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For that kind of duty I like to use a box cutter. The trouble with a cheap poor quality knife is it won't stay sharp, and as you apply more and more pressure, you get less and less safe. Or the blade might actually break,
That said, for some inexpensive but actually quite good carbon steel kitchen knives, the Old Hickory brand are great and a great value, however you do have to clean them and apply some sort of oil that is compatible with foods to prevent rust.
Yeah a box cutter is good, but it's so useful it gets taken someplace else to do something else with and never comes back. The only knife that is always reliably stuck to the post in the hay room ready to cut hay bales open is the crummiest knife on the property.
Buy once, cry once.
No matter how you test - cheap is cheap and will not change. Buy a decent knive that fits your hand and use and do not nickle-dime.
Hopefully the booby-trap use was a bad joke.
Well, I didn't pay the Amazon price for it but a whole lot less.
It was cheap, it looked interesting, and I thought I would check it out. If it worked out, okay. If not, well there is always use in booby traps.
As said, the question on the table is how to evaluate a knife, any knife. Thank you, MTSilvertip. A lot of your terms are unfamiliar, battoning?, but the Net should be able to define that.....right?
I just tossed that, what knife it was, in because I figured if I stated the question without saying which knife generated the question, people would be asking about it.
Battoning is something I'd never do to a good knife, but it's popular on the YouTube channels.
It's when you use your knife to split wood by driving the blade through the wood by hitting the top of the knife with another piece of wood, or "batton" hence the name.
Even with a good quality knife this practice can introduce micro fractures that can cause the knife to fail when you really need it even if you can't see any cracks.
Battoning can break range or bend blades.
If you want a good, cheap knife, look at a Finnish Puukko. There's several models, they're inexpensive, but very good steel.
I can't believe you even bought a knife like that.
Visit or call this place. I have spent a ridiculous amount of time and money there - one of my favorite places to go when I visit my brother. They won't steer you wrong.
Maybe not. I had a friend once who kept an inoperable pistol in plain sight at home. His thought was that if anyone ever broke in they would focus on the gun, giving the homeowner an out or enough time to grab a loaded firearm. Probably the stuff of movies...
Cheap knives have their place, and they can be stashed here & there in case you ever need a blade. I used to load up on cheap knives at gun shows, mostly TSA confiscations that must end up in auctions.
For serious field use I would not buy anything cheap. Full tang, well known brand, leather or heavy canvas sheath.
How can I test knives in general, to evaluate, to see if I should buy more. I can imagine some approaches like see how it sharpens up, wear it out on field trips, try to use it a lot, see if it breaks off the handle pressing down on it to try to cleave something.
What other tests might one do?
As said, "test knives in general". Now, I might get comments back that say, "Hey, Tamara, you bought a turkey, should have read the comments, buy from this company instead".......but that is not what is being asked here but rather, how to evaluate knives, here let's say land knives, in general?
Most people do homework on the front end and get a knife of quality steel. IE, a Benchmade brand knife I have is D2 tool steel. A knife a friend made that I own is W2, another tool steel. A good knife, you'll know the type of steel. From a factory, it will list the hardness in the advertising (probably not for smaller outfits, though.) Decent Filet knives for fish are often made of Sandvik stainless steel. MTSilvertip uses spring steel which is commonly 5160.
FWIW...I have cheap knives and good ones. They all have their place.
I can't believe you even bought a knife like that.
Given that it is absolutely NOT a knife that would ever be purchased by a top-tier, high-speed, secret-squirrel operator, this post provides some useful information that others have already gleaned over the years.
That so many seem to still be clueless after all this time is, well, surprising. . .
Battoning is something I'd never do to a good knife, but it's popular on the YouTube channels.
It's when you use your knife to split wood by driving the blade through the wood by hitting the top of the knife with another piece of wood, or "batton" hence the name.
Even with a good quality knife this practice can introduce micro fractures that can cause the knife to fail when you really need it even if you can't see any cracks.
Battoning can break range or bend blades.
If you want a good, cheap knife, look at a Finnish Puukko. There's several models, they're inexpensive, but very good steel.
Thank you but please remember that this thread was started off on how to evaluate a knife (which you have cooperated, thank you) and not where to buy our knives.
Look at it this way. If Society goes South and we are left with traveling merchants, how can we tell if it is a good knife in their wares they are trying to sell.....or not?
Thank you but please remember that this thread was started off on how to evaluate a knife (which you have cooperated, thank you) and not where to buy our knives.
Look at it this way. If Society goes South and we are left with traveling merchants, how can we tell if it is a good knife in their wares they are trying to sell.....or not?
