Cliff Stamp
BANNED
- Joined
- Oct 5, 1998
- Messages
- 17,562
Impacts :
The blade was subjected to hard spine whacks into wood and then concrete. The concrete damaged the tip but the lock was not effected. Hard backcuts into solid objects also did not disengage or loosen the lock.
Torques :
The knife was stabbed into a seasoned 2x4 with 1/2" penetration and twisted sideways until it rotated around in the wood thus digging a hole. This was very difficult as the wood was solid. The knife was then drove deeper with aid of a mallet until it could not be twisted by hand and the lock was still fine.
Chopping and batoning :
The Chinook was used to chop through some 1x4 board, it had 1/10 the chopping ability of the GB Wildlife Hatchet. The penetration was strong, but there was little impact energy, it was more cutting than chopping. Four sections were cut, ~150 chops in total. No effect on the lock. A few dozen Alders were cut down, 1/4" to 1/2" thick, again no effect on lock.
The knife was then used to baton through 1/2" up to 2" seasoned spruce. The batoning was light, over a dozen hits to cut through the larger wood on both sides. Then to check for high stress the knife was hit a couple of times harder and the lock bar started to seperate. It could take light batoning fine, but it was not difficult to damage the lock with harder impacts.
However even with the lock with a visible gap underneath it, the lock still engaged securely though play was evident.
Prying :
With lateral prying, the knife quickly lost the tip. It didn't hardly stress the wood and the tip broke off about 1/2" back from the point breaking in several places in the wood, S30V is not a great prying steel, no surprise there. The lock was not effected.
The knife was placed deeper in the wood until the full width of the blade took the strain. A friend straddled the knife and plank with one foot on the end of the handle and another on the board (195 lbs) and the knife bent, but not enough to take a set and the lock was not effected.
Hammering :
As a last check the knife was stressed from butt to point by placing the cracked point against a log and hitting the butt with a piece of wood to drive the knife in. This was actually going to be a test of the lock by doing a deadlift however the knife broke suddenly as the pin which the blade actually rotates around sheared off. It is actually quite small compared to the heavy duty nature of the rest of the knife. A more robust hinge pin might be of benefit.
Summary :
It takes a large amount of force to damage the lock on this knife, and aside from possible butt to point impacts, the blade will be broken lock before the lock is made insecure.
The Chinook II is a very heavy duty folder, capable of high loads before the lock is damaged and even then it continues to be secure.
It isn't capable of heavy impact batoning, but can be hit hard enough to cut clear wood, heavy knots would have to be avoided and worked around.
-Cliff
The blade was subjected to hard spine whacks into wood and then concrete. The concrete damaged the tip but the lock was not effected. Hard backcuts into solid objects also did not disengage or loosen the lock.
Torques :
The knife was stabbed into a seasoned 2x4 with 1/2" penetration and twisted sideways until it rotated around in the wood thus digging a hole. This was very difficult as the wood was solid. The knife was then drove deeper with aid of a mallet until it could not be twisted by hand and the lock was still fine.
Chopping and batoning :
The Chinook was used to chop through some 1x4 board, it had 1/10 the chopping ability of the GB Wildlife Hatchet. The penetration was strong, but there was little impact energy, it was more cutting than chopping. Four sections were cut, ~150 chops in total. No effect on the lock. A few dozen Alders were cut down, 1/4" to 1/2" thick, again no effect on lock.
The knife was then used to baton through 1/2" up to 2" seasoned spruce. The batoning was light, over a dozen hits to cut through the larger wood on both sides. Then to check for high stress the knife was hit a couple of times harder and the lock bar started to seperate. It could take light batoning fine, but it was not difficult to damage the lock with harder impacts.
However even with the lock with a visible gap underneath it, the lock still engaged securely though play was evident.
Prying :
With lateral prying, the knife quickly lost the tip. It didn't hardly stress the wood and the tip broke off about 1/2" back from the point breaking in several places in the wood, S30V is not a great prying steel, no surprise there. The lock was not effected.
The knife was placed deeper in the wood until the full width of the blade took the strain. A friend straddled the knife and plank with one foot on the end of the handle and another on the board (195 lbs) and the knife bent, but not enough to take a set and the lock was not effected.
Hammering :
As a last check the knife was stressed from butt to point by placing the cracked point against a log and hitting the butt with a piece of wood to drive the knife in. This was actually going to be a test of the lock by doing a deadlift however the knife broke suddenly as the pin which the blade actually rotates around sheared off. It is actually quite small compared to the heavy duty nature of the rest of the knife. A more robust hinge pin might be of benefit.
Summary :
It takes a large amount of force to damage the lock on this knife, and aside from possible butt to point impacts, the blade will be broken lock before the lock is made insecure.
The Chinook II is a very heavy duty folder, capable of high loads before the lock is damaged and even then it continues to be secure.
It isn't capable of heavy impact batoning, but can be hit hard enough to cut clear wood, heavy knots would have to be avoided and worked around.
-Cliff
