440A for a outdoor knife ?

C_Becker

C_Becker

Joined
Oct 7, 2012
Messages
1,300
Hi guys,
I'm currently looking for a large-ish outdoor knife (6-7"). I've looked at Beckers, ESEEs, Ontarios - the usual.
But they are all quite expensive here (e.g BK-7 is ~120€ + 40€ for the micarta scales), an I have a limited budget atm so I've found this Boker
http://boker.de/us/fixed-blade-knife/magnum/tactical-knife/02SC010.html
02sc010.jpg

It's from their budget, Magnum line and the steel is 440A. Yeah I know what you steel guys are thinking :barf:. But I'm looking for hands-on experience, preferably compared to other known steels.
I usually prefer easy-to-sharpen steels like AUS-8 that are not that abrasion resistant, I don't mind resharpening from time to time. Shouldn't be too crappy though.

The thing is- its only 60€ MSRP, Micarta scales already on and I really like the design and the handle fits my hand quite well.

From the specs I've seen 440A should be reasonably tough, edge retention a good bit lower than 440C.
Maybe comparable to AUS-6 ? That would be ok for me

So what do you say, is 440A a useable steel for a blade of that style or not ?

Thanks in advance :thumbup:
Chris
 
A lot of folks rag on 440A as being junk steel. I have heard mixed things. I have had no problems with my 440A CRKT stockman, and a number of people have had alot of success with the MT151 which is in 440A. If it's affordable, go for it. I'd be interested to hear how it performs.
 
I have plenty of bokers in 440a. Its does fine for what you need. Boker does the heat treat well and it will hold an edge okay, but realize its limitations and it won't be a bad experience.

I kinda like 440a, if the heat treat is decent I don't mind it. Easy to keep sharp,. And resists colrrosion decnetly which is a plus here in the swamps.
 
440a properly heat treated from a reputable company is not a horrible steel. Not great by today's standards or compared to other commonly used blade steels but good just the same. Or good enough lets say. if budget dictated I'd have no problem with it.

I actually remember 15, 20 years ago some name brand knife companies actually advertised they used 440a as a selling point.
 
440A is a steel I grew up with on some of the better stainless knives. We didn't have powder super steels back then. :) Real 440A has a medium carbon, 1% silicon composition that makes it pretty tough. Tough enough to have been used in many 7 inch bladed knives that were relatively tough. Relative because while tough for stainless, they aren't as tough as tool or shock steels by a long shot. In fact, I often hear people complain how their new SG2/154cm, whatever knife chipped doing things they grew up doing with their old 440A blade. They then assume because they had a "better", more expensive steel in their new knife it must have been defective for not putting up with the stuff their old familiar blade did.

On the other hand I don't believe there is any knives sourced in PRC that are real 440A, or 440C for that matter. It's one of those "close enough" things and it may be fairly close on paper. That doesn't mean it will actually perform in every way like real quality 440A stainless.

Real Aus6, when heat treated well is another pretty tough stainless. Recall the old SOG knives in Aus 6 ? The 9 inch Aus 6 Tigershark, while not as tough as the SK5 version, was still very tough.

If you want to see how tough 440A steel can be try the old Quartermaster, or KaBar in 440A.

Joe
 
I have a Kershaw in 440a which is my use/abuse knife (black horse ii) and only used it a few times and it has held up good, though I've had other knives in what I assume is 440a as they simply said 440 and abused them greatly and they held up well. It's something that I wont worry about in a knife if it's from a good company.
 
Hey guys,

after owning this knife for a couple of days, I wanted to give some feedback. As I wrote in my original post, I was wary of Bokers cheap "Magnum" line and their 440a steel.
However, in this case, it was unwarranted and I am actually impressed with this knife.

I haven't done too much with it yet, but I split some small wood with, practiced making feathersticks and did some other random cutting tasks.
The coating held up so far, and if it doesn't its stainless anyway, but it doesn't flake off or something.
Edge retention isn't great, as expected but isn't horrible either at least when cutting wood. I guess more abrasive materials would dull it really quick.
But its quite easy to sharpen, so as an outdoor knife, that's acceptable.

The knife comes with a very "tactical" sheath, that is actually not badly made . Its a "dangler" kind of setup with two thigh straps that are sadly not removable. But that is the only bad thing I have to say about the sheath, retention is good, the knife won't fall out even without the strap around the handle and the belt loop size is even adjustable.

The knife itself came sharp, with evenly ground everything, which isn't a given (Boker Plus Bushcraft, I'm looking at you !)
The handle, some kind of micarta, is grippy and fits my size 9 hand very well. There were a two spots were the micarta protuded a little, I fixed that with a file quite easily.

All in all, not a bad knife at all for the 40€ I paid, MSRP here is 60€- still a fair price IMHO. So anyone who is looking for a budget alternative in the 6-7 inch range, I can recommend this one.

Some crappy cellphone pics to round it off:
 
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