Thrusting/slashing test materials

R

RKnight

Joined
Jan 11, 1999
Messages
537
Seems like we're all using widely varying test material. Phone books, rolled newspaper wrapped in denim, cardboard, wood, etc., and forming widely varying opinions.

Perhaps we could try to find a standard material, something like the ballistic gelatin used in gun caliber/load tests.

The results might be closer to reality, and comparing results would be improved.

If ballistic gelatin is too expensive or difficult to obtain (I don't know), can we find or devise a suitable alternative.

------------------
Regards,
Ron Knight

Yeah I'm crazy, but what do you want me to do about it
 
How about French Alpine Goats ('Strausburg' goats)? The sound you hear is Rich gnashing his teeth. heh heh Walt
 
Goats! You got Goats!!

Sure, I could work with goats.




------------------
Regards,
Ron Knight

Yeah I'm crazy, but what do you want me to do about it
 
I leave the real testing to more knowledgable folks with names like Dex, Joe, Mike...
wink.gif


I used strips of newspaper and rolled and taped up newspapers for practicing slashing/thrusting. (Who says the news ain't good?) Good cheap stuff, readily available, easy to use and thus more practice....
smile.gif


sing
 
I used my son's old Boogie board (for you non-southern Californians this is kind of a mini styrofoam surfborad) and wrapped it with bedding/pillow foam and duct tape. This contraption doesn't offer hard resistance but the styrofoam is firm and takes hard impacts with a bit of give. I'm not sure it is representatve of any reality but it's fun to stab, slash, and hack.
 
Ballistic gelatin is designed to simulate muscle tissue, which is no test for a knife; any knife can cut it. Also every batch comes out different so it has to be calibrated if you're comparing bullet performance with bullets you've tested on other batches ... Sanow has finally figured that out, btw, so now maybe his test results won't be quite as wildly wrong....

Maybe the best material for comparing tests made by different people is white pine boards -- easily available anywhere in the US, anyway. It isn't perfectly uniform, of course, being a natural material, but at least there's a rough comparison.

I see a lot of tests on nylon rope. That varies so much it's only meaningful when one person compared different knives or sharpening methods on the same rope. If somebody else also did tests on nylon rope of the same diameter ... it doesn't mean a thing unless by some wild chance they happened to use the same kind.

-Cougar Allen :{)
 
Ballistic gelatin is designed to simulate muscle tissue, which is no test for a knife; any knife can cut it. Also every batch comes out different so it has to be calibrated if you're comparing bullet performance with bullets you've tested on other batches ... Sanow has finally figured that out, btw, so now maybe his test results won't be quite as wildly wrong....

Maybe the best material for comparing tests made by different people is white pine boards -- easily available anywhere in the US, anyway. It isn't perfectly uniform, of course, being a natural material, but at least there's a rough comparison.

I see a lot of tests on nylon rope. That varies so much it's only meaningful when one person compared different knives or sharpening methods on the same rope. If somebody else also did tests on nylon rope of the same diameter ... it doesn't mean a thing unless by some wild chance they happened to use the same kind.

-Cougar Allen :{)
 
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