Ratings for an excellent knife

golok

golok

Joined
Oct 20, 2000
Messages
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I understand that a knife or any blade for that matter, if it merits any kind of rating, be it 5-star or one-star, is subjected to a battery of tests.

The more knowledgeable among us have come up with various categories whereby the knife could be tested:
Chopping power
Splitting strength
Hardness of its edge
Strength of point
Testing in the field

What I want to know is, are there any more categories whereby a knife can tested for its excellence?

Has there ever been any rating given to knives regardless of whatever types?

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Make Love your strongest weapon. Compassion your shield and forgiveness your armour.
 
This article by Terry Primos is a good start: Testing Knives

And this Darrel Ralph article is an excellent primer on how to Look at knives, custom and production: Evaluating a custom knife

There really is no way to establish a rating system that would be satisfactory for all knives and all knife users is all places. Tests for 10 inch Bowie knives would be very different from tests for a 3 inch gents folder. Tests for fighters would be different from camp knives of the same length.

Even performance standards like those tested for by the American Bladesmith Society do not make sense for all knife blades. Since even objective performance standards will be effected by blade size, grind, and edge geometry, it is impossible to establish a set of objective tests that will work for all knives and all users.

Much of knife evaluation and appreciation involves subjective factors. There is no way to create a set of objective tests to give a rating that will be satisfactory to all knife collectors and users. One the other hand, there are ways to look for Quality. I will not attempt to define that here, but we can usually recognize it when we see it.

A limited range of tests for blade performance could be established, but it would only work for very similar knives, and would Still have to include subjective factors. For example, how will you objectify handle ergonomics?

Good luck.

Paracelsus
 
There is a very subjective rating system that has been in place for a very long time and covers every style of knife made.

It's called the PRICE usually calculated in a $'s amount.

wink.gif
I hope this clears it up for you.

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"Will work 4 Knives!"
My PhotoPoint Site
 
The biggest problem with the totally subjective price is that those who have tended to pay more, also want to then extend to that high price an objective quality, and "persuade" those who've not spent so much to accept their so-called objective value system is correct. This can be condensed into, "you get what you pay for." This statement, of course, is meaningless.



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Asi es la vida

Bugs
 
I think fit and finish is important, even within the same manufacturer and model.

For example, I hate to pick on them but it's the one that comes to mind first.

I've picked up some MT M-SOCOM's that had poor fit and finish (blade play, bad lockup, not centered etc..) that I would not be willing to buy at any price. I've also picked up and have ones that are perfect in every respect and would consider well worth the ~$100 price tag.

I know the scale above is more geared toward useability but fit and finsih affect the knife long term as well IMHO. It also greatly affects the price someone would be willing to pay for the knife, I know I'll pay more if I can guarantee the knife will meet my standards and not have to be returned.
 
So how do you come up with an overall rating for any knife, regardless of category, however defined? Price, yes, but not MSRP. I'd be more interested in what it sells for on our exchange forums, especially after it's been around a while.

But that says nothing about utility, durability, or even esthetic or material value. Because you can't compare a gent's pocket knife to a machete. The patterns of legitimate use are too different, and demand different materials and capabilities. A test for the preferred characteristics of one would be meaningless for the other.

Of course, my Sebenza can do it all, ALL, ALLLL, do you hear me ... ???

[This message has been edited by Esav Benyamin (edited 05-07-2001).]
 
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