One really unfortunate consequence of such pointless tests is that they present a completely warped idea of how a knife should perform. I'm all for strongly built, heavy duty knives. But knives should above all cut well and take a good edge. Everything else is pretty much secondary. I'd love to have an indestructible knife, but if that means I have to settle for a ridiculously thick spine and an unrealistically beefed up profile, no thanks. I'd much rather have a slimmer and potentially weaker knife that cuts well than a sharpened crowbar.

It's a shame that many knifemakers have gone the same route, probably because destructive tests have become so popular in the past years. One example is the Ontario Knives Spec Plus series. They took some very good, time proven designs such as the USMC Kabar and USAF survival knife and designed their own beefed up versions. Supposedly the Spec Plus knives are stronger but in reality they perform a lot worse than the originals.