Steve :
Chopping up a concrete block is meaningless unless you do it to two knives.
Using multiple knives would indeed allow you to put the work into perspective, as you can then determine if what you are seeing is just average performance, or impressive. However even on its own, with just one knife you obviously gain the details of how that one knife handles that kind of impact which has as noted in the above, direct consequences to normal use. You can then be confident how the knife will handle such impacts and prepare accordingly with the necessary sharpening implements.
To be clear, you could make an argument for hype or misleading testing, if the performance Busse describes as impressive was in fact average. However considering the constant rants about how abusive it is from various makers, this isn't logical, in fact such commentary promotes just how impressive the Busse blade performed. To be clear Busse isn't the first maker to talk about the test in a such a clear and frank manner, Ray Kirk did this as well awhile back. Most machete manufacturers will also comment that their blades can handle such impacts without gross damage. They will take more impaction than the Swamp Rat did though simply because they are significantly softer, ~45 RC as compared to ~60 RC.
Then you can compare the relative damage to each one and make some sort of judgement, but only about the relative durability of the edges of those two knives.
The properties that control how the edge is damaged also control how the blade as a whole takes similar impacts in much the same way, so you can extrapolate to gross blade faults from a basic comparison of the relevant materials properties. You need to take into account the primary grind differences of course. For example, a convex grind on a more brittle steel, can be a more durable knife overall than a deep hollow grind on a tougher steel depending on just how much of a difference there is in the steel toughness.
Even for that to be meaningful, you would have to be able to say something about the relative edge geometry of the knives.
It is meaningful without any geometry comment, you are just comparing the NIB stock profiles, many people don't change them so it is a knife to knife comparison, not steel vs steel. If you want to talk about the steels then you need to consider the difference in the edge geometry, as well as the effect of mass, balance and blade length (as well as handle issues which are much less significant), as these will effect the impact energies under similar effort.
-Cliff
