BRKT A2 vs. Swamp Rat SR-101

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Kirk_Ferentz

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Feb 16, 2010
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I saw a recent thread on bark river's A2 vs. 1095 in bushcraft... sounded like most gave the edge to bark river's A2. anyone have an opinion on A2 vs. SR-101?

In particular, I'm wondering about edge retention, strength, ease of resharpening, etc.
 
A2 is a tool steel that is surprisingly easy to sharpen and polish, it has good edge retention and can take a beating.

SR101 is 52100 ball bearing steel, its a fine grain structure carbon alloy that was designed for greater edge retention. It to is fairly easy to sharpen but takes one of the best edges and highest levels of polish just short of PM steels.

Both steels are very good and not to different in use but I favor SR101.
 
Any other opinions? I know that with all of the bark river and swamp rat lovers out there, there has to be some great knowledge out there. And if you think it is a tie, I'd like to hear that too.
 
That's a silly question.

You can't compare one steel on one knife to a different steel on a different knife.

That ignores geometry.
 
I dont' have a lot of experience with A2, but the 52100 has been great. Very easy to sharpen, holds a great edge, and is very tough to boot. Having said all that, Marcinek is correct that geometry plays a large role also. I need to get a Barkie in A2 and play with it some. With my edgepro, it's no problem getting the geometry the same.
 
... curious why you would want it the same... unless you get a non-convexed barkie...
 
marcinek said:
That's a silly question.

You can't compare one steel on one knife to a different steel on a different knife.

That ignores geometry.
Click to expand...

Fair enough, so I will throw geometry in there ... given their respective geometries, which has the edge in terms of the sort of considerations described above?
 
I have owned and do own knives in both steels. I find that the A2 is better for me all around. It seems easier to sharpen and holds a fine edge to it for a longer period of time. A2 has become my favorite non stainless at this point in time. I don't know if it's just me or if the SR101 does not get as sharp as the A2. I'm not saying it won't hold up to a pounding like A2. I just never seem to be able to get SR101 to the edge of A2. BRKT is one of my favorite knife makers. It's hard to go wrong with either one but I will have to stick to my A2.
 
myowngod said:
... curious why you would want it the same... unless you get a non-convexed barkie...
Click to expand...
Just for comparison, probably would go back to convexing the Barkie afterwards. FWIW, I think both are standup companies, and I've been itching to try A2 anyway...
 
knifenut1013 said:
A2 is a tool steel that is surprisingly easy to sharpen and polish, it has good edge retention and can take a beating.

SR101 is 52100 ball bearing steel, its a fine grain structure carbon alloy that was designed for greater edge retention. It to is fairly easy to sharpen but takes one of the best edges and highest levels of polish just short of PM steels.

Both steels are very good and not to different in use but I favor SR101.
Click to expand...

I agree.:D
DSC_0195.jpg
 
knifenut1013 said:
A2 is a tool steel that is surprisingly easy to sharpen and polish, it has good edge retention and can take a beating.

SR101 is 52100 ball bearing steel, its a fine grain structure carbon alloy that was designed for greater edge retention. It to is fairly easy to sharpen but takes one of the best edges and highest levels of polish just short of PM steels.

Both steels are very good and not to different in use but I favor SR101.
Click to expand...

I concur from personal experience.
 
I don't have any SR-101, but I do have a Spyderco Mule in 52100 at 62 HRC and have several Bark Rivers in A2 at 58-59 HRC. All of these knives are regular users and I've played around with their edge geometry quite a bit. In my experience, the Mule in 52100 takes a very slightly finer edge, but this is most likely due to its higher hardness, since I finish all of my knives on ceramic. Edge retention wise they seem just about equal, though the Bark River A2 seems to hold a very fine edge just a bit longer than the 52100, which says a lot given the difference in hardness. Toughness goes to the Bark River A2, which is not surprising also because of the difference in hardness. Bark River really seems to maximize the desirable characteristics of A2 steel with their heat treatment.

I'm always surprised when people talk about the edge retention of 52100 being so much superior to 1095. If you look at the composition of the two steels they are very similar with 52100 having just a very small amount of chromium and silicon added, whereas A2 has much more chromium than 52100, as well as molybdenum and vanadium.
 
GregS, very nice, looks like a chop I did a while back.

To the OP, the steels will both serve you very well with little differences shown too the average user. If the compairson is bravo1 to HRLM then they will both have their positive's and negative's. Out of the box the barkie will win in edge performance where the rat will need a sharpening for optimal performance. The rat will win in the handle/ergo class and though the barkie handle is very nice its not nearly as comfortable.

The performance of the edges can vary greatly by how its sharpened and profiled. But IMO the HT of the Rat is what makes it better even if the BRKT A2 ends up holding a edge longer. Now that's not saying BRKT does a bad job but it is a production HT and it could be better.
 
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