  We discuss the use of the variable sqrt{shat}_{min}, which has been proposed
in order to measure the hard scale of a multi parton final state event using
inclusive quantities only, on a SUSY data sample for a 14 TeV LHC. In its
original version, where this variable was proposed on calorimeter level, the
direct correlation to the hard scattering scale does not survive when effects
from soft physics are taken into account. We here show that when using
reconstructed objects instead of calorimeter energy and momenta as input, we
manage to actually recover this correlation for the parameter point considered
here. We furthermore discuss the effect of including W + jets and t tbar+jets
background in our analysis and the use of sqrt{shat}_{min} for the suppression
of SM induced background in new physics searches.
