It's silly to focus on spine whacking as being the focal point of a knifes purpose, but if a company markets its knives as "hard use" i say go for it. After all tell me what the heck is "hard use"? hard cutting? hard impact? hard stabbing? how hard can you actually cut something? you cut material and if the knifes sharp and the geometry is right it will cut, if it is too hard to cut you need to put the folder down and find the correct tool. I'd like to know that if i had to stab a knife through a piece of hard material outdoors if it's going to close on my fingers. People use their knives for all sorts of things, some use the spine of a knife to crack coconuts open all the way around, or break seals around things of a similar nature. If you ask me, the hard use test should be reserved for Tri-ad Locks and other brands that market saying theirs is just as strong. Spine whacking on frame locks and liner locks? just stupid, its going to either slip or deform the liners/stop pin etc. and cause premature issues even if it does hold up to the impact. End of the day it's different strokes for diff folks, there's a knife out there for everyone. I'd wager about 6% of people actually "hard use" their folding knives. That term is overused marketing fluff, a knife is only as strong as it's weakest link, which in most cases is the lock. At least cold steel only claim to have the toughest lock - and it's true because they do, they don't claim to be the best at anything else, funny thing is most of the new cold steels in CTS XHP are stronger and more capable cutting tools than knives 5 times more expensive.
