440C - To Buy or Not to Buy? A steel snob's dilemma

I just find it crazy our ancestors got a long with various random steels in extreme wilderness conditions but some people are saying 440c would fail could someone please explain what I'm missing here?
 
Sirryacus said:
I just find it crazy our ancestors got a long with various random steels in extreme wilderness conditions but some people are saying 440c would fail could someone please explain what I'm missing here?
Click to expand...

Sure. Standards have risen as performance has risen. It is less acceptable to have your blade snap in ordinary use than it was many years ago. You have a choice in stainless steel other than soft or brittle. Our ancestors just thirty years ago were happy to get 80,000 miles out a car, 15,000 miles out of a pair of tires, and 5,000 miles between "tunes ups."
 
Last edited:
Sirryacus said:
I just find it crazy our ancestors got a long with various random steels in extreme wilderness conditions but some people are saying 440c would fail could someone please explain what I'm missing here?
Click to expand...

Actually, "our" ancestors used plain carbon steels much like 1050 or 1080, which are very tough, much tougher than most if not all stainless steels. Your ancestors did not have 440c or any other stainless. They had tough carbon steels.
 
So I guess people aren't really far off suggesting a 12 dollar Ontario Old Hickory Butcher knife for bushcraft no matter what the detractors say.
 
Sirryacus said:
So I guess people aren't really far off suggesting a 12 dollar Ontario Old Hickory Butcher knife for bushcraft no matter what the detractors say.
Click to expand...


Hard to screw up plain carbon steel. But some companies find a way to do so. To me the heat treat is far more important than the steel. I would take a 440c blade from a quality maker than a carbon steel blade from a crappy maker. By the way Ontario is one of those makers who has a totally inconsistent HT. So no that 12 dollar ontario is trully worth 12 dollars. totally disposable.
 
Last edited:
Jay Fischer makes great knives. They aren't knives I'd buy or use but he is an artist.Having said that I'll state that a lot of that is just marketing and I see things differently. I won't say my ideas are right for him . His aren't right for me. If I wanted an art knife I'd likely have it made in 440C likely as a first choice.
 
Very true. His little toughness chart is misinterpreted and without Rc numbers it is useless
 
Last edited:
Very true. His little toughness chart is misinterpreted and without Rc numbers it is useless
Click to expand...

You are right. If the numbers are taken at hardness too low for knives it's an irrelevancy.

Joe
 
Cobalt said:
Hard to screw up plain carbon steel. But some companies find a way to do so. To me the heat treat is far more important than the steel. I would take a 440c blade from a quality maker than a carbon steel blade from a crappy maker. By the way Ontario is one of those makers who has a totally inconsistent HT. So no that 12 dollar ontario is trully worth 12 dollars. totally disposable.
Click to expand...
I have looked into new old stock vintage models but I didn't feel it was worth the risk, there have been a couple of similar vintage carbon steel blades that have come up from other brands such as Ekco that may be worth the gamble but still hard to tell.
 
Sirryacus said:
I have looked into new old stock vintage models but I didn't feel it was worth the risk, there have been a couple of similar vintage carbon steel blades that have come up from other brands such as Ekco that may be worth the gamble but still hard to tell.
Click to expand...

AS for plain carbon steel knives, I like the condor frontier blade and the cold steel GI tanto. The CS is about 25 bucks and tough as nails. The condor is a bit more. Great value for what you get.
 
Sure. All it takes is the correct knowledge, the right equipment (not exotic at all), and the commitment to getting it right.

Try driving on the public roads lately? :p
 
The Mastiff said:
Jay Fischer makes great knives. They aren't knives I'd buy or use but he is an artist.Having said that I'll state that a lot of that is just marketing and I see things differently. I won't say my ideas are right for him . His aren't right for me. If I wanted an art knife I'd likely have it made in 440C likely as a first choice.
Click to expand...

I'm glad you said it and not me. I didn't agree with quite a lot from that Web link.
 
Cobalt, Thanks for that link. Very interesting read. And I saw two magificent kitchen knives...
 
Cobalt said:
Always take things with some salt. But one fact that some may miss is a quote in that link:



So, if you see forged in front of 440C it is likely not 440C, see Gaston, you may have learned something today. Nah, probably not. ;)
Click to expand...

To be fair Jay also says some steels are virtually impossible to sharpen by hand in the field and there are a few makers who forged their 440C blades, particularly before it became popular and available in knife maker sizes.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top