Strait Bend Testing?

[Brion Toss]

Hi,
Grand question. As noted above, the Strait Bend is stronger than some bends (it retains about 60% of the strength of conventional synthetics), and is more secure than some other knots that climbers use. It also, as you noted, has a superior lead, so the ends are less liable to snag on things. It shares these traits with some other bends, notably the Ashley Bend and the Zeppelin Bend. Given an adequate safety factor, security and lead are the most important qualities, so this family features my favorite bends.
Unfortunately, non of the formal tests I've conducted have been with dissimilar rope diameters or materials. Informally, my experience is that these bends seem to be every bit as secure as a Double Sheet Bend, but I wouldn't want to rappel on different diameters without further testing.
By the way, it's not exactly true that the Strait Bend is an Alpine Bend with the loop cut. I think it's more accurate to say that the two knots are structurally analogous, in the same way that the Bowline and Sheet Bend are. The knots are tied in different ways, for different purposes, and usually loaded quite differently.
Fair leads,
Brion Toss