Randall Knife Review

[BoBlade]

I ran across this on the internet and thought it was interesting enough to share.

http://www.physics.mun.ca/~sstamp/kn...ndall_1_5.html

Best,

Ron

[Moosehead]

Thanks Ron for posting this review! It makes a most interesting read.

There is plenty of "food" for thought here, and I will be making some comments about this review soon.

By the way the main web site for this can be found here:

http://www.physics.mun.ca/~sstamp/

(It's Canadian eh?)

Cheers!

Moosehead

[TAH]

Hi Ron,

Interesting read. Thanks for posting it. I always find these reviews a little useless when the reviewer takes a knife designed for a specfic purpose (fighting) and then tests it for delicate kitchen work, chopping, or field dressing a deer. It is what it is - a Model 1 with an eight inch blade. What about a combat test?

Tom

[BoBlade]

Tom,

What can I say about our brothers up North? Next article will be about hunting grizzlies with nothing but a 10-3 Could be a result of being too close to the magnetic pole (Just kidding, Moosehead). In any event I thought some of it was pretty interesting.

Best,

Ron

[TAH]

Ron,

As a general rule, hunting with a knife is always best when your blade is longer than your opponent's claws.

Tom

[Moosehead]

Hi Ron, Tom et all!

With regard to the Knife Review: Randall #1 and #5 (with Johnson made sheaths) by the seemingly anonymous "graduate student in physics in the field of Collision Induced Absorption at Memorial University of Nfld."; I natuarally agree that a knife designed for a specific purpose should be tested for that purpose. However, give this guy a break for even having heard of RMK. Also the tester is an academic so allow some room for forgiveness.

What I found interesting amongst the results of his testing is the following:

"...There was however no problem in obtaining a razor edge on the knife (knives) with minimal effort..."

"In the kitchen the Randall #1...works well as a carving knife making long and deep slices such as carving up a roast or making slices of bread...."

"...In peeling the #5 worked better simply as it was more neutral in balance..." (This will make Rod "clk" very happy!)

"In short, the Randall's are functional on food prep, they are not optimized for it due to being designed for a wider scope of work, but with a little thought to method there is no reason they can't handle whatever is necessary both in the kitchen and in the field."

"The Randalls were used for a variety of work to gauge its edge retention through a wide range of media."

"With its higher wear resistance and hardness the S30V Manix was able to cut about three as much cardboard as the Randalls other two knives and retain the same level of sharpness. No significant difference was noted between the stainless and carbon Randall."

"O1 is a decently tough steel and when left fairly soft at 55/56 HRC is very tough and ductile. The #1 Randall was used to dig a decent sized hole in rocky soil with only minor denting to the edge. There was no chipping or significant damage..."

"The Randall's are soft enough to be readily filed, the O1 #1 responds faster to a file than the stainless #5. After the above hole digging it took less than five minutes to restore both edges to a hair shaving finish..."

"The leather sheaths for both knives are extremely well constructed and still solid after many years of use. The knife glides into the sheath effortlessly. There is about 1/8" or so of space around the knife at the sides which allows it to enter so smoothly. However it tightens around the choil region of the blade and the knife is held tightly. Once the belt loop is engaged the knife is held very securely."

Not a bad review at all, eh?

Cheers!

Moosehead

P.S. I'm already far too close the the North Pole...

P.P.S. "Collision Induced Absorption" = Knock that into my thick head!