Sheri SGR
Contributor
You can view the page at http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/content.php?r=304-Folding-Knife-Review
Article: Folding Knife Review
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DevonDiver
N/A
Don't understand how you award top marks to the Mares, given that it didn't perform top in any of your tests. Perhaps because they are a sponsor of your site?
Basically... it came 3rd of 5 in the Loop Cut Test and 4th of 5 in the Wrap Cut Test.
It claims a 'harder' titanium blade... but the biggest negative issue with titanium is it's hardness..and subsequent tendency to shatter.
It has a split/ring & clip for D-Ring attachment, but the others don't. You'd have to fit your own clip for 50c
It has a arm/leg (?) strap for the knife, that looks very bulky. With the others, you'd need to buy a separate nylon pouch for arm fitting.
Giving the 'top performer' award for an emergency device on the basis of sheaths/ancillary clips, whilst disregarding performance results is ludicrous.
Basically... it came 3rd of 5 in the Loop Cut Test and 4th of 5 in the Wrap Cut Test.
It claims a 'harder' titanium blade... but the biggest negative issue with titanium is it's hardness..and subsequent tendency to shatter.
It has a split/ring & clip for D-Ring attachment, but the others don't. You'd have to fit your own clip for 50c
It has a arm/leg (?) strap for the knife, that looks very bulky. With the others, you'd need to buy a separate nylon pouch for arm fitting.
Giving the 'top performer' award for an emergency device on the basis of sheaths/ancillary clips, whilst disregarding performance results is ludicrous.
Rocketmahn
Contributor
How did these knives perform with GLOVES on????
Could you even get them open wearing a good set of coldwater drygloves and liners? Basic wetgloves?
Can these knives be deployed and opened with ONE hand (with or without gloves) because the other hand is part of an entanglement????
There is more to selecting a cutting device for diving than it's corrosion resistance and its ability to cut in one-stroke or two.
Could you even get them open wearing a good set of coldwater drygloves and liners? Basic wetgloves?
Can these knives be deployed and opened with ONE hand (with or without gloves) because the other hand is part of an entanglement????
There is more to selecting a cutting device for diving than it's corrosion resistance and its ability to cut in one-stroke or two.
But it does drive up hits on their site with us trying to see what they say and finding out the reviews are questionable to say the least.
I own several models of the Spyderco in H1 steel.
There is not a Scuba manufacturer branded knife out there that will surpass them in quality. To suggest as much shows a distinct lack of real world experience in my opinion.
Ti is probably the worst knife steel available if you actually want to cut things and is more aptly suited for those that can't be bothered to rinse their gear.
I do agree that folders are the way to go for most of my diving. It's too easy to clip on and go.
There is not a Scuba manufacturer branded knife out there that will surpass them in quality. To suggest as much shows a distinct lack of real world experience in my opinion.
Ti is probably the worst knife steel available if you actually want to cut things and is more aptly suited for those that can't be bothered to rinse their gear.
I do agree that folders are the way to go for most of my diving. It's too easy to clip on and go.
I've been using the spyderco salt for the last year and a half. It can attach in very convenient places, is unobtrusive, and I can remove it at the end of the day and wear it in my pants pocket. It is my favorite cutting tool. Mine is attached to a length of shock chord as a lanyard, which in turn is anchored to a convenient spot on my backplate. It will easily stretch to my full reach, but won't be lost if I drop it. When stowed the shock chord stuffs into a tiny pouch that is attached to the waste belt. A photo would be nice...
AeroMike
Contributor
I feel this "test" was nothing more then bumping up a sponsors rep on dive knives. I am an Aerospace engineer by trade so I crunch numbers and numbers don't lie. Your numbers do not support your decision for top award. I also collect knives and I feel no one can match Benchmade in quality but with that said, I own a bunch of Spyderco, Gerber, Kershaw, SOG, etc.
BTW, I work everyday with titanium and like DevonDiver said, Ti is a lot easier to break then other metals. I would not have chosen Ti as a blade metal at all....well, if I was going for the light weight and just the "cool factor" and really wasn't going to cut anything, then yeah, I may have one just for a conversation piece.
Here, let me give it a shot for an unbiased opinion based on your numbers;
Although there are many knives out there one can determine to use, we decided to concentrate our test on some folding knives. Our selection narrowed the choices down to five different manufacturers. In alphabetical order, we have the Innovative Scuba Concepts (ISC) Rescue Knife and ISC Unidive Titanium, Mare's Force Bat Titanium, Spyderco Atlantic Salt Yellow Blade and finally the Spyderco Pacific Salt Black Blade. These knives where tested on their ability to cut through a loop cut and a wrap cut test.
As you can see from the results, some knives performed well while others showed areas of improvement. On the Loop Cut Test, we had two different Knives that definitely would come in handy if you needed to cut, and time was of the essence. The Spryderco Pacific Salt Black Blade (PSBB) nearly cut through all the different test materials in one pull, with the exception of the 1/4" Amsteel Braid, it took two pulls to get through this. Another knife that cut through the differ loop material was the ISC Rescue knife with it producing the same cutting results as the Spyderco. One factor divers take into consideration is price and the more expensive a product is does not always mean the best performance in the product. With that in mind it is hard to not take into consideration the fact that the ISC Rescue knife comes in at 1/5th the cost ($19.99) of the other top performing knife (Spyderco PSBB Knife, $119.99).
