A really tough stainless fixed blade?

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Angelus1781

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Feb 22, 2003
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Whats a good tough stainless fixed blade with around a 4-4 1/2 inch blade?

I figured since lots of you are back from Blade you can give me some suggestions.

Thanks for any help!
 
I'm looking for the same thing, though I'm not limiting my search to stainless. My current list is the new Ritter fixed blade
http://www.equipped.org/graphics/rskmkii-bk12_proto_comp1.jpg (it's the middle one)
You can read more about it here:
http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=349884

Then there's Swamp Rat knives (http://www.swampratknifeworks.com).
I'm torn between the Howling Rat and the Camp Tramp. The "size" of these knives are a little tricky for me. The blade length that is advertised is the total length of metal beyond the handle. The actual sharpened length is around an inch shorter. The trigger space (There’s a technical name for it but I don’t know it) takes up the first part of the blade after the handle. I do like this “trigger” feature, but the total length of sharpened blade is important to me. The biggest problem I’m having in trying to decide is that I can’t hold any of them before hand.
Which ones are you thinking about?
 
Dude Crush said:
I'm torn between the Howling Rat and the Camp Tramp. The "size" of these knives are a little tricky for me. The blade length that is advertised is the total length of metal beyond the handle. The actual sharpened length is around an inch shorter. The trigger space (There’s a technical name for it but I don’t know it) takes up the first part of the blade after the handle. I do like this “trigger” feature, but the total length of sharpened blade is important to me. The biggest problem I’m having in trying to decide is that I can’t hold any of them before hand.
Which ones are you thinking about?
Click to expand...

If the length of the edge is important to you, why are you comparing a 4.5" blade to a 7.5"? :confused:
 
Angelus1781 said:
Whats a good tough stainless fixed blade with around a 4-4 1/2 inch blade?

I figured since lots of you are back from Blade you can give me some suggestions.

Thanks for any help!
Click to expand...

I would say look at Fallkniven if you want a tough stainless steel fixed blade.
 
Swamp Rat's SR-101 is not stainless and D2 is only semi-stainless (not sure if thats a technical term but it has under 10% Cr).
 
Lil Timmy said:
If the length of the edge is important to you, why are you comparing a 4.5" blade to a 7.5"? :confused:
Click to expand...

You're right! I was torn between the two Rats because I thought the CT was a bit to big and the HR a bit to small. Then the Ritter came along. Maybe the perfect medium? I don't know the exact measurements, but isn't the CT sharpened length more like 6"?
So the CT is 12.5" over all and the Ritter is 11" over all, but both have the same sharpened surface (or close to the same).
 
I don't think that these requirements can be met: really tough AND stainless.

All stainless steels that I know of have substantially lower toughness than non stainless steels. And I seem to recall that it is very difficult to damn near impossible to differentially harden stainless.

I believe the 420HC is reasonably tough but personally I don't like it in other regards (such as edgeholding and ease of sharpening). There are plenty of non stainless steels out there that will hold up just fine in terms of rust resistance as long as they are cared for resonably well.

Among the non-stainless knives of resonable price Swamprat (modified and specially heat treated 52100), Becker (a differently modified 52100) and BRKT (Bark River Knife and Tool) (A2) come immediately to my mind.
 
For a stainless blade that is extremely tough (resistant to breaking) you can go for a very soft blade, a very thick blade, a laminated blade, or combinations of the above. I would suggest a laminated blade since that lets you have a hard edge and tough outer layers. The Fallkniven knives are good for this. You could look at an F1 or H1 with around that blade length.

A reasonable alternative for most of us is to get a medium carbon stainless alloy that is not hardened excessively. If you get a good blade profile it may be as tough as you need. If you pick a beefy design that is made from 420HC (say a Buck Vanguard), AUS-6, or Sandvic 12C27 you will get reasonable edge holding with some toughness.

For a bit less toughness, but more edge holding you might try S30V alloy. Take a look at the Alaskan Guide Series Buck Vanguard at Cabellas. (Do a search for Alaskan Vanguard) at the cabellas.com website.
 
HoB said:
Among the non-stainless knives of resonable price Swamprat (modified and specially heat treated 52100), Becker (a differently modified 52100) and BRKT (Bark River Knife and Tool) (A2) come immediately to my mind.
Click to expand...

Aren't the Beckers 0170-6C?
 
I'd sooner buy a coated high carbon blade for toughness over a stainless. Something like the Swamp Rat Camp Tramp or the Recon Scout by Cold steel in Carbon V maybe.

The other thing to look at for toughness besides the blade is the handle and the guard. I know several people that have the Cold Steel Trail Master Bowie in stainless and it is a nice knife but two of the guys I know with it have guards on their knives that move all over the place and are pretty much crap in my opinion.

In truth the same thing has been reported here. I've read about sevaral brands of otherwise good blades with some pretty crappy handles.

I'm of the mindset that if a company is going to use stainless they should at least use 440C. And if they are not going to at least use that make blades of high carbon, 5160, 1095, or 52100 or 01 steel for cryin' out loud. I'd much rather see that than to see 420HC or 440A or any of the Japanese equals. There are so many much better choices in stainless to choose from I just don't understand why companies use that bottom of the barrel stainless.

Personally I want a knife that doesn't lose it's bite after sharpening a stick to roast a hot dog.
 
I'm a bit surprised that Strider hasn't been mentioned yet. I'd include Busse's too, Infi has rather good rust resistance compared to ATS-34.
 
"Infi has rather good rust resistance compared to ATS-34"

It might be more appropriate to say Infi has good rust resistance compared to other high carbon steels. It definitely is not stainless and my own experience with it suggests it rusts about as easily as some other high carbon steels.

The CSMH is one of the very few production knives that meet the criteria of being tough and stainless. Your other option, of course, is to have a custom made for you or to pick up one that fits the bill on the secondary market.
 
I guess our experiences differ then :) It's certainly no AUS-6, and it will form a very light surface rust if unprotected, and left in very bad conditions, but that polishes right off. My benchmade 710 has experienced similar light surface rust after a particularly humid week down here in FL, but also developed a few small spots where there was pitting. No pitting problems on Infi, so for me that counts as better corrosion resistance.
 
yoda4561 said:
No pitting problems on Infi...
Click to expand...
Its ability to resist light surface corrosion is better than steels like 5160 and L6 which can rust in minutes while you are eating an apple, and its pitting resistance is better than most of the high carbon stainless steels like ATS-34.

-Cliff
 
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