Highest cutting performance per ounce

[zhyla]

Slice a breadloaf?

I'm sure you mean a coarse baguette bread roll

[Naperville]

Next time you’re cutting something take a look at the edge. If you’re using more than an inch of it post a picture

I'll ask the perp to hold still.

[LadybugMan]

@cjk

"Even though the K390 Ladybug is near the top, I haven't been convinced to actually buy one. I'd prefer to have a K390 Dragonfly."

- And therein lies the rub. My K390 Ladybug easily "outcuts" my K390 Dragonfly due to better blade geometry and thinner blade stock. However, unless you try it, you will never know.

And if we return to the actual topic of the thread - of the knives in current production, the Ladybug is at the top.

[BeggarSo]

Hold on Naperville I’ll help with the stakeout. Even brought coffee and sandwiches.

[skeeg11]

Even though the K390 Ladybug is near the top, I haven't been convinced to actually buy one. I'd prefer to have a K390 Dragonfly.


K390 Ladybug makes an excellent keychain knife. Key ring and keys make for a larger hand filling handle. Highly recommend it.

[Naperville]

Hold on Naperville I’ll help with the stakeout. Even brought coffee and sandwiches.

[Naperville]

I've been reading this and there is no "winner" to be found.

Some like very light knives. Some like heavy knives. Some like knives with full liners. Some like small knives and others like large knives. Some like fixed blades and some folders.

Spyderco is a great knife company, but they cannot possibly cater to the entire market, so you have to check out knives from other manufacturers. Please don't try to make Spyderco cater to one niche design.

[sal]

Hi Cjk,

Thanx for the interesting thread.

When I was thinking of it, I was thinking that there might be some kind of a formula that one could plug in the numbers and get a result. But it's far more complicated than Horsepower/lb in that the the cutting performance would have to be defined like horsepower is defined;

How does steel fit into the formula?
How do serrations fit into the formula?
How does edge retention fit into the formula?
How will geometry fit into the formula?
What amount ow much force is required, as someone mentioned.

Probably gonna take some smarter than me to come up with something that works. That's you.

sal

[salimoneus]

Seems like an almost pointless super generic question, with so many variables that need to be defined, and drastically different definitions of terms like "cutting performance".

And who cares about a half an ounce or even a full ounce here or there? What are you looking for, a knife for a two year old?

[tzirconia]

This thread brings back memories of a few other threads over the years:
viewtopic.php?t=88423
viewtopic.php?t=90910

The data are simply quantifying different physical characteristics of the many great knives Spyderco offers. Because Spyderco provides detailed specs for the knives on its website they appear to believe such data is useful to customers.

Do with the data what you will

[Wartstein]

...
And who cares about a half an ounce or even a full ounce here or there? What are you looking for, a knife for a two year old?

Started a new thread ( viewtopic.php?p=1878548#p1878548) for my reply

[Brock O Lee]

This reminds me of previous blade/handle ratio discussions...

Interesting on an intellectual level, but in practice I'd still pick a Military over a Dragonfly on most days, because I want a handle that fits my hand, and some meat in the mechanism and construction to inspire confidence and get the job done.

[derangedhermit]

Updated for the comments.
@vivi The Catcherman beats out the UKPK lightweight.
@Flash You're correct about the Charisma. It decimates all.
@Wartstein Yes, the FFG Salt 2s are worthy of being considered.
Screen Shot 2026-04-09 at 8.15.42 AM.png

Four columns and you choose to sort on...none of them.

[dan31]

Manbug Salt SE.

[Evil D]

Hi Cjk,

Thanx for the interesting thread.

When I was thinking of it, I was thinking that there might be some kind of a formula that one could plug in the numbers and get a result. But it's far more complicated than Horsepower/lb in that the the cutting performance would have to be defined like horsepower is defined;

How does steel fit into the formula?
How do serrations fit into the formula?
How does edge retention fit into the formula?
How will geometry fit into the formula?
What amount ow much force is required, as someone mentioned.

Probably gonna take some smarter than me to come up with something that works. That's you.

sal

Posts like this make me wish we had a "Like" button. I relate so many things to cars, this explanation is perfect. There's just too many variables in this topic to get more than an opinionated answer. We could compare blade grinds like with the High Performance Delica project, but when comparing ALL knives it gets so muddy.

[derangedhermit]

Hi Cjk,

Thanx for the interesting thread.

