From the looks of that blade, it doesn't appear to have been used....thats blade abuse! I am calling Eric!

dang Andy, how many howlers do you have??!! ever hear of SHARING? you could sell me one, and still have one for each hand. hmmm? something to think about, ya?

I have a flak vest at the house...I will do some test and post some pictures...maybe this weekend. What kind of thick layers do you people where? a cotton shirt and maybe a leather jacket, but I really don't believe that would offer enough resistance to make a difference.

seriously, dude, that better be an old pic from when you first got it, or i will have to confiscate it. there's a statute of limitations on blade coatings...

Any resistance is going to slow down the stabbing penetration. If you want to compare, take a coot & howler (or any knives for that matter) and try stabbing both as hard as you can into an old phone book and see which penetrates more. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif" alt="" />

And if you are assaulting someone in armor....the neck, the shoulder where it meets the pecs and the lower abdomen are still exposed...not to mention the femoral that runs across the inner thigh/groin region....take a stab at any one of those and bypass the chest and head.

I never heard of anyone wearing a phonebook for protection...how about a more realistic test?

Sweet -- but don't go f-ing up a nice flack jacket, unless you really want to (ala Stiff Clamp...)
here in colorado in the winter people wear some thick (but not necessarily cut-resistant) jackets... leather might be more cut-resistant than nylon, down, and wool, for all i know... should make for an interesting test, though...

no, i know what you mean about the phone book though -- a good test of overall drag...

that's a good point, if you are up against someone who has a good working knowledge of gross anatomy, mechanical and vascular targets, clothing is probably a lot less of an issue...

That has pretty much become the industry standard -- i wonder if Mr. Stamp has compared the two -- i know he did the phone book test on the Howler...

I wouldn't even say it is a good test..unless you are being tested on how deep you can stab a phone book....I have 2 RD9s, 1 old style and 1 new full flat grind...the new one whittles through wood like it wasn't even there, but that old style hacks apart bone and flesh (deer, and cow ribs) MUCH more effectively.