On a knife edge: A preliminary investigation of clothing damage using rounded-tip knives

Abstract

Highlights• Significant differences between the blade design and clothing damage.• A correlation between the rounded tip knife and no resulting clothing damage.• Rounded-end tip knives are a safer alternative to conventional knife blade designs.

Interpol review of fibres and textiles 2019-2022

“…Although the following conclusion is not highlighted by the authors, it appears from the analytical data that the tip angle has a much higher impact on the penetration force and energy than the textile's tensile strength. Nichols-Drew et al also looked at rounded tip knives in a preliminary study where they compared damages with five different kitchen knives in four different textiles; t-shirt (knitted cotton), denim jeans (twill woven cotton), long sleeved top (knitted synthetic blend) and skirt (non-woven faux leather) [ 19 ]. Although some limitations of the preliminary study are highlighted by the authors it can be concluded from the experiments that the resulting damage is visibly different, depending upon the corresponding knife and that a knife with a good rounded tip has the least chance to penetrate a fabric.…”

Textile damage science—Is it a reliable science?

“…The orientation of the knife to the weave was also important. More recently, Nichols‐Drew et al (2020) conducted an important preliminary study into the penetration of round tip knives, which demonstrated that the knife blades were far less likely to penetrate if the tip of the knife was rounded.…”