Jose Diaz's Competition Knife

[cubereaction]

The BladeSports season 2010/2011 has started and boy did it start out well for BladeSports Netherlands. The president of BladeSports International, Jose Diaz, was so kind to send us a gift in the form of two competition blades!! To support our young and growing club he decided to send two of his beauty’s overseas. Great gesture and a real show of character.:thumbup:

So what did he made? Well two forged knives out of 52100 with rubber grips, both immediately recognizable by the Diaztools style. Both knives comply with the measurements stated by BladeSports (for more information see: www.bladesports.org), but are a bit different when compared to other competition knives.



First off the angle of the handle is something that stands out immediately. The severe angle will be more efficient in chopping instead of a handle that is in line with the blade. The second thing that stands out is the concave grind which is more concave than you see on other blades. With a 10mm spine it is a hefty blade. The grip is constructed out of a full tang with rubber slabs on both sides. The rubber slabs are cut out of horsestall mats. This product is made out of recycled material and has a rough structure making is very non-slip. The shape of the handle has a pronounced belly and swells on the sides.

Erik Markman and Jurgen Krebbekx volunteert to test both blades. Both gentleman are rather fanatic (and a bit crazy in my opinion) so the blades wouldn’t be spared…..They put on their wooden shoes and were ready for anything.

They started with the cardboard tubes, one of 7cm and one of 12cm diameter. First slicing of sections, no problem, actually so easy that they went straight to the 12 cm tube and tried cutting it in half. This is a hard test where you need all your strength and speed. While doing this test the somewhat round handle tried to turn in the hand. A bit more oval shaped handle would have been better in this test. The concave grind split the tube very well.



Up next was the 2x4. The wood we use in the Netherlands is harder than the wood used in the US. Also we use a non-straight grain wood which makes it harder to chop out big chunks.

We were very curious to see how a knife designed for American wood, would perform on our wood. Well that went very well!! The concave grind, the angle on the grip and the weight made sure that Erik and Jurgen clocked really good times. The chunks of wood flying through the air were large enough to build a small canoe. Last the soda cans, when held to the right angel, the blade sliced through the metal like it wasn’t there. No problem at all.







Conclusion:

Every knife is the result of concessions. This blade is not any different. The focus of this blade lies in our view on chopping. The curved blade, grip angle, weight and concave grind make it the ideal chopper! It is so good at it that a BladeSports competitor can save a lot of time on the 2x4 vertical or horizontal. The grip could be a bit more oval, but that’s a matter of personal taste and also something that is easily fixed. Well the Dutch Competitors who do not have a knife of their own are now serious competitiors!! They can thank Jose Diaz, president of BladeSports International for this.

Want to see more of Jose’s work, check out his website: www.diaztools.com


Jose Diaz's Competition Blade next to the browning competition cutter.

[MeetTheGeeks]

That looks really mean, but great fun with it in a sport that is highly competitive. A very generous donation to help newcomers

[Carlitos]

Great blade!

[Longstrider]

Jose makes a fine knife, and is obviously a generous guy to boot ! A nice review of the knife there Toni, and it's good to see you guys having fun

[Jose Diaz]

I am both excited and humbled by your review of my knives. Thank you so much.

I am glad you are getting use of these blades. I hope they remain useful well into the future.

I must make a correction, though, These are not forged pieces. They are stock removal.

I purposely leave a lot of rubber on the handles for several reasons. That those with large hands like big handles, also a larger handle decreases fatigue, and finally it leaves the handle for customization, a rotary tool or a belt sander can make the handle fit anyone's hand, or be indexed to customize the fit.

respectfully,
Jose Diaz

[Erik]

I have had the pleasure of being part of testing these knives and taking the pics.

I can teel you these are great knives for competing in a Bladesports cutting competition.



If you want to be a part of the cutting competitions and looking for a knife Jose's knives are the way to go!



Thanks to Jose for helping us

[Diamond Dave]

Bloody fantastic....................

[Ivan Campos]

The knives look like the type that invites you to cut something, and his act was very generous.

[french_bulldog]

I have seen these knives in competition but I haven't had the pleasure trying them out myself but I think that will change in a couple of weeks, Thanks Jose for helping our dutch section

[Winter]

These competitions reveal excellent camp knife designs and makers.