Throwing down the EDC gauntlet

[joeradza]

Long Pulls are the worst for PB&J.

You just need the correct tool. No nail nick or long pull. Run it under hot water, wipe down, done.

 

[Will Power]

In these kind of real world tests it just goes to show that it's a jungle out there, these tasks take no prisoners

I'd be concerned about edge rolling and are these blades right for really battening Granny Smiths? In a survival context I wouldn't place too much reliance on them, suspect heat treat Sure you're OK if it's just Roast Beef - already sliced but what about Corned Beef? Or even worse having to cut salami? Good luck with that one without developing irreversible blade-play Coleslaw, making your own then spreading it gives a more realistic idea of the long term qualities needed for a credible EDC. Gummed up pivots, dirt trap liners where grit could compromise reliability. You didn't mention the time needed for Patina Enrichment either, not being funny here as you're a stand-up guy, but that's a chronic omission.....bad day huh? Then there's the pice devaluation of that Flipper's dream you're using as an EDC....

Looking forward to your on going reports though, maybe opening biscuit (cookie...) or cake packages during afternoon tea or coffee breaks? That can cause you to question your own judgement and even basic skills...Then just getting home presents its own rewards and challenges, slicing citrus fruits for drinks perhaps? All that acid juice and does the knife cut cleanly, I mean clean through those pips that are always lurking like mines You know you should choose stainless but you're trapped in a cage of your own nostalgia about carbon the rust nirvana But wait a minute, stainless just won't hold an edge for more than one cut, well known alternative fact

Stick to your guns mind, some people who ought to know better, trot out the old cliche about tools for the job, they might even have the audacity to suggest you use....

 

[akaMatt]

Stick to your guns mind, some people who ought to know better, trot out the old cliche about tools for the job, they might even have the audacity to suggest you use....

You bring up many good points indeed, Will... and make me rethink my entire EDC strategy. Methinks I need a belt made of this magical wood of yours that suspends knives in mid-air! And maybe a long stick to pummel my sandwiches into submission before carving them up!

 

[5K Qs]

So in my quest to find the perfect white collar EDC, I decided to put my 2018 GEC #15 up against my 2015 Case Pen in a series of real world tests today. I called this grueling challenge "lunch", and I cleverly devised two separate tests, so as to cover approximately 99.875% of my normal daily use activities.

Test 1: The materials used were 2 slices of rye bread, roast beef, and a slice of pepper jack cheese. To really test the steels and build quality of each knife, I decided to stack the materials together in a sort of roast beef sandwich. First, the 15... sliced through all of them with very little resistance, even stacked together! Next, the Pen... same result!

Test 2: The material used for this test was an apple. And not just any apple, a granny Smith apple. Again, both knives were able to slice right through with no problem.

Summary: I was pleased to find both knives performed admirably, if not exceptionally. Both blades were still razor sharp even after performing the series of cuts, and there is still no blade play in either knife. I feel confident either of these two magnificent knives will be able handle whatever kind of bread or fruit I might throw at them in the future.

I really appreciate your reporting your experimental results, A akaMatt ! Too often all we see here are unsubstantiated opinions and/or, as Will Power pointed out, "alternative facts", rather than the objective truth and scientific method you offer us!

(I have to confess that, coincidentally, I woke up about 2am this morning and had trouble getting back to sleep. One of the things I did was look up the lyrics to Elton John's "Rocket Man"; I don't know why. And there's a relevant line in that song for me, even though I support Matt's scientific approach:
And all this science I don't understand,
It's just my job five days a week,
A pocket (knife) man, a pocket (knife) man.)

Long Pulls are the worst for PB&J.

You just need the correct tool. No nail nick or long pull. Run it under hot water, wipe down, done.
View attachment 942156

Alan, you have the COOLEST Douk-Douk! All the black from the handle looks like it has migrated over to the blade!

But getting back to Matt's results, in a situation where performance of the two knives is apparently virtually identical, we should move on to other factors to determine preference. Matt didn't describe his Case pen knife, but if it's yellow delrin with CV steel, it's obviously more visually appealing than any GEC #15!


- GT

 

[Dadpool]

I call foul -- it doesn't sound like you batoned either knife through your sandwich!

