Are we steel snobs?

The General

The General

Joined
Jun 6, 2000
Messages
3,625
Just got thinking the other day. Unless a knife is very different from what I am used to, I avoid 'average' or 'poor' steels where possible.

I traded for a 6M Kasper from CRKT a few days ago. Not having used my other 6m knives recently, I forgot how often they do need a going over with the Sharpmaker!

My point is this, at the moment I see 8a as my minimum daily serious use knife steel, with 154CM/ATS-34 as my 'average' steel.

My current preference is for M2 then D2 then CPM 440V. Does this make me a steel snob?

I find myself looking at a nice knife and then looking right at the steel type as my first port of call. I have no problem with getting a razor edge on my blades, in fact I enjoy it!

Are we at the top of the tree or snobs?

Thanks!

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"To strive to seek to find and not to yield"
Tennyson
Ranger motto

A few useful details on UK laws and some nice reviews!
http://members.aol.com/knivesuk/
 
Yes I am a steel snob!
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A Pat on the Back is only a few inches from a Kick in the Butt.
 
Of course we're steel snobs.
We probably started out with "normal" cheapo knives, then bought something better. That impressed us, so we decided all our previous knives should have lived up to this new standard. When we find out about something new and better, we want that.
I went from Buck and Case (managed to skip the junk knives), to Benchmade and Spyderco. Now I want customs with steels like 420V.
I don't have a problem with cheaper knives, or cheaper steel, just don't want them anymore.
I'm a snob
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Yeah, pretty much. On the other hand, I recently bought a white micarta Spyderco baby Jess Horn, even though the blade is only AUS-8, because it's such a well made little knife.

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Dave

Let no one ever from henceforth say one word in any way countenancing war. It is dangerous even to speak of how here and there the individual may gain some hardship of soul by it. For war is hell, and those who institute it are criminals. Siegfried Loraine Sassoon
 
I just ordered an Allen Blade Chipmunk in 1095 and I just sharpened my Schrade 1095 sharpfinger. That old stuff ain't bad ya know. But I'm not giving up my infi, VG 10, and BG42 just yet...
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Hoodoo

I get some pleasure from finding a relentlessly peaceful use for a combative looking knife.
JKM
 
Ah! I forgot the BG-42 in my Sebi and VG-10 in my Moran. DOH!!!

I like 1095 steel as well. Works well, even if others dislike it. Works a LOT better than 440a etc.

Sometimes I wish we never had 'stainless' steel. A good old steel like M2 is the dogs you know whats!

W.A.

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"To strive to seek to find and not to yield"
Tennyson
Ranger motto

A few useful details on UK laws and some nice reviews!
http://members.aol.com/knivesuk/
 
Snobs? No. Knuts? YES!! If I were a car buff, I'd probably be on www.camaroforums.com or something like that (I don't even know if such a place exists!) And, us on our little forum would be talking about awesome upgrades, headers, special tires and all that. Now I like cars but for me they are modes of transportation. So a Volkswagon Jetta or even a Pontiac Firefly is fine for my driving needs! But for the Kar Knut, they won't do. Same for us. We love our sharp frieds soooooo much that we want the best for them! Now, I doubt that everyone here saves up extra $$ to get better options on all of the knives they buy. Heck, I have 2 benchmades and the 3rd folder I bought after those two was an Opinel! But ALL of us are knife knuts (why else would we be on the forums!) so we will opt for BG-42 if we can.

Now, here's my confessional. I won't buy AUS-6 or 440-A or anything like that either. I would rather have 1 knife with a "better" steel than 2 or 3 knives with "lower quality" steel. But hey, thats just me!

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"Come What May..."
 
Yes, I am. I like 440V, VG-10, INFI because these steels are hard enough to stick with that factory edge I can barely ever get.

I can live with A2, D2, AUS 6-8, 1095, ATS 34/154 CM, ATS 55, Gin 1/G2, even 440C, they'll get me through the day and do what I ask. The other steels make cutting almost effortless.

Haven't tried L6, BG 42, or 01 yet.
 
