable of the bunch. It worked very well in a side grip and made great tinder. I almost didnt order this knife since I'm not the biggest fan of S30V but I do like it. This is the most expensive knife of the bunch. I'm not going to do a cost analysis but it did offer a lot of the accoutrements the others lacked like extra blade length and an extremely comfortable handle. 2 matches to get the fire started.
Benchmade Ritter Griptilian- Axis locked folder with a thin, flat ground blade. The M2 steel slid through the wood noticable easier than either of the other two. It wasnt effortless but it wasnt as laborious as the others. The handle was comfortable but not as much as the fixed blade. The clip and the texturing provided a secure grip but could get to be a pain. Being a folder and shorter than the ritter fixed it didnt chop very well at all. Perhaps it was due to my purchase on the handle since there isnt that much difference between the two but it was less effective. Also due to the full plain edge it didnt cut branches off trees as well. I did a lot of notching and then breaking branches off to get them where I wanted them. 2 matches to get the fire started.
Small japanese brass handled folder- No lock, laminated blade made of either japanese blue or white steel. I'm not sure of which since the description didnt say either one. I saw these back in the "best knife under $20" thread. I found some at Garrett for $15 and bought 2. It looks and acts very much like a straight razor. The lack of lock hasnt been a problem as long as you dont plan on doing any chopping. I had to collect wood by breaking small limbs off trees. It is a pretty rough design despite being laminated. The two knives are very different from each other probably due to being handmade. This knife was not comfortable to work with for a long period but worked EXTREMELY well cutting the wood. I'm going to guess thats partially due to the very rough grinds micro serrations. You can choke up very close to the blade and partially close the knife and get some great tinder, kindeling and fursticks. The only problem was the knifes handle was basically bent brass and was not comfortable for long periods of time. I took a couple breaks and ended up taking the longest time to make a fire with this knife. This was also the cheapest knife in the comparison. 2 matches to start the fire.
From this I've gathered a few things. I should probably rebevel these knives and do this again to have more constant results. I'll go ahead and come up with some conclusions based on the data I collected though.
The ritter fixed would probably do better in a different steel. The M2 knife seemed to cut better despite the fact that it had been used for some time. I have a Cabelas D2 grip on the way and I'll put it through the paces to see if it does better or worse.
I'm going to have to do this again with a knife that has a differential grind. I'll probably do fine polished edges on the tip and near the choil but put a very rough grind in the middle. I've done this before but never for woodworking and never as rough as I plan for this project. This will allow for having a tip for precise work digging into or outlining something and precision work near the choil but large serrations in the middle to chew up material for semi-sawing.
I'll post pics in a minute.
My test was to use each knife to collect and prepare wood from a local stand of trees to make a small fire using only matches. This could be a test of my skills and fatigue as much as the knives but lets move on.
Let me just say that all 4 knives excelled at one facet of my not-so-scientific tests.
Benchmade H20- Fixed, thin, half serrated, flat ground blade. Accelled at cutting small branches with its serrated portion and it felt great in the hand. It was difficult shaving large sections of white wood for kindeling in a side grip due to the serrations. It really chewed the wood up pretty bad and I didnt get the kind of kindeling I was looking for. This is actually a very small fixed blade in X15 since its a dive knife. I was very surprised how well this knife worked at everything since its a superstainless steel. 23 matches to get the fire started. The smallest kindeling was not so small and took forever to catch. Lots tinder brush was needed to get the thing going.
Benchmade Ritter fixed blade- Fixed, thin, flat ground blade. By resting the thumb on top of the scale it chopped decently well for a small knife. It was the most comfortable of the bunch. It worked very well in a side grip and made great tinder. I almost didnt order this knife since I'm not the biggest fan of S30V but I do like it. This is the most expensive knife of the bunch. I'm not going to do a cost analysis but it did offer a lot of the accoutrements the others lacked like extra blade length and an extremely comfortable handle. 2 matches to get the fire started.
Benchmade Ritter Griptilian- Axis locked folder with a thin, flat ground blade. The M2 steel slid through the wood noticable easier than either of the other two. It wasnt effortless but it wasnt as laborious as the others. The handle was comfortable but not as much as the fixed blade. The clip and the texturing provided a secure grip but could get to be a pain. Being a folder and shorter than the ritter fixed it didnt chop very well at all. Perhaps it was due to my purchase on the handle since there isnt that much difference between the two but it was less effective. Also due to the full plain edge it didnt cut branches off trees as well. I did a lot of notching and then breaking branches off to get them where I wanted them. 2 matches to get the fire started.
Small japanese brass handled folder- No lock, laminated blade made of either japanese blue or white steel. I'm not sure of which since the description didnt say either one. I saw these back in the "best knife under $20" thread. I found some at Garrett for $15 and bought 2. It looks and acts very much like a straight razor. The lack of lock hasnt been a problem as long as you dont plan on doing any chopping. I had to collect wood by breaking small limbs off trees. It is a pretty rough design despite being laminated. The two knives are very different from each other probably due to being handmade. This knife was not comfortable to work with for a long period but worked EXTREMELY well cutting the wood. I'm going to guess thats partially due to the very rough grinds micro serrations. You can choke up very close to the blade and partially close the knife and get some great tinder, kindeling and fursticks. The only problem was the knifes handle was basically bent brass and was not comfortable for long periods of time. I took a couple breaks and ended up taking the longest time to make a fire with this knife. This was also the cheapest knife in the comparison. 2 matches to start the fire.
From this I've gathered a few things. I should probably rebevel these knives and do this again to have more constant results. I'll go ahead and come up with some conclusions based on the data I collected though.
The ritter fixed would probably do better in a different steel. The M2 knife seemed to cut better despite the fact that it had been used for some time. I have a Cabelas D2 grip on the way and I'll put it through the paces to see if it does better or worse.
I'm going to have to do this again with a knife that has a differential grind. I'll probably do fine polished edges on the tip and near the choil but put a very rough grind in the middle. I've done this before but never for woodworking and never as rough as I plan for this project. This will allow for having a tip for precise work digging into or outlining something and precision work near the choil but large serrations in the middle to chew up material for semi-sawing.
I'll post pics in a minute.
