KnifeTests.com Cold Steel SRK Destruction Test
Ashley 07.22.14
This week’s KnifeTest.com playlist features the Cold Steel Survival Rescue Knife (SRK). The SRK retails for $134.99 through Cold Steel’s website. With a blade length of 6″, this knife is smaller than some other KnifeTests.com test knives, and it has a nice, simple, and streamlined design from tip to handle. Cold Steel says, “Survival/Rescue operations demand a versatile knife able to withstand the most extreme abuse.” Few people take that as literally as Noss, who pushes this knife to its limits in this 7-part destruction test.
Noss begins by peeling an apple, which the blade does well, if not very accurately or efficiently. Slicing works much better, and the blade moves through the fruit with ease. Cutting through webbing is a bit of a struggle, as the blade is slick and slides along the material. The knife also takes a few swift smacks to cut a piece of wood in two. It doesn’t quite match up to past destruction tests where the blades have been able to cut into wood without problems. The blade, however, is quite durable and isn’t phased when the tip is used to splinter wood.
When tasked with embedding notches into a 2 x 4, the knife falters a bit, chipping away tiny pieces. It does similarly with concrete, and while the task is slow-going, the knife stays in shape. It continues to remain in one piece during additional concrete tests and while boring holes into metal and withstanding a weight test, in which Noss stands on the handle of the knife. But a second weight test bends the middle of the blade and it eventually breaks. Noss hammers the rest of the handle as the blade is held in a vice, and the rest of it comes off, too.
Check out the full destruction test below, and catch up on past tests at KnifeTests.com.
