james terrio
Sharpest Knife in the Light Socket
- Joined
- Apr 15, 2010
- Messages
- 22,618
It's easy to build a knife that can compete and cut well. It's not so easy to find an athlete that can absolutely kick butt with it.
Watch a few competitions and you will quickly notice that, like a drag race, they are generally won or lost by fractions of a second.
The precision cuts are obviously important in terms of points, but more often than not, it's the elapsed times in the heavy/power cuts (2X4 chop) that really separate the winners from the losers. There is usually a 2x4 at the beginning and end of every course, and at least one heavy rope-cutting requirement in between.
You may also notice that there are no weight classes, and every BladeSports winner in the last several years is a big ol' boy... 6-footers/200-pounders are pretty much par for the course, and it only goes up from there. It is not at all unusual to see a 300# man simply beat the snot out of a comp cutting course with pure power and focus.
There ain't too many 90# weaklings bashing through a 2x4 in a minute or less, no matter what knife they carry. That kind of work requires a great deal of explosive strength and inertia, and not much endurance. In football terms, we're talking about linemen here, maybe linebackers... not quarterbacks or wide-receivers. It's a quick, brutal, in-the-trenches kind of sport.
In the last few years, the knives have also been getting heavier and thicker... there are a few folks making and using CC knives as thick as 3/8" at the spine, even approaching 1/2"! All in the search of power... I don't know of anyone who's actually won with a knife like that.
I think that trend has run its course, and I suspect the sport's fans will generally put that nonsense in the past and ease back into almost all competitors using blades with 5/16" spines, and maybe even as thin as 1/4". Dare I predict 3/16" thick knives and lighter, faster competitors?
There's no records left to beat, except those that require strict speed and precision.
Personally, I would like to see a weight class division in BladeSports. Say, over/under 200#, with the same maximum specs for the knives, and the same courses... perhaps with more precision cuts. Quite honestly, the sport has gotten a tad boring... the really big guys have sort of evened-out the field amongst themselves. No one is gonna beat Dan Keffeler in the World Record 2x4 chop anytime soon... so... what's left?
I'll hazard a guess that lighter, nimbler cats would use lighter, faster knives... but that remains to be seen.
Watch a few competitions and you will quickly notice that, like a drag race, they are generally won or lost by fractions of a second.
The precision cuts are obviously important in terms of points, but more often than not, it's the elapsed times in the heavy/power cuts (2X4 chop) that really separate the winners from the losers. There is usually a 2x4 at the beginning and end of every course, and at least one heavy rope-cutting requirement in between.
You may also notice that there are no weight classes, and every BladeSports winner in the last several years is a big ol' boy... 6-footers/200-pounders are pretty much par for the course, and it only goes up from there. It is not at all unusual to see a 300# man simply beat the snot out of a comp cutting course with pure power and focus.
There ain't too many 90# weaklings bashing through a 2x4 in a minute or less, no matter what knife they carry. That kind of work requires a great deal of explosive strength and inertia, and not much endurance. In football terms, we're talking about linemen here, maybe linebackers... not quarterbacks or wide-receivers. It's a quick, brutal, in-the-trenches kind of sport.
In the last few years, the knives have also been getting heavier and thicker... there are a few folks making and using CC knives as thick as 3/8" at the spine, even approaching 1/2"! All in the search of power... I don't know of anyone who's actually won with a knife like that.
I think that trend has run its course, and I suspect the sport's fans will generally put that nonsense in the past and ease back into almost all competitors using blades with 5/16" spines, and maybe even as thin as 1/4". Dare I predict 3/16" thick knives and lighter, faster competitors?
There's no records left to beat, except those that require strict speed and precision.
Personally, I would like to see a weight class division in BladeSports. Say, over/under 200#, with the same maximum specs for the knives, and the same courses... perhaps with more precision cuts. Quite honestly, the sport has gotten a tad boring... the really big guys have sort of evened-out the field amongst themselves. No one is gonna beat Dan Keffeler in the World Record 2x4 chop anytime soon... so... what's left?
I'll hazard a guess that lighter, nimbler cats would use lighter, faster knives... but that remains to be seen.
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(I didn't think it was even possible, until I heard about this!!!)----
