Chisel Tips

Chisel Tips

One of my favorite old-wives tales is that during WW-II men who were issued commando knives purposely broke off the needle-like tips. This was done to prevent the knife from lodging in bone and getting stuck during a thrust, so one story goes. The other tale is this modification was to prevent the accidental bending or breaking of the tip which would make the knife useless. I have owned two WW-II knives that had the tips broken and sharpened across the blade, not re-pointed. Unfortunately I re-pointed them using a whetstone. Over a period of time I wondered why they did not reshape the point to return the knife more to its original look. This, coupled with the purchase of a Razel, made me wonder if those soldiers knew something about stabbing and cutting that I did not. I asked my good friends Brent Sandow and Peter Parkinson, both of Auckland, NZ, to build me a "chisel-tip" version of the Fairbairn Sykes commando knife. Due to a misunderstanding I ended up with two different blade profiles. One is the standard double bevel with four flats (knife on right). The other knife has a yari-ground blade with three flats (knife on left).
I asked Peter to build me a "mule", a bare bones test knife. What I received were two fully finished knives in tactical black. These are beautiful knives, ser. number 002 and 002A. When I showed them to Gwynne she said with a smile, "Looks like two broken knives to me." My test medium for the stabbing test was a stack of clean corrugated cardboard. I had no idea how far the knives would penetrate so I stacked the cardboard about 9 inches deep. I did not contrive any sophisticated machine to apply an even force so the results may not be accurate to the mm but they repeated in kind, from knife to knife. Using old fashioned arm-power I tried to drive the knives into the stack with equal force, pretty much as hard as I possibly could. I performed the tests three times and averaged the results. The mil-spec coating showed no signs of damage or scuffing.
As a control, and for comparison, I also tested a new Linder 3rd Pattern knife to represent a modern factory-made adaptation of the F/S.
Here are the final results from the stabbing tests performed on the stack of corrugated cardboard with four different knives.

Linder 3rd pattern style with 3mm blade avg. 81mm

Parkinson 1st Pattern style with 6mm yari style chisel tip 81mm

Parkinson 1st Pattern style with 6mm double ground chisel tip 65mm

Parkinson damascus 1st Pattern with 6mm double ground std tip 60mm

Knives in photos

Damascus knife far left, Linder, Yari, Std chisel tip

I was surprised at the difference in penetration between the Parkinson yari ground vs double ground blade. The yari-ground blade penetrated the deepest and was also the best cutting blade despite the very steep bevels. The Linder blade being only 3mm thick, versus 6mm for the Parkinson knives, pretty much insured it would cut better. I also expected it to out-penetrate all of the Parkinson knives. As you can see it was matched by the yari blade.

My standard test cutting medium, pool noodles, was used for the cutting part of the experiment. The biggest variable in the cutting tests, with the Parkinson knives, was not blade style or thickness but sharpness. The sharpness of the Parkinson knives varied from blade to blade and edge to edge. I suppose this is due to them being hand ground. I should have checked the edges before test cutting but my primary concern was penetration. Keep in mind that William Fairbairn originally designed these knives with penetration in mind not fileting fish. As an additional side note I would mention that out of over 100 original WW-II F/S fighting knives that I own, less that 10% were sharpened at all!

Conclusions: The thinner blade on the Linder will definitely take a finer edge, as would any thin bladed knife. I did not try it, but I expect that test results of an HG Long or a J Nowill and Sons F/S would be comparable to the Parkinson knives without the blade strength and elegance of a Parkinson knife. Perhaps at a later date I can test a broader range of manufacturer’s products. In fact I have two of the new Solingen-made F/S on order right now. Once they come maybe I will expand on my tests.
I would not want to trust my life to a 3mm thick blade in combat no matter how good it cuts! Next test I will spend a little more time sharpening the Parkinson knives. Did I learn anything useful? There is another Yari-ground, chisel-tipped, 1st pattern on order from Peter and Brent right now. I am convinced they are beneficial improvements to one of the world’s great knife designs. With all due respect, I wonder what W.E. Fairbairn would think?

