What is your opinion of knife destruction test videos?

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Legendary_Jarl

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Video example(nothing against the person who made the video):


I just watched a few of these and while I'm impressed of how much abuse some knives can take (e.g. Gerber Mk II) I still feel bad about the waste of an otherwise perfectly good tool. There are several videos like this on youtube and the guy in this example just posted a picture with dozens of knives he intends to destroy in the near future. Do you find these videos of value to you? Entertaining, informative, etc.? or is it just a waste?

It just baffles me that someone would willingly do that to knives purchased with their own money.
 
Depends on who is testing and how...to me, retired knife destroyer Noss was the best..much more nuanced in his testing and a bit more realistic in his approach.

His YT channel is gone but i added a link to some reuploads:
https://m.youtube.com/channel/UCReKyb0rO1E2Leamipn7Yfg/videos

Kinfe destruction videos can give you a feeling on how much abuse a knife can take.. i'd be much more interested if somebody tested them in extreme cold.
 
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I don't mind them, sometimes they can be informative. I have no emotional reaction to seeing knives being broken, so that doesn't matter to me. Sometimes extreme testing can bring out flaws or weak areas that would otherwise not be recognized. Most people wouldn't shoot their rifle until failure on purpose, but the military does during testing, because how else would you know the failure points? Not all destructive test videos provide scientific data (most don't), but I still like to see them.
 
Occasionally videos like these make me want knives I don’t need, to do stuff I’ll never do. I never wanted a Gerber strong arm until I saw what it survived “tip testing”. I do not need a strong arm.

As GAGL GAGL mentioned Noss - his videos made me want a FFBM and a Basic 9 ( Bu$$e ). Noss’s video also made me never want a Chris Reeve Green Beret.
 
I see a big difference between someone who uses a knife as a tool, and pushes it to it's limits until it fails, in order to see where that point-of-failure is...or, someone who simply destroys a knife, doing things with it that no person would ever do, and that in no way represent what it was designed for.

If for example, a knife were advertised as a "wilderness survival knife", then I think it would be perfectly reasonable for someone to chop and baton with that knife. And if they performed those tasks with increasing severity, until it broke, I could see the possible value in that. Because those are tasks that a person might reasonably perform in the wild.

But if a person took the same knife, and hammered the blade half-way into a tree, and them stood on the handle, bouncing up and down until the blade broke, I see no value in that, because I can't think of any realistic situation where a person would do such a thing with a knife.

I see a big difference between someone who is truly interested in seeing how hard a knife can be used AS A KNIFE...or, someone who is only interested in destroying a knife so that they can declare it to be crap, increase their "body count", increase their Youtube presence, and provide entertainment to their Youtube followers.

Personally, I see no more value in watching a guy mindlessly destroy knives than I do watching a child smash his toys with a hammer.
 
I'ld like to think it's all
thanks to lynn thompson
with his proof videos.
he did it to sell his wares
these youtubers are just
trying to gain followers.
so there probably is more
to it than just senseless destruction.
inevitably its a ploy;
a gimmick to gain viewership attention.
views get sucked into viewing
likely because the robustness
of a particular knife of interest
might somehow be answered.
destructive test is rivetting to many
no different from ancient spectators
who had loved gladiator games,
some even relish the spectacle
akin to the morbid thrill
of a public autopsy.
we all know what's coming
but it would apper that
some just need to see
with their own eyes.
 
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I liked the ones Cold Steel did even if knives never got destroyed (that we ever saw, anyway) because they showed things like how much the lock could take and knives going through automotive steel panels. That's pretty convincing in my opinion. I'm never going to use a knife to open a car door like a can of sardines but those were fun to watch. I haven't really watched many torture test videos besides those but I do think it's one thing to own the company and prove they can stand some stress from extreme use, it's another to get a knife and just ruin it for the sake of views and attention. If any maker wanted to send me a free knife I'd be so giddy with excitement I'd probably handle it like a newborn baby for the first three months. I guess some people just have more money than sense.
 
A) Some people are hard core
B) Do you need a tough knife ?
C) Is the testing consistent / repeatable
D) Is the testing click bait ?
E) If it's entertaining ?
F) Is it pointless destruction ?
Better them than you - right ?
 
Legendary_Jarl said:
Video example(nothing against the person who made the video):


I just watched a few of these and while I'm impressed of how much abuse some knives can take (e.g. Gerber Mk II) I still feel bad about the waste of an otherwise perfectly good tool. There are several videos like this on youtube and the guy in this example just posted a picture with dozens of knives he intends to destroy in the near future. Do you find these videos of value to you? Entertaining, informative, etc.? or is it just a waste?

It just baffles me that someone would willingly do that to knives purchased with their own money.
Click to expand...
Have any of these torture testers ever hurt themselves? I bet they have. He's literally asking for it by stabbing a concrete block.
 
old4570 said:
A) Some people are hard core
B) Do you need a tough knife ?
C) Is the testing consistent / repeatable
D) Is the testing click bait ?
E) If it's entertaining ?
F) Is it pointless destruction ?
Better them than you - right ?
Click to expand...
C and F 😂👍
 
I seen that same guy break the tip off a Espada slicing fighting knife. Those knives are thinner in the tip than most and aren't made for prying. Hell get a prybar knife if you want to pry on stuff. It made no sense to me to destroy that blade. Kind of stupid if you ask me. Where's Noss when you need him.
 
Doesn’t bother me. It’s a hobby. Some like to destroy their knives, some like to take pictures of them next to fruit, and some chase the perfect edge. I remember Cliff, Noss and others. It has always been part of modern knife culture and will always be a source of contention.
 
I was going to write that I hate those videos, particularly the ESEE ones where they go and ask ESEE for a replacement, but there is some value in them. It was nice to learn that the simple mora is way more durable than it gets credit for.

Generally, however, the value is limited. We see time and again that most knives can take some abuse, but every knife will fail with enough severe abuse. In general I do not favor knife abuse.
 
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