Are we steel snobs?

Strider, thats what I always told myself! Glad to see someone else thinks that!

But, yes I am a steel snob!
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I can relate to the use aspect of super steels! I really need to buy two of all my nice blades, box one and use the other!

Hell the only knife I have that gets any real use is my M2 AFCK. Three reasons

1. Thanks to BM quality, the blade scrapes the liners and is marked (thus it is not a mint knife)
2. It is a combo edge, and I now prefer a plain edge.
3. It is made from M2, so it can lap it up!


My best knife is my 6-50 Classic MM Sebi. Have I ever cut anything with it? NO!!!!

I just don't have the guts to use it.

Ever find after a quick cut, you inspect the edge of your knife, for the S L I G H T E S T dull spot?
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I know I do!

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/
 
Hey there, you guys just got a new member!
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My opinion is match the steel to the blade! CPM 440V is great for edge retention and will out cut AUS6, Duh! But in a hard use knife, I would prefer AUS6 in a CRKT knife like an M-16. Less chipping! Or using car analogy, I'd love a Ferrari and would always treasure it, but I wouldn't want to take it to the Home Depot. I love exotic steel, but common steel in a good work knife is great! Be careful out there!
 
Snobbery is too strong a word, I think. I prefer to use the term fashion. The only negative thing I can say about the current fashion in knife steels is that people have put more value on edge retention than they have on toughness. I've tried most of the exotic new steels and I find most of them too brittle. The only one that appeals to me currently is VG-10. 154-CM, the most popular currently, is way, way to brittle for my taste. I assume the tide will change one day. The whims of fashion always do. Take care.

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Fred
Knife Outlet
http://www.knifeoutlet.com
 
Yes!,,wait,,NO!,,,ummm, jusa sec,,, yeah, kinda,,,Well, not really,,,oh,oh, maybe, then again,,well I guess,,,.LOL!

Real answer? Most of the time, yes. I am a snob. That never precludes me from buying what I deem to be a good value though. I have a wondeful Microtech sitting in the safe that is a worse value than the little Kershaw that I frequently carry if you base value on use.
 
Maybe I'm a steel snob, but I tend to use my steel to the limit, I believe. Or closer to the limit than I use my Jeep Wrangler, my Suzuki Katana, or my wife's Mustang!

I've used my 440V, 154CM, and M2 to the point they were about as sharp as the steak knives at the restaurant. Heck, I've gotten my 440V down to the standard kitchen butter knife sharpness. Also used my BG42 Buck 532 to the point that it took some serious sharpening to get it back to the razor edge. I used my ATS-34 BM 710 to hog out a hole in the sheet metal of my Jeep. I've used my CUDA Talon to cut through burlap sheeting that has laid on the ground under gravel for years (you know, that Talonite held up that REMARKABLY well! {note to self: buy more Talonite/Stellite knives}

I do have some knives that I haven't used to that point (yet
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), but that is mostly because they are so new. I mean, a man can only use so many knives at a time.

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I've seen a look in dogs' eyes, a quickly vanishing look of amazed contempt, and I am convinced that basically dogs think humans are nuts. -- John Steinbeck
Dog does not eat dog. - Juvenal

iktomi
 
<font face="Verdana, Arial" size="2">Originally posted by Tactical:
......Be careful out there!</font>
Click to expand...

Your first name wouldn't happen to be Mike, would it?

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I've seen a look in dogs' eyes, a quickly vanishing look of amazed contempt, and I am convinced that basically dogs think humans are nuts. -- John Steinbeck
Dog does not eat dog. - Juvenal

iktomi
 
<font face="Verdana, Arial" size="2">Originally posted by Tactical:
Guess again rockspyder, my friend.
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OK, no big deal. I'm not trying to be nosey or anything. It's just that the closing in your earlier post, "Be careful out there." is something that a friend of mine uses a lot in written correspondence, and he's the only one that I've ever known to do that habitually. Oh well....

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I've seen a look in dogs' eyes, a quickly vanishing look of amazed contempt, and I am convinced that basically dogs think humans are nuts. -- John Steinbeck
Dog does not eat dog. - Juvenal

iktomi
 
<font face="Verdana, Arial" size="2">Originally posted by dsvirsky:
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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Snob on this end.

Except I too have a baby Horn in white micarta for same reason, despite the fact that AUS-8 (izzit just Spyderco? Doubt it) is very underwhelming.

Took my wife to Italy on honeymoon. Took ONE folder... my Horn in AUS-8, what with international airports/travel and all. In Roma, digging it, I look over, she is cutting a pizza slice on a ceramic plate, sawing away with my only knife... the AUS-8 is now very dull for remainder of trip. DOAP!

 
Well, that answers that question! Thanks dudes!

Time to amend my profile...
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W.A.

------------------
"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/
Certified steel snob!
 
<font face="Verdana, Arial" size="2">Originally posted by rdangerer:
the AUS-8 is now very dull for remainder of trip. DOAP!

</font>
Click to expand...

You didn't bring a sharpener? Or go to any knifestores in Rome?

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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
 
Get a Fine green DMT pocket stone. The one on the keyring. I carry a fine and extra fine on my keyring
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Works a treat, esp with a little spit or water on it.

W.A.

------------------
"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/
Certified steel snob!
 
IMO we are not steel snobs. As our knowledge grows so to does our appreciation of better quality. This is just something that happens as time goes by and we realise that we actually are better than the people that use knives of inferior steel. Just joking. Really though, your appreciation for quality does increase as you learn more about the things you love.

Keith.

[This message has been edited by Keith Montgomery (edited 02-04-2001).]
 
I just had to sharpen two knives, both with AUS6 blades. Neither had been abused or even used extensively, yet the edges on both were severely rolled. If I won't buy any more knives with AUS6 steel or worse, I don't think that makes me a snob. But, I did buy a 710hs in M2 rather than ATS-34, even though I have had no problems at all with ATS-34, just because M2 is a "better" steel. I don't think I'm a snob; I just want knives to perform way better than I expect to need them to. Sometimes I feel like a snob when I go to a knife store or swap meet and I ignore some or most of their knives, but then I just appreciate the fact that I'm educated about knives and I know quality when I see it.

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Jason aka medusaoblongata
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"To give is a need, to receive is mercy." - Thus Spoke Zarathustra
 
medusaoblongata, been there done that! I only swapped for the CRKT CK otherwise... The 6M would have stopped me!

Just bought a BM 750 in ATS-34 BTW, pity M2 was not an option...

W.A.

------------------
"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/
Certified steel snob!
 
To each his own! As of yesterday ATS-34, is hands down my favorite steel. It was my first time sharpening it. It's even more easy to sharpen(on my 204) then, my next two favorites AUS8 & G2. All three keep a generous edge, for quite awhile. I haven't tried 440CMV yet, but I know it's great because of all the reaction to it on this board. As for AUS6, I don't mind it for light utility use, but I think it does have some merit. There's definately a lot worse blade steels out there. I did manage to dress out two good size rabbits with our Mirage, just to test it. It was deffinately dull after that. The weekest handgun catridge I will use off duty is the .357. I do think the 9mm has some merit for deffence.
 
Hello all, my name is Wayne and I have an addiction, for several years fine knives have been my addiction. I see no hope of redemption or cure! As I don't want to stop collecting knives!

Hehehehehehehe
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W.A.

------------------
"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/
Certified steel snob!
 
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