OK.
With that narrow criteria, carry a file with you to his stand. Take the file and see if it will scratch the knife. If the file skates and doesn't bite in, then it's a hard steel
Look at where the guard joins the handle to the blade. Are there gaps around the tang? If there are material can get in there and rot which can corrode the steel or eat out the handle, not to mention it could contaminate any food or meat you use the knife on.
Look at the handle or scales, how are they attached to the tang. Are they riveted or screwed or pinned, or just glued? Glue or epoxy alone will many times fail and break off.
Can you see the tang?
If it's a full tang you should be able to see the spine along the top and belly on the bottom with the scales on each side.
A through tang you MAY be able to see the spine along the top, but usually the tang is hidden inside the handle and you may not be able to evaluate how robust the tang is, and if it will support the blade.
How is the butt constructed?
Some full tangs won't have a separate butt, they will just incorporate the tang and scales into a fitted termination for comfort and grip, or just a rounded termination without a distinct butt.
If there is a separate butt, that usually means a hidden tang, but how is it joined to the knife? Some are threaded and screwed on, some are pinned, some are epoxied or glued. Pinned are best, threaded works well, glued or epoxy can shatter if used to hammer in tent stakes or breaking nuts.
The handle or scale materials can be just about anything, even cordage, but rubber or plastic are weakest and most likely to break or shattee or chip with exposure to moisture or freezing temperatures or corrosives like blood.
Cordage like Paracord are comfortable and handy as a source of cord if needed but there better be a fitted full tang so you can still use the knife with the cord removed, and cordage can absorb blood or liquids which can contaminate food or your hands.
Back in the 1970s there were "Rambo" knives made wit a hollow handle and a screwed on butt so there was a survival kit in the handle, usually a fishing kit and some matches. There wasn't really any tang, instead there was a short threaded stud on the blade that was inserted into the handle and joined with a nut so the handle was hollow.
These are pure crap, don't even consider one of them.
There are a few specialty knives out there with cast handles made out of aluminum. The tang is placed in a mold and molten aluminum is poured into the mold making a joined handle that is very secure, but the aluminum can defirm if used to set tent pegs or break nuts or bones to get at the meat or marrow.
Balance, fit and finish can help determine a quality knife as well.
Is that what you were looking for?
Last edited by MTSilvertip; 02-27-2024 at 12:11 PM..
With that narrow criteria, carry a file with you to his stand. Take the file and see if it will scratch the knife. If the file skates and doesn't bite in, then it's a hard steel
Look at where the guard joins the handle to the blade. Are there gaps around the tang? If there are material can get in there and rot which can corrode the steel or eat out the handle, not to mention it could contaminate any food or meat you use the knife on.
Look at the handle or scales, how are they attached to the tang. Are they riveted or screwed or pinned, or just glued? Glue or epoxy alone will many times fail and break off.
Can you see the tang?
If it's a full tang you should be able to see the spine along the top and belly on the bottom with the scales on each side.
A through tang you MAY be able to see the spine along the top, but usually the tang is hidden inside the handle and you may not be able to evaluate how robust the tang is, and if it will support the blade.
How is the butt constructed?
Some full tangs won't have a separate butt, they will just incorporate the tang and scales into a fitted termination for comfort and grip, or just a rounded termination without a distinct butt.
If there is a separate butt, that usually means a hidden tang, but how is it joined to the knife? Some are threaded and screwed on, some are pinned, some are epoxied or glued. Pinned are best, threaded works well, glued or epoxy can shatter if used to hammer in tent stakes or breaking nuts.
The handle or scale materials can be just about anything, even cordage, but rubber or plastic are weakest and most likely to break or shattee or chip with exposure to moisture or freezing temperatures or corrosives like blood.
Cordage like Paracord are comfortable and handy as a source of cord if needed but there better be a fitted full tang so you can still use the knife with the cord removed, and cordage can absorb blood or liquids which can contaminate food or your hands.
Back in the 1970s there were "Rambo" knives made wit a hollow handle and a screwed on butt so there was a survival kit in the handle, usually a fishing kit and some matches. There wasn't really any tang, instead there was a short threaded stud on the blade that was inserted into the handle and joined with a nut so the handle was hollow.
These are pure crap, don't even consider one of them.
There are a few specialty knives out there with cast handles made out of aluminum. The tang is placed in a mold and molten aluminum is poured into the mold making a joined handle that is very secure, but the aluminum can defirm if used to set tent pegs or break nuts or bones to get at the meat or marrow.
Balance, fit and finish can help determine a quality knife as well.
Is that what you were looking for?
Thank you!
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