The amount of bend will not tell you which has greater lateral strength - The force needed to achieve such bend will tell you lateral strength. If two steels will bend to 90 degrees before breaking but one takes twice as much force to get it there -- then it can be said that it has twice the lateral strength of the weaker steel. Make sense? The amount of bend may indicate lateral flexibility or something else though. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />