Any Yojimbo 2 Meat Tests Yet?

[Michael Janich]

At the recent Martial Blade Camp I did several pork man demonstrations with the Yo2. I also included a new twist, adding five lengths of 550 cord (parachute cord) along the length of the pork man to replicate flexor tendons. The Yo2 easily cut to the underlying "bone' (a bundle of three pieces of bamboo) every time. In fact, when replicating a comma cut to the quadriceps it actually notched the bamboo so deeply it broke.

Based on my tests (almost a year's worth of pork man demos at every seminar I teach, plus quite a few other tests during the R&D phase), the Yo2 actually outperforms the original Yojimbo.

Stay safe,

Mike

[kbuzbee]

Only one thought comes to mind..... BACON!!!!



Ken

[Blerv]

Typically a tanto won't out pierce an acute tip; it's stronger but limited due to drag. The Yo design is extremely acute and the spine acts as a ramp that pushes the cutting edge downward. More importantly the slashing power of a wharnie or hawkbill is much more impressive.

I don't know. We don't live in a time of splint/scale armour. I think in general people like to fixate on the tool over all else. There are tribes that have gone to war with wood clubs so there is a happy medium between pragmatism and extravagance. The Yo2 is a very valid tool on all levels :) .

[kbuzbee]

there is a happy medium between pragmatism and extravagance.

I prefer extravagance in all things But that's just me!

Ken

[Evil D]

Here you are. Skip to 3:05. I can't get it to skip to that time when I embed it.

[video=youtube;9PWmRWjDhYw]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9PWmRWjDhYw&t=3m5s[/video]

Combine all that with the adrenaline rush and increased heart rate and panic from getting cut that badly, and a person can bleed out quick just from a cut to the arm. This is why so many places have laws limiting blade length. If you can do that much damage with a Delica, imagine what a Military would do to someone's torso.

[JudasD]

Combine all that with the adrenaline rush and increased heart rate and panic from getting cut that badly, and a person can bleed out quick just from a cut to the arm. This is why so many places have laws limiting blade length. If you can do that much damage with a Delica, imagine what a Military would do to someone's torso.

Very valid point! i never thought of it in this perspective before.

JD

[Blerv]

Not to get grotesque but "bleed out" is a factor of time. A huge artery would result in a couple minutes, IIRC.

Don't get me wrong, getting cut up like a you went tiger wrestling is NOT going to be good. Loss of life is extremely high. It's a factor of when and more specifically how long after the assailant takes yours though. Since a knife produces no blunt-force trauma so it has certain physiological limitations; that also makes it perfect for smaller/weaker people (it takes no muscle effort to cut).

Defense seems less based on math/logic and more based on intuition/dumb luck. Every encounter is different and every body reacts differently to damage. Throw in certain drugs and people become more resilient than zombies. :eek:

[chuck_roxas45]

Not to get grotesque but "bleed out" is a factor of time. A huge artery would result in a couple minutes, IIRC.

Don't get me wrong, getting cut up like a you went tiger wrestling is NOT going to be good. Loss of life is extremely high. It's a factor of when and more specifically how long after the assailant takes yours though. Since a knife produces no blunt-force trauma so it has certain physiological limitations; that also makes it perfect for smaller/weaker people (it takes no muscle effort to cut).

Defense seems less based on math/logic and more based on intuition/dumb luck. Every encounter is different and every body reacts differently to damage. Throw in certain drugs and people become more resilient than zombies. :eek:

I'm with you there Blerv. Dumb luck, IMHO plays the biggest factor.

Combine all that with the adrenaline rush and increased heart rate and panic from getting cut that badly, and a person can bleed out quick just from a cut to the arm. This is why so many places have laws limiting blade length. If you can do that much damage with a Delica, imagine what a Military would do to someone's torso.

In my unscientific tests, a military actually does less damage than the Yo2 or an Endura. I dunno why must be the negative angle but it seems that only around two inches(around the belly) of the millie's blade will do the cutting on a pressure cut or a slash.

[v8r]

I thought it did well enough when it was open doc but then I don't have Yo1 to compare it to. I defer to your experience doc. You did tell me about the chinook 3 and I still went ahead and bought 3. :o

Yeah how about that performance reducing flat grind Chuck.

By the way thanks for the Vid. I had no idea that a box cutter could be so effective. I don't know what I was thinking after 9/11 when I was thinking " Really box cutters?" I figured if someone was trying to take control of a plane with box cutters they could be taken out rather easily. I guess that goes to show my ignorance on that matter.

[Evil D]

In my unscientific tests, a military actually does less damage than the Yo2 or an Endura. I dunno why must be the negative angle but it seems that only around two inches(around the belly) of the millie's blade will do the cutting on a pressure cut or a slash.

That's interesting. Compared to a wharnie i'm not surprised, and i guess the Endura doesn't have THAT much belly either. It probably does have a lot to do with the sweep of the blade.

[chuck_roxas45]

That's interesting. Compared to a wharnie i'm not surprised, and i guess the Endura doesn't have THAT much belly either. It probably does have a lot to do with the sweep of the blade.

I'm thinking that the negative angle is a factor because it's hard to make contact with the part of the edge near the tang when slashing or doing a pressure cut. The sweep might also be a factor since it might reduce pressure or contact with the radius of a slash or cut.

[gnlw]

Mr. Janich:

Thank you so much for participating in this discussion. It's great when we can get this kind of insight from a knife's actual creator. Thanks again!

[Michael Janich]

I'm thinking that the negative angle is a factor because it's hard to make contact with the part of the edge near the tang when slashing or doing a pressure cut. The sweep might also be a factor since it might reduce pressure or contact with the radius of a slash or cut.

FYI, that's why I am such a big proponent of what I have come to refere to as the "Filipino Grip"--with the thumb extended along the spine of the blade. Just like ringing a doorbell or pushing a button, the thumb is easy to instinctively "aim" at a target. If you maintain a natural grip angle (about 135 degrees from wrist to blade centerline) and try to touch the target with the ball of your thumb, you will typically make impact with the "heel" of the blade nearest the handle. Continue the motion of your arm without changing your wrist angle and you achieve constantly increasing pressure into the target and you use the full length of the edge to maximize cutting performance.

If the blade has significant belly toward the tip, the pressure applied into the target will diminish as you approach the tip. If the tip has a lot of belly--or if it's an American--style tanto blade--the last section of the edge and the arc of motion of your arm will run parallel and you will no longer be applying pressure into the target. You'll be burning calories without cutting any deeper.

This is also the logic behind the back cut with a Bowie knife. The false edge (which is actually a sharpened edge, unlike a swedge) of a clip-point Bowie is, for all practical purposes, a wharncliffe. A concave clip is a functional hawkbill. At the end the of arc of a Bowie swing, both bite deeply, while the belly comes close to defining the outside radius of the arc of motion.

I hope this helps.

Stay safe,

Mike

[Michael Janich]

Mr. Janich:

Thank you so much for participating in this discussion. It's great when we can get this kind of insight from a knife's actual creator. Thanks again!

You're welcome!

Stay safe,

Mike

[chuck_roxas45]

FYI, that's why I am such a big proponent of what I have come to refere to as the "Filipino Grip"--with the thumb extended along the spine of the blade. Just like ringing a doorbell or pushing a button, the thumb is easy to instinctively "aim" at a target. If you maintain a natural grip angle (about 135 degrees from wrist to blade centerline) and try to touch the target with the ball of your thumb, you will typically make impact with the "heel" of the blade nearest the handle. Continue the motion of your arm without changing your wrist angle and you achieve constantly increasing pressure into the target and you use the full length of the edge to maximize cutting performance.

If the blade has significant belly toward the tip, the pressure applied into the target will diminish as you approach the tip. If the tip has a lot of belly--or if it's an American--style tanto blade--the last section of the edge and the arc of motion of your arm will run parallel and you will no longer be applying pressure into the target. You'll be burning calories without cutting any deeper.

This is also the logic behind the back cut with a Bowie knife. The false edge (which is actually a sharpened edge, unlike a swedge) of a clip-point Bowie is, for all practical purposes, a wharncliffe. A concave clip is a functional hawkbill. At the end the of arc of a Bowie swing, both bite deeply, while the belly comes close to defining the outside radius of the arc of motion.

I hope this helps.

Stay safe,

Mike

Thanks for the explanation Mr. Janich. Our experience in our sessions on the cutting dummy and our own "experiments" do fall in line with your explanation. With 3 inch blade lengths, it's hard to beat a wharncliffe at the proper angle, in inflicting damage.

I was wondering what you can tell me about wharncliffes with longer blade lengths. Will they be proportionately effective?