2008 Starts out with a bang!

2008 starts out with a bang!

I was more than elated when Mark Davies nominated the Decker-Sandow Cobra as one of his favorite knives of 2007! http://www.tacticaledge.co.uk/instructional_articles.asp
This is terrific recognition from a man who knows what he is talking about. In addition we had some exciting accolades for the Rhythm of One from Mike Barnett, noted martial artist and designer of the Sabit knife.
What were my favorite Knives of 2007? I think I can narrow it down to maybe five knives. My choices are not in any order of preference. They are pictured in order; a Peter Parkinson damascus Fairbairn Sykes, James Coogler Dragon damascus karambit, Gary Braburn Hira Zukuri tanto, Mark Terrill Hangnail (plural) karambits, and the Mike Barnett designed, Coogler built Sabit. Wow what a load of great knives. This list doesn’t even include some very special Indonesian knives from Zola Octanoviar and three very nice Kukhri from Kukhri-House, Nepal.
The NEW news is that we are in the early stages of setting up a business. It will be established under the name White Shadow LLC. Most of the people mentioned above will be featured on our new website as providers of world class fighting knives. Through this business venture we plan to sell limited quantities of their knives on consignment, as well as our books. We are also set up to sell the products from CAS Hanwei including their complete line of arms and armor. Along with sales of products we will be offering our own knife defense seminars and perhaps hosting other instructors. One of my 2008 projects is to finalize the first MIK Modern Indonesian Knife and have it produced by Noviar and friends. It will be some variation of a Rencong. If you have any design you would like to see produced, contact me with your ideas and we’ll explore the possibilities of having it built by one of these fine knife makers.
We have sold more copies of the Rhythm of One in more countries around the world. People are reading this blog and saying "What you say makes sense." They want to read more and are buying our book. The many positive reviews of the Rhythm of One have convinced us it is worth dusting off and refreshing the book with better photos, a traditional binding, and pursuing a real publisher. We have sold over 60 copies, which is 59 more than I ever expected. I am reformatting it and re-editing it in preparation for the new photos. Gwynne has new software and will help put it all together. This is not going to happen instantly because of the number of photos we need to shoot. Our second book When Two Tigers Fight, is still progressing, slowly but steadily. Once I have finished the photos for this book I am going to have a massive knife sale to recoup some of my financial investment. Many of the knives that I bought to review are great knives but just not my cup of tea. So in the coming months watch for some good knives at good prices.
There will be blogs forthcoming on the testing of the Chisel tip F/S knives and also critiques of tactical folders, karambits, and my favorite choices. I expect to also have some blogs displaying the newly ordered karambits and other knives from Noviar. Noviar is forging ahead with his own enterprise, having built a belt grinder and adapted many of the suggestions that Gary Bradburn offered for improving the quality of the knives from Indonesia. Noviar has also been directly involved in the final polishing and prepping of the knives before they are shipped, making sure they are the best quality possible, always moving forward.
So 2008 promises to be an exciting year and we hope you will continue to follow our blog and support our new business, our favorite knife makers and friends.

