- Joined
- Mar 8, 2005
- Messages
- 141
reprinted from a thread on the Spyderco Forum:
In another thread on this forum entitled "CLB Variant Wishlist" a post by Th232, I mentioned that I really wanted Boker to make a Subcom FB with a wharncliffe blade, which up to this date they have not. I decided to make my own. I kept the entire blade lenght, which is kinda hard to do with a conversion to wharncliffe...soooo...I didn't do a total wharnie....I did take off a 1/4" of belly and it looks like we have a leaf blade/spear point/modified Wharnie after all.... I felt to make it a true wharnie I would have had to remove too much of the edge and I didn't want to weaken the blade. Imagine a Great White Sharks Tooth, the blade tapered from the back to the point which I left alone...It is quite a site....(For a crappy pic of it, see the other thread). It looks like a Subcom FB but you notice something’s quite not right. I reprofiled and sharpened the edge by hand over the last few days and tonight I tested my new ‘SST’ (a custom blade modification) of Chad Los Banos’s Subcom FB in a meat test side by side with his original design. I’m calling my mod the ‘Subcom FB Shark Tooth’ hence SST. My thoughts were that this modification of the blade might make Chad’s design a bit more functional as a slicer for EDC and SD.
In Meat test #1 I use a seamed eye round roast that measured 10.5 " long that was 5 " round, left in it's original packaging and wrapped with additional saran wrap, 4 layers, (to simulate the resistance of skin) and stuffed it inside a Denim Jeans Pant leg. A quick downward slash cut was made using the knives mentioned to measure the depth of the cut. In Meat Test #2 I thrusted into the roast with each knife and pulled forcefully downwards quickly until resistance was encountered. I measured the depth and length of the stab/cut. Then in the third test I made a Hard and Fast Horizontal slash across the belly of the roast and measured the depth of the cut. The results are as follows:
Subcom FB Fixed Blade 440C Test #1: 2.5" Depth Test #2: 2.5 Depth/
9" Length, Test #3: 2.5" Depth
Subcom FB ‘SST’ Subcom Shark Tooth Test # 1: 2.5” Depth Test #2: 2.75 Depth/
10” Length, Test #3: 2.5” Depth
Some thoughts: Test results show that in tests #1 and #3 the results were identical. In test #2 The Stab and Cut test the ‘SST’ did penetrate with more ease and did go a slight amount (¼”
deeper. I believe this was due in part to the spear point shape of the blade modification. My theory that it would be a better slicer was not proven. Chad’s original design proves to be just as effective. I did notice however when using the original Subcom FB my hand came in contact with the meat each and every time I slashed at the meat, whereas the ‘SST’ did all of its slicing without the hand to meat contact. I believe in a self-defense situation that this is a non-issue. The entire length of the blade with both knives came in contact with the meat (the same results were found to be true when testing the Spyderco Ronin and Yojimbo which are attributes that make them magnificent cutting tools for SD).
All things considered both Subcom FB blade designs did very well in the meat test considering their blade length to be just a tad over 2 ¼”. I also tested both knives with a thrust and comma cut (thrust and quick twist of the knife sideways in the meat to increase the size of the wound cavity. Chad’s original design did a tad better in this department, but both knives left awesome size holes in the meat.
This was a fun project for me and Kudos goes to Chad Los Banos for designing a very special SD tool that comes in a small package. I will be carrying the Subcom FB all fall and winter long in the outer pocket of my fall and winter coats as a first line of defense with easy access. I will probably end up carrying it all year long. I really like my new Shark Tooth blade and I highly recommend you pick up a Subcom FB, as superior SD tools that are easily concealed are hard to come by.
Doc
__________________
"Always Judge a man by the way he treats someone who could be of no possible use to him"
*Custom Avatar with the Help of Daywalker*
Sifu Dr. Jan L. Miller
Dragon Tiger Kung Fu Center
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
In another thread on this forum entitled "CLB Variant Wishlist" a post by Th232, I mentioned that I really wanted Boker to make a Subcom FB with a wharncliffe blade, which up to this date they have not. I decided to make my own. I kept the entire blade lenght, which is kinda hard to do with a conversion to wharncliffe...soooo...I didn't do a total wharnie....I did take off a 1/4" of belly and it looks like we have a leaf blade/spear point/modified Wharnie after all.... I felt to make it a true wharnie I would have had to remove too much of the edge and I didn't want to weaken the blade. Imagine a Great White Sharks Tooth, the blade tapered from the back to the point which I left alone...It is quite a site....(For a crappy pic of it, see the other thread). It looks like a Subcom FB but you notice something’s quite not right. I reprofiled and sharpened the edge by hand over the last few days and tonight I tested my new ‘SST’ (a custom blade modification) of Chad Los Banos’s Subcom FB in a meat test side by side with his original design. I’m calling my mod the ‘Subcom FB Shark Tooth’ hence SST. My thoughts were that this modification of the blade might make Chad’s design a bit more functional as a slicer for EDC and SD.
In Meat test #1 I use a seamed eye round roast that measured 10.5 " long that was 5 " round, left in it's original packaging and wrapped with additional saran wrap, 4 layers, (to simulate the resistance of skin) and stuffed it inside a Denim Jeans Pant leg. A quick downward slash cut was made using the knives mentioned to measure the depth of the cut. In Meat Test #2 I thrusted into the roast with each knife and pulled forcefully downwards quickly until resistance was encountered. I measured the depth and length of the stab/cut. Then in the third test I made a Hard and Fast Horizontal slash across the belly of the roast and measured the depth of the cut. The results are as follows:
Subcom FB Fixed Blade 440C Test #1: 2.5" Depth Test #2: 2.5 Depth/
9" Length, Test #3: 2.5" Depth
Subcom FB ‘SST’ Subcom Shark Tooth Test # 1: 2.5” Depth Test #2: 2.75 Depth/
10” Length, Test #3: 2.5” Depth
Some thoughts: Test results show that in tests #1 and #3 the results were identical. In test #2 The Stab and Cut test the ‘SST’ did penetrate with more ease and did go a slight amount (¼”
deeper. I believe this was due in part to the spear point shape of the blade modification. My theory that it would be a better slicer was not proven. Chad’s original design proves to be just as effective. I did notice however when using the original Subcom FB my hand came in contact with the meat each and every time I slashed at the meat, whereas the ‘SST’ did all of its slicing without the hand to meat contact. I believe in a self-defense situation that this is a non-issue. The entire length of the blade with both knives came in contact with the meat (the same results were found to be true when testing the Spyderco Ronin and Yojimbo which are attributes that make them magnificent cutting tools for SD).All things considered both Subcom FB blade designs did very well in the meat test considering their blade length to be just a tad over 2 ¼”. I also tested both knives with a thrust and comma cut (thrust and quick twist of the knife sideways in the meat to increase the size of the wound cavity. Chad’s original design did a tad better in this department, but both knives left awesome size holes in the meat.
This was a fun project for me and Kudos goes to Chad Los Banos for designing a very special SD tool that comes in a small package. I will be carrying the Subcom FB all fall and winter long in the outer pocket of my fall and winter coats as a first line of defense with easy access. I will probably end up carrying it all year long. I really like my new Shark Tooth blade and I highly recommend you pick up a Subcom FB, as superior SD tools that are easily concealed are hard to come by.
Doc
__________________
"Always Judge a man by the way he treats someone who could be of no possible use to him"
*Custom Avatar with the Help of Daywalker*
Sifu Dr. Jan L. Miller
Dragon Tiger Kung Fu Center
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------