Our next test involved a Wrap Cut Test, and all the knives had a bit more challenge and the results showed this. Again, the ISC Rescue knife performed very well and out-cut most the others. Spyderco PSBB again cut through the different materials with little effort and was the top performer in this test.
Overall, the knives tested were well made and cut through some tough material. But there was one clear choice here and another choice that cannot be ignored. The performance of the Spyderco Pacific Salt Black Blade (PSBB) proved to be the best cutting knife in this Part I test and no diver could go wrong having one, or more, of these along on a dive. a Contender that one must consider is the Innovative Scuba Concepts (ISC) Rescue Knife. ISC proved you can produce a product that will deliver the same results, if not better, then some of their more expensive counterparts. ISC makes having good quality cutting available on a budget. Remember, this is only Part I in a three part series of testing. Next up is the actual dive tests then followed by the use, abuse, cleaning and maintenance tests.
Join us next week as we test these knifes again on our Part II series of ongoing tests when we put these knives in actual diver situations ranging from salt water bare hand testing, to testing with cold water gloves. You will not want to miss out on these results as there are still more surprises to surface as we take these knives through the gauntlet of everyday dive use and abuse. Until then, be safe, and we'll see you again in between dives~!
BTW, I work everyday with titanium and like DevonDiver said, Ti is a lot easier to break then other metals. I would not have chosen Ti as a blade metal at all....well, if I was going for the light weight and just the "cool factor" and really wasn't going to cut anything, then yeah, I may have one just for a conversation piece.
Here, let me give it a shot for an unbiased opinion based on your numbers;
Although there are many knives out there one can determine to use, we decided to concentrate our test on some folding knives. Our selection narrowed the choices down to five different manufacturers. In alphabetical order, we have the Innovative Scuba Concepts (ISC) Rescue Knife and ISC Unidive Titanium, Mare's Force Bat Titanium, Spyderco Atlantic Salt Yellow Blade and finally the Spyderco Pacific Salt Black Blade. These knives where tested on their ability to cut through a loop cut and a wrap cut test.
As you can see from the results, some knives performed well while others showed areas of improvement. On the Loop Cut Test, we had two different Knives that definitely would come in handy if you needed to cut, and time was of the essence. The Spryderco Pacific Salt Black Blade (PSBB) nearly cut through all the different test materials in one pull, with the exception of the 1/4" Amsteel Braid, it took two pulls to get through this. Another knife that cut through the differ loop material was the ISC Rescue knife with it producing the same cutting results as the Spyderco. One factor divers take into consideration is price and the more expensive a product is does not always mean the best performance in the product. With that in mind it is hard to not take into consideration the fact that the ISC Rescue knife comes in at 1/5th the cost ($19.99) of the other top performing knife (Spyderco PSBB Knife, $119.99).
Our next test involved a Wrap Cut Test, and all the knives had a bit more challenge and the results showed this. Again, the ISC Rescue knife performed very well and out-cut most the others. Spyderco PSBB again cut through the different materials with little effort and was the top performer in this test.
Overall, the knives tested were well made and cut through some tough material. But there was one clear choice here and another choice that cannot be ignored. The performance of the Spyderco Pacific Salt Black Blade (PSBB) proved to be the best cutting knife in this Part I test and no diver could go wrong having one, or more, of these along on a dive. a Contender that one must consider is the Innovative Scuba Concepts (ISC) Rescue Knife. ISC proved you can produce a product that will deliver the same results, if not better, then some of their more expensive counterparts. ISC makes having good quality cutting available on a budget. Remember, this is only Part I in a three part series of testing. Next up is the actual dive tests then followed by the use, abuse, cleaning and maintenance tests.
Join us next week as we test these knifes again on our Part II series of ongoing tests when we put these knives in actual diver situations ranging from salt water bare hand testing, to testing with cold water gloves. You will not want to miss out on these results as there are still more surprises to surface as we take these knives through the gauntlet of everyday dive use and abuse. Until then, be safe, and we'll see you again in between dives~!
dumpsterDiver
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I think the folding knives all need a strobe light or something integrated into the handle.
Ricky B
Contributor
Knife aficionados do not consider titanium to be a good blade material. H1 is far superior. The review did not address durability of the edge after cutting dozens of times. H1 would do even better than Ti once the blade had been used for a while.
Another point: a serrated edge is a superior cutter for fibrous material but otherwise a plain edge is a better cutter. And a plain edge is easy to sharpen while a serrated edge is difficult to impossible for a non-expert to sharpen. Most knife aficionados avoid serrated edges.
Another point: a serrated edge is a superior cutter for fibrous material but otherwise a plain edge is a better cutter. And a plain edge is easy to sharpen while a serrated edge is difficult to impossible for a non-expert to sharpen. Most knife aficionados avoid serrated edges.
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