A question about owning prototypes

[fulloflead]

I'm getting the attached Extrema Ratio Doberman Prototype in a trade. It's coming all the way from Italy, but I haven't received it yet. I intend to USE it and not just keep and look at it because I have another ER knife, a folder, I've been using and really like a lot.

My question(s) is:
Is there any reason you WOULDN'T want a prototype?
Would they ever not heat treat it because it's just a prototype?
Would they ever make it with inferior materials or do a poor job finishing it because it's a prototype?

They guy barely spoke (wrote) English and I don't speak Italian so I didn't ask him any questions but it's a brand I like and seems like a special knife so I decided to trade him anyway.

 

[Gollnick]

The meaning of "prototype" differs widely. Some protos have non-hardened blades, even aluminum or even plastic blades. Others are hardened and sharp.

Often, a prototype has differences between the production knife. Sometimes fit and finish aren't that great. And, by the time you get it, a prototype may have been disassembled and reassembled a hundred times and handled by a thousand people. And it may have been subjected to stress testing

 

[JTC]

It could also be a knife that is made of top notch stuff to guage potential customers reaction to a new design.

John

 

[fulloflead]

Which all raises further questions:

How do I know what I have once I get it? Is there any way to test the knife to see if it was heat treated?

 

[T. Erdelyi]

Which all raises further questions:

How do I know what I have once I get it? Is there any way to test the knife to see if it was heat treated?

You can send it to a machine shop with a Rockwell Hardness Gauge and have it tested, that'll give you some kind of idea of the heat treat.