The “spine whack” test: Valid quality metric, or much ado about nothing?

[John_B]

Wait... are you trying to suggest that people shouldn't be beating on their knives in the first place? How dare you! I'm so angry right now that I'm going to go chop down a tree with my knife!

As long as you don't smack the spine, I say go for it! Also dress like LT when you do it too. LT as in Lynn Thompson and not Lt. Dan.

 

[jux t]

As long as you don't smack the spine, I say go for it! Also dress like LT when you do it too. LT as in Lynn Thompson and not Lt. Dan.

There’s only one LT, and he wouldn’t stand for this weak locks are acceptable business. How can you confidently stab something with a weak lock?

 

[greater]

There’s only one LT, and he wouldn’t stand for this weak locks are acceptable business. How can you confidently stab something with a weak lock?

I use knives for utility purposes even though I like the cool looks of some of the sleeker designs marketed as "tactical" or "defense." Although certainly doable I find the use of a knife for fighting (self defense fighting) to be a dicey proposition for someone not thoroughly trained in the arts of knife combat.Despite that the question is a very valid one.

How can you confidently stab something with a weak lock ? Not all stabbing is fighting related people can use a knife for stabbing things in a utility way or by accident. A knife with a weak lock is a safety hazard no matter how you want to cut it. A knife with a weak lock should not be marketed as a strong heavy use knife. That kind of marketing has turned me away from buying products from those who make these false (in my opinion) claims.

 

[David Mary]

I read page one and two, so maybe this has been said, I don't know. But my answer is that yes, I do feel more confident in a knife if it passes the spine whack test.

I thought it was dumb til I was helping my uncle gut his house years ago.

Working in a corner I used my knife to cut something it kind of got stuck in, and as I pulled it out of whatever I was cutting it smacked the spine against an exposed beam.

I was surprised first then happy it passed the test.

 OTOH, it's probably been over a decade since then, and I haven't had a real life experience again.

One isolated incident like this can be life changing and worst case scenarios do happen sometimes.

To all the defenders of the spine whack test: Don’t be shy, I’d like to hear your side of things.

I often hold a knife with my thumb on the spine, and I like to know that in the course of performing knife tasks I don't have to be worried I might accidentally put too much pressure on it to cause the lock to fail. If a knife passes the spine whack test, I am supremely confident that I also will not be able to white knuckle it into lock failure. But strong thumb pressure was all I needed to cause a Ganzo to fail. Unacceptable. And it also failed the spine whack test before that, which led to trying the thumb pressure test (with a glove obviously).

So is it worthless? I don't think so. Not to me and my peace of mind with my tools.

I also think anyone who studies MBC would want to know that their chosen knife can pass a spine whack test, as such forces are similar to what a knife might undergo in a practical application.