A2 or O1 for Skookum Bush Tool?

B

big no-no

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Nov 7, 2003
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I am ordering an SBT and I need to decide which material to use. Does anybody have any feelings about wether A2 or O1 is better for a 4.25" knife blade?
 
Taking a look at it (had never heard of this one before, had to look it up), I don't think you're going to notice a tremendous amount of performance difference between these two steels. In a larger blade I'd be more inclined to lean towards O1, although many would probably like to argue that point. Anyway, between them the only real difference I would name is that while neither is anything approaching stainless, A2 has something of a corrosion resistance advantage over O1, and corrosion would likely be the biggest edge-holding difference you would notice between these two steels. A2 has, at the same hardness, a slight advantage in abrasion resistance, although how much this actually contributes to edge holding is something of an ongoing debate.

The one thing I think would be worth doing is asking the maker his preference. Is he doing his own heat treatments? Has he noticed that his knives perform with one steel over another? Many custom makers have favorite steels to work with, and so will have turned out 100(s) knives made out of that and only a few made out of other steels. The maker's expertise with the given steel could likely end up making more of a difference to the knife's performance than the theoretical differences in the materials, especially when the steels are so closely (in general) matched as these two. If he's equally experienced with either, and not forthcoming with his own recommendations, like I said I'd probably lean towards A2 in this knife, but you won't go wrong with either.
 
big no-no, I had the same issue when deciding. I do have knives in both A2 and O1, but nothing smaller and thinner than larger blades. Here is what Rod emailed me when I asked:

"A2 is about 10-20% tougher than O1 and will hold an edge a little longer. O1 will be slightly easier to sharpen and also will allow the user to strike a spark off the spine using the flint and steel method of fire lighting (A2 has a little too much alloy to get a good spark). Since A2 has a higher chromium content it will be a little more stain resistant than O1, however both will rust if not wiped down after use or abused. Both are excellent knife steels and will give you good service." ---Rod Garcia

I'm not sure if he does his own in-house heat treatment, but I decided to go with O1, just because I want to try out that in a thinner blade for camping.

ROCK6
 
ROCK6 said:
big no-no, I had the same issue when deciding. I do have knives in both A2 and O1, but nothing smaller and thinner than larger blades. Here is what Rod emailed me when I asked:

"A2 is about 10-20% tougher than O1 and will hold an edge a little longer. O1 will be slightly easier to sharpen and also will allow the user to strike a spark off the spine using the flint and steel method of fire lighting (A2 has a little too much alloy to get a good spark). Since A2 has a higher chromium content it will be a little more stain resistant than O1, however both will rust if not wiped down after use or abused. Both are excellent knife steels and will give you good service." ---Rod Garcia

I'm not sure if he does his own in-house heat treatment, but I decided to go with O1, just because I want to try out that in a thinner blade for camping.

ROCK6
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Now I'm really confused:confused: How many people are stiking good sparks with the Bark River Northstar, a bush knife practically designed with this in mind, made with A2. Any A2 users out there know if this steel is useless with a ferro rod?
 
IUKE12 said:
Now I'm really confused:confused: How many people are stiking good sparks with the Bark River Northstar, a bush knife practically designed with this in mind, made with A2. Any A2 users out there know if this steel is useless with a ferro rod?
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Well, I have a Northstar that makes decent sparks, so that's not a huge deal and I wouldn't let that sway your decision to go the A2 route. Given t1mpani's post, A2 is more than adequate. I just wanted to try O1 steel.

ROCK6
 
Iuke12,don't confuse the flint and steel method with the Swedish fire steel method, they are two different things.
 
Both of these steels really are great, balanced choices for overall utility in knife use. I like both of them and have several knives in each. As to the fire steel, O1 may throw more sparks but I've easily started fires with a fire steel and a SAK, whose 420 steel certainly doesn't qualify as a 'simple' alloy, so don't worry too much about it from that standpoint. And I forgot to mention before, as long as you protect the edge of the knife from corrosion by wiping it dry after use and making sure there is no vegetable matter (or anything else) stuck to the edge that would sit there and rust it, you shouldn't have any major problems. I like to carry a little tube of beeswax chapstick with me when I'm out and about in the great outdoors--not for my lips, but as an easy way to give knife edges an easy wax coat in between uses. That way you have a protective coating that will ward off moisture and the gradual dulling a carbon steel can experience due to humidity, but it's also completely innocuous and doesn't need to be carefully cleaned off should you want your knife for food prep--a little beeswax isn't gonna hurt you. :) Just an idea. Let us know what you decide.
 
To all,
Thanks for clearing things up, I know I get a shower of sparks with my 1095 and similar steels, less so with with my stainless Frost and Erickkson Moras, although they will create sparks from the ferro rod, I prefer the wholesome shower I get using the carbon blades. As long as A2 works well I will be a happy camper because I have a BRKT Fox River coming soon.
Finder-I don't think I have them confused, I am refering to the ferro rod like Light My Fire types.
Hardheart-Glass...I'll give it a try.
 
On the O-1 he meant you have the ability to throw a spark with a sharp rock. O-1 and other high carbon steels like 1095 are soft enough that a piece of the blade will actually spark off. Unless you are using char cloth or the absolute fluffiest tinder AND are proficient at making a good tinder bundle that shouldn't be a factor. I think I tried this a while back with A2 - it was either very difficult or didn't work - either way I knew not to count on A2 for this method.

What a lot of people refer to as a flint is a ferro rod or firesteel like the BSA Hotspark or Swedish Firesteel. In this case the blade, A2 or O-1, is harder and the spark is coming from the ferro rod. Even Talonite as soft as it is will work with a firesteel. Hope this helps. Chris
 
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