2007 Disappointments and Surprises:

2007 Disappointments and Surprises:

It is November of 2007 and our new book, When Two Tigers Fight, isn’t as close to being finished as I would like! As to be expected there have been several setbacks along the way. Some of these delays have already held-up the progress of the book for months. One disappointment was the mile-long laundry list of excuses from a knifemaker who strung me along for way too many months. Each email offered a future delivery time only to be missed time after time. Actually this was not an isolated incident. I have come to the conclusion that two weeks from a knifemaker means two galactic weeks, which is about the equivalent of about 6 Earth months. Remember what I said that a man is only as good as his word? I meant the quality of his word not the quantity. Most of the knives have finally shipped, they are finely made knives, and all’s well that ends well, I suppose.
Then there was the long lost Laredo Bowie. This time it was my turn to send copious emails. When it finally came, almost 6 months late, it was not the latest San Mai version as promised. It was not made in the USA or in Japan, but the cheaper version made in Taiwan. Admittedly the price was less than originally quoted, but I wanted the best example of the knife to review for our book, not the cheapest. I offered several times to pay an additional fee for the better knife, but what I got is what you’ll read about in the book.
Also a disappointment were the people to whom I sent free copes of my first book intended for their review and comment. Some of these folks never even acknowledged its arrival, not even an email. What did I expect from a guy who likes to be called Animal, and a few others, but hey Chris what happened, no reply or comment from you? By the way, I bought videos or books from all of these people. One of the worst disappointments was the Editor of Paladin Press saying The Rhythm of One was a good book but it didn’t really have anything new to offer. What it really boiled down to was that it said a lot of new things that might have conflicted with a named writer who seems to have a stranglehold on the genre’. If you cannot figure that one out, open a copy of their catalog and see whose name appears as an expert on just about everything knife related.
A personal disappointment was not attending the 2007 Riddle of Steel. Truly there is nothing else like it in the world! But, it would have been less than a total experience for me without having my best friend, training partner, and daughter along to share it with. One of the last "male bastions" and all that, geeze guys grow up. Women warriors should always be welcome anywhere. Google the names Morrigan, Scathac, Boadicea, or Tomoe Gozen and see what you find. But enough whining already. That’s the rules and I either acquiesce or stay home.
There were also some very pleasant surprises in 2007. Some of the best custom knives that I bought this year came secondhand at good prices from one Ebay seller. They were also by makers previously unknown to me. There were also some very nice reviews of The Rhythm of One and my Cobra by Michael Thau, Mark Davies, and others in the self-defense trade. Thanks guys! The photos of the Cobra finally made it into Tactical Knives magazine, my thanks to Steven Dick, Editor. This year I discovered the Usual Suspects Network (USN). What a cool place to check out new makers, new knives, and delve into some interesting topics. Its going to get expensive belonging to this forum I think. I did manage to sell a total of five Cobra knives in 2007 and the buyers were all very pleased! That’s not exactly enough business to provide me with a comfortable retirement, but it was satisfying to know that the basic design is solid, functional, and saleable. Hopefully next year there will be more sales of the Cobra and our new "MIK" (Modern Indonesian Knife) from Zola Octanoviar. This should be a modern take on the venerable Rencong.
The very best thing to happen this year was the opportunity to finally meet Gary Bradburn in person! He is an old school gentleman, good friend, and maker of the nicest Shobu tanto this side of the Pacific, maybe this side of the Galaxy! Gary is a man who always goes the extra mile to make his customers happy. Although thousands of miles separate us I feel like I can count Zola Octanoviar among my very best friends too. Check out our articles on Zola and the Noesantaraa knives further down the blog. Zola is going to strike out on his own and we are going to help support his efforts. For next year I have to figure out how to meet Mark Davies, since we have shared emails, websites and such. Hey Mark, thanks for the Black Devil F/S. All in all it was a good year and I am going to ignore the disappointments and forge ahead with work on our book and spend more time with those folks whose company and correspondence I enjoy. I have also had the pleasure of correspnding with Tom Sotis of AMOK! and knifemakers James Coogler (dragon karambit)and Mark Terrell (the Hangnail)whose karambits are sweet knives! I wanted to add a thankyou here to Peter Parkinson and Brent Sandow for the terrific work they did making my chisel-tipped Fairbairns for testing. An article will be posted on the tests later. Great knives from two great people.
When all is said and done, the bottom line is this: While the function of steel is to cut, it can also bind. If you’re a warrior you’ll know what I mean.
As a reminder, check out Mark Davies’ website here. http://www.tacticaledge.co.uk/instructional_articles.asp
and Gary’s website here.
http://www.bradburnknives.com/