 

[Misplaced Hillbilly]

Good thread, good to share our challenges, to know we are not alone in our edc struggles. Why just today, probably around the same time your knives faced down the daunting task of the dreaded granny smith, my OT trapper was seriously challenged. For I needed to sharpen my pencil! I was reasonably sure it could handle the cedar, if I was careful and took my time. But who knows what long term damage would be caused by the graphite. But a tough task needed doing, so I carried forth. When it was all over there was these horrible silvery black lines running across the blade. I was certain I had ruined it, but apparently you can rub it off with nothing more than a common finger! Disaster averted!

 

[Hickory n steel]

On a serious note, a good test for a your knife is to cut different types of plastic wrappers and chips bags...ect.
If Your knife isn't thin and sharp enough you won't get a clean cut and it'll tear down the side.

 

[Burnt Stag]

Wait …. What? …. You guys cut stuff with your traditional knives??

 

[Misplaced Hillbilly]

Hickory n steel I agree, a potato chip (crisps) bag is more telling of a good edge than a sheet of typing paper,imho.

 

[akaMatt]

Matt didn't describe his Case pen knife, but if it's yellow delrin with CV steel, it's obviously more visually appealing than any GEC #15!
View attachment 942219

- GT

Indeed, GT... it was the yeller delrin pen vs the ebony 15. Important facts which I neglected to mention in the original test setup. Sadly, neither sandwich nor fruit was able to weigh in on the aesthetics argument, and I must remain impartial on that matter, or risk tainting the results.

 

[Jathes]

On a serious note, a good test for a your knife is to cut different types of plastic wrappers and chips bags...ect.
If Your knife isn't thin and sharp enough you won't get a clean cut and it'll tear down the side.

A good test and a pretty good percentage of my use of my pocket knives.

 

[joeradza]

Wait …. What? …. You guys cut stuff with your traditional knives??

Finally the truth comes out. We're all busted.

 

[akaMatt]

On a serious note, a good test for a your knife is to cut different types of plastic wrappers and chips bags...ect.
If Your knife isn't thin and sharp enough you won't get a clean cut and it'll tear down the side.

Sadly, I generally feel much better about the edges I get on my knives if I'm cutting a sandwich versus cutting cleanly across a potato chip bag!

 

[oldtymer]

Wait …. What? …. You guys cut stuff with your traditional knives??

Why of course, even our own fingers sometime.

 

[meako]

Science and Art come together.
These results are astounding Sir.
I foresee this concept..."lunch" as you call it being popular in years to come..
Pray tell what are you having tomorrow thast may test your knives mettle?...guffaw guffaw no pun intended.

 

[RDaneel]

Excellent topic. I really like to read these grueling, real world knife tests. Was this "lunch" test done in the field (at "work")?

It is interesting that the Case Pen stood up to the tests just like the GEC #15. Perhaps this Case knife company is an up and coming challenger to the venerable GEC...

 

[Amir Fleschwund]

Yesterday on the tractor was hot and dusty - bandana over the mouth dusty - and I finished up by transplanting four oak and hickory seedlings.
Later that evening, I noticed the grimey, mud-like goo in all of the crevices on my watch. Without anyone noticing, and without giving away my lack of focus on the actual meeting I was struggling through, I discretely slipped my SAK out, opened the corkscrew, and used it’s pointy tip to dig all the sweat and dirt out of their hiding places. An old toothbrush would have done the job better, but there is no feeling like having the knife when a need arises.

 

[Burnt Stag]

Ya know , with all these confessions of "Real World Testing" going on in this thread , I am highly disappointed that safety and caution has been thrown to the wind. This is how people get hurt. Cutting up sammiches not knowing if the equipment used is right for the job. Juices could fly, blades could break ,patina could form...….Did we even have OSHA approved safety glasses on for this test? Rubber gloves?? A hazmat crew on standby? Well ...did we??
Jeez....

 

[joeradza]

Ya know , with all these confessions of "Real World Testing" going on in this thread , I am highly disappointed that safety and caution has been thrown to the wind. This is how people get hurt. Cutting up sammiches not knowing if the equipment used is right for the job. Juices could fly, blades could break ,patina could form...….Did we even have OSHA approved safety glasses on for this test? Rubber gloves?? A hazmat crew on standby? Well ...did we??
Jeez....

Not only that I used good old fashioned peanut butter with SUGAR in it. None of that healthy organic stuff for me. Who knows what that stuff could do to carbon steel.

 

[Horsewright]

I'm so white collar it extends to my entire shirt.

My friend Mike is also white collar all the way down to the tails.

We tend to eschew our knives from lunch duties based on duties already performed. You did notice the raw meat products there by the toe of Mike's boot?