Tested a knife by cutting rope until I could not keep going

6

6thsense

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Sep 6, 2025
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I set up a simple test with rope and a few different knives and tracked how long each one held its edge and the results surprised me. Price did not line up with performance the way I expected. A couple of mid range knives held up better than both cheaper and more expensive options...it showed me how much steel type and grind really matter.
 
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Rope tests are useful, but they can also exaggerate differences if pressure, angle or stroke consistency isn’t tightly controlled.
 
Simple tests like that cut through marketing fast, performance doesn’t always follow the price tag.
 
I put a few knives together. I don't make the blades just put handles on them. I always try them out for awhile and see how they work. I find some of the cheaper blades do better in all regards. I think the heat treating of the blade has a lot to do with the performance even with the higher dollar steels. I've taken a liking to 80CRV2 steel.
 
teflonhunter said:
I put a few knives together. I don't make the blades just put handles on them. I always try them out for awhile and see how they work. I find some of the cheaper blades do better in all regards. I think the heat treating of the blade has a lot to do with the performance even with the higher dollar steels. I've taken a liking to 80CRV2 steel.
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That makes sense. Heat treat usually matters more than the steel name on paper especially in real use. A well-done 80CrV2 blade can outperform pricier steels if the edge is set and treated right. It’s a good choice for hard use knives.
 
Steel type and grind geometry matter far more than price. People always get surprised when they actually test something instead of just going by the brand name.
 

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