When I was thinking of it, I was thinking that there might be some kind of a formula that one could plug in the numbers and get a result. But it's far more complicated than Horsepower/lb in that the the cutting performance would have to be defined like horsepower is defined;

How does steel fit into the formula?
How do serrations fit into the formula?
How does edge retention fit into the formula?
How will geometry fit into the formula?
What amount ow much force is required, as someone mentioned.

Probably gonna take some smarter than me to come up with something that works. That's you.

sal

For my own amusement, here's my first pass at it. I reordered the questions.

What amount of force is required.

- Force required is the main measure of cutting ability.

I split cutting ability into initial cutting ability (cutting ability of a fresh edge) and edge retention (cutting ability over time and repeated use), because different things affect them, and they should be measured differently.

- Initial cutting ability: first formula goes here
- Edge retention (cutting ability retention): second formula goes here

How will geometry fit into the formula?

- Geometry is the dominant factor in initial cutting ability
- Components of geometry are blade width (thickness), blade height, grind, bevel angle
- (Maybe serrations fall under geometry too)
- Angle of attack is not part of geometry, since it can be set by the user - although it can be important in design of a knife model, and the (straight, convex or concave) edge for slicing cuts must be considered

Proposal: Ideal geometry (maximum initial cutting ability) for a blade made of an ideal blade material is when:
- blade thickness approaches 0 (bevel becomes irrelevant)
- blade height is dependent on intended use (like wide jigsaw blades for straight cuts, narrow ones for curves)
- blade length is dependent on intended use (dimensions of material to cut and cutting style)
- As blade thickness increases, total angle of bevel becomes significant. For initial cutting ability, larger bevel angle is always worse, defined by charting total bevel angle vs initial cutting ability: straight line of negative slope, or a smooth downward curve.
- As blade thickness increases, importance of the difference between blade thickness "behind the edge" and maximum blade thickness is dependent on the material being cut.

How does steel fit into the formula?

The steel affects:
- How close to optimum geometry for initial cutting ability can be achieved. (edge: minimum bevel angle based on given chipping / bending / turning at that angle for that steel, blade thickness: minimum for a given blade design (with a given permanent bend / break point under side load or twisting) Note: the most important steel property for initial cutting ability is toughness.?
- how long the initial cutting ability is retained under repeated use and over time in different environments (this is almost completely "edge retention" with some "stainless" also). Note: the steel properties important for prolonged cutting ability are hardness, "stainlessness", and, maybe, toughness (EDIT: in that order)

How does edge retention fit into the formula?

- Edge retention is the resistance to loss of initial cutting ability as a result of repeated use and environment
- Edge retention is dependent on both geometry (specifically, edge bevel angle) and steel
- Hardness is the most important steel property for edge retention.?
- A formula for initial cutting ability need not take edge retention into account
- Edge retention should be measured relative to initial cutting ability, not as an absolute value (e.g. "number of box cuts or rope cuts")

How do serrations fit into the formula?

Serrations affect:
- The cutting angle of attack
- the cutting ability loss curve ("edge retention")
- effect of serrations is dependent on push cutting vs unidirectional slicing vs sawing (bidirectional slicing)
- the effects of serrations are probably complex to analyze

Missing from all the above is the influence of the material(s) being cut (or used to measure cutting ability) and of the environment over time.

[derangedhermit]

I suspect serrations are as effective as they are for continuing to cut stuff long after a non-serrated edge would be too dull for use because they work by a combination of what we think of as "cutting" and what we think of as "tearing". They can be comparatively dull, and due to the high angle of attack, still appear to be cutting. As the edge dulls, the percentage changes from "more cutting" to "more tearing".

This might help explain why serrations work very well on some materials and not very well on others.

[BeggarSo]

Could be

[Hillbilly delux]

This is my first post on here. I think the Delica is one of the all time great edc knives. I’m not sure if it has the highest cutting performance per ounce but it is great! The handle design lets you get a lot of leverage. It blows through fruit tree limbs and grape vines when I prune them. The Delica is nimble enough to clean squirrels. They will skin and cut up a whitetail deer with no problem. They will also handle being drove through the breast bone without chipping. This was a regular vg10. The only drawback that’s ever been pointed out to me was my 5 year old grandson said they won’t cut a big piece of watermelon. That does take a longer blade. Endura gets watermelon duty. You might not be able to tell by this post but I’m a Spyderco fan.

[sal]

Hi Hillbilly delux,

Welcome to our forum.

sal