I am also a steel snob, but sometimes I wonder why. If I use my CPM 440V Military to open an envelope, out comes the Sharpmaker for a few strokes to bring the edge back. I buy steels that are supposed to hold an edge forever then proceed to baby them like they were made out of 440A. Someday I may get really bold and use one of these super steels to cut open a box, though I may have to force myself not to get out the Sharpmaker halfway through.

Rick
 
<font face="Verdana, Arial" size="2">Originally posted by RickdelM:
I am also a steel snob, but sometimes I wonder why. If I use my CPM 440V Military to open an envelope, out comes the Sharpmaker for a few strokes to bring the edge back. I buy steels that are supposed to hold an edge forever then proceed to baby them like they were made out of 440A. Someday I may get really bold and use one of these super steels to cut open a box, though I may have to force myself not to get out the Sharpmaker halfway through.</font>
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LOL. I think many of us can totally relate to that! My abused SAK from childhood was used for everything, and never sharpened once. My Sebenza is kept to hair popping, and cleaned monthly, yet I think the last thing I cut with it was a piece of string five weeks ago. And that was after the sweat dried off my forehead...
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I think I am actually devolving, following a pattern of nature which will turn me an old man who doesn't want anything to change, and can't tolerate a sock not being "just so". Some days, not using my knife even makes me feel older.

But on the subject of snobbery, you bet! Whenever anyone points out a "nice knife" in a retail catalog, I just sigh and tell them that they don't even know what kind of steel it's made out of it. Unless I know the chromium content vs. carbides, and who heat treated it, why bother?!

I think my next purchase will be an awesome car I never run, a supercomputer I keep idle, and an entire collection of watches whose time keeping function I take on faith. Then I'll be ready to face the world. :-D
 
I prefer to think of us "knuts" as evolved. My gf sometimes refers to us as obsessive, compulsive types.

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It's not the pace of life that concerns me, It's the sudden stop at the end.
 
<font face="Verdana, Arial" size="2">Originally posted by JohnW:
My Sebenza is kept to hair popping, and cleaned monthly, yet I think the last thing I cut with it was a piece of string five weeks ago. And that was after the sweat dried off my forehead...
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:-D</font>
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JohnW,

I used to feel this way, but discovered an elegant solution. When you find something that you like, buy TWO, put one away, and use/abuse the other one!

Works for me, on everything but wives!
 
Heck no, I am not a steel snob, I am a COBALT ALLOY snob!!! (My cat lifts its' tail and sprays on your steel!!).
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Walt
 
Walt,
That's a good way to induce corrosion
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I think of myself as a steel snob because the type of blade steel is important to me, even though Most of my knives are for fondling and admiring. If I actually have to use one, it is usually my SAK. My perception is that most people here do not push their cutlery to the absolute limit. Remember, I said MOST!
It is akin to 2 yuppies arguing which is faster,one's Porsche or the other's BMW. The fact is that neither one of them will ever run them wide open! It is the same way with knives. Will that many of us actually push our knives to the point where we can actually tell the difference in performance between BG42 and CM154? Probably not the majority. We're all just chasing the hottest trend. This may seem like blasphemy, but I think ATS34 is fine for most applications.
So we are steel snobs. I am content to be so. It beats being a lot of other types of snobs
wink.gif

David

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AKTI# A000150
NC Custom Knifemakers Guild member
NC Knife Knuts member
 
I'm not a snob, I'm a connoisseur. I don't look for the ultimate steel, I look for a sample of every type of steel ever used in blade fabrication. Then, the first thing I do is experiment on how to achieve the ultimate edge on my sample.
 
I've been known to drink a high end brandy straight from the botttle and pass it on to the next person!
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LOL
Snob yea!
John

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A day without Spydies is like a day without ... WELL, Spydies!!!
 
I would have to say that the uproar when Camillus chose to use 420HC in the EDC or when Benchmade chose to use Gin-1 some of their new models would indicate that yes we are Steel Snobs.

I also agree that probably very few of us use our knives in a manner that would allow us to differentiate the various steels in a blind test.

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AKTI Member No. A000370
 
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