Carbon steel is great, stainless steel sucks.

Yup, but I find those people actually usually know at least a little bit about knives from firsthand experience and they're usually talking kitchen cutlery.

In my experience, most folks have no idea that there are knife steels beyond stainless and carbon. People that don't care at all generally look for the lowest price and maintenance, so they end up with inexpensive kitchen knives made from 420J, 440A or some equivalent. Nothing wrong with that, though I also generally find their knives are painfully dull. If they cook, it's loads of fun to buy them something like a Victorinox Fibrox chef, as they will often thank you for years to come, especially if you sharpen it for them on occasion.

Folks that have a heavy preference for carbon steel are usually at least more versed in caring for their knives. I've gifted some carbon Tojiros to folks like this and they're generally delighted.
 
I think this is one of those statements if you asked a hundred people youd get a different answer 90 times ...

people tend to learn what they are familiar with and shun what they don't know about as well ...

I fall somewhere in the middle ...grew up with mostly high carbon blades and a few 420 or 440 blades ...

I will say right now the knife world offers you so many options and finding what fits your needs can be overwhelming for some ... and I will admit that for me personally knife steel has evolved past anything I would ever see me needing ...

I don't need and I don't own much of the new "super steels" ... I have tried some and for my uses and the fact I take care of my knives and I would rather have a knife I can sharpen at the end of a day and keep it sharp rather than wanting it to last forever and then get to the point of needing to spend alot of time to resharpen ...

so a knife that takes a great edge and has fair edge retention and good toughness hits my sweet spot ... some of those are high carbons some are stainless knives ...

and I have nothing against anyone wanting a kinfe that will stay sharp through alot more use ...nor the person that wants a patina or it's a no go ...

that's what makes our little corner of the world interesting ... as long as they make the owner happy :thumbsup:
 
marcinek said:
As for non-knife folks and their conclusions about knives;

1) They rarely have "misconception." They have a different angle on the importance of certain characteristics of knives then knife fanatics to. They may think "This gas station knife is good." That's not a misconception...the knife is perfectly fine and usable for them and that is all they want.

2) And, instead of just opening a thread to demean people who aren't as passionate about knives and everything about them, I find it more effective and constructive to share my opinion/knowledge with them in the least obnoxious way possible. Remember, someone, probably many people, did just the same for you at some point.
Click to expand...

Ok, I made some changes, I read over my opening post and realized that some of my statements could have been interpreted as demeaning. If it was found to be offensive to you or anyone else I am sorry.
 
TheEdge01 said:
Actually, the information I read on the alloy came from a source that referred to it as a knife steel. Since steel is a combination of iron and carbon I will admit that it is a misconception on my part. I’m not perfect and don’t claim to be, and the purpose of my thread isn’t intended that way.
Click to expand...

I had a conversation with someone who thought H1 was steel. Must have certainly been a non-knife person. :cool:
 
TheEdge01 said:
Ok, I made some changes, I read over my opening post and realized that some of my statements could have been interpreted as demeaning. If it was found to be offensive to you or anyone else I am sorry.
Click to expand...

I guess even with the changes, I don't know what you are getting at. Are you saying "only a non knife person could think carbon steel is great"? or "only a non knife person could have a preference between carbon and stainless"? or "have you ever had a conversation with a non knife person whose opinion you think is wrong"?

I guess for those 3 questions

disagree
disagree
no
 
For the last five years or so, I have worked part time in a retail store that sells swords, pocket knives, kitchen knives, machetes and other fixed blades from many major brands... I get to hear statements like you wrote in the thread title almost daily. They tend to be overreaching blanket statements which are meant as proof as to why their favored material/tool/shape is superior. However, part of my job is customer education, so those comments usually lead to a conversation where the customer can learn something, and can make a more informed decision when it comes time to buy. More times than not, there is some part of truth to the statements we hear, but not always at the level that the speaker initially believes.
 
I have heard it blatantly from some people. Along with "All real knives are made through forging. Stock removal is fake." :D
 
I have found that price is more important to non knife people more than the steel. Everyone I work with and know will not even consider a good quality knife until they are interested in better knives. Most of the time they will ask about a knife within their budget. I’ll give them some recommendations and they go from there. They’ll tell me what they bought and we’ll have a discussion about it. Practically all of the folks that have bought knives from me ask to have them sharpened. I don’t mind, it gives me the opportunity to suggest an affordable sharpening system.
It’s only here that I’ve read that people are concerned about different steels. My insurance agent was gifted a mudbug, he didn’t have a clue about the knife other than it’s a local makers knife. He now knows the steel and how to care for it. And I owe him his first sharpening :eek:....WTF
 
marcinek said:
I guess even with the changes, I don't know what you are getting at. Are you saying "only a non knife person could think carbon steel is great"? or "only a non knife person could have a preference between carbon and stainless"? or "have you ever had a conversation with a non knife person whose opinion you think is wrong"?

I guess for those 3 questions

disagree
disagree
no
Click to expand...

Nope, not what I’m saying at all. I was simply referring to the people I spoke with, I wasn’t trying to make a blanket statement. I used the words “guess” and “may” then ended the opening post asking the question in reference to non-knife folks. I didn’t say everybody that thinks this way is a non-knife person.
 
Devils advocate? I'm not sure. I've never heard anyone say something such as this.

But, people are stupid...
 
I have heard this a lot of times.. stainless doesn’t hold an edge like carbon, stainless chips etc. Around my parts of the world, Scandinavia, many of the knife nuts who dislike stainless do so in the context of what a knife traditionally is used for (here): woodwork, whittling when you are in the woods/mountains etc.

When you buy a handmade knife, the maker focuses on what the handle and sheath is made from (ivory, vulcan fibre, different kinds of birch etc), and when it comes to the blade, the ad just says «blade forged by ...». Nothing about steel type, it’s almost always carbon steel, or low to medium carbon stainless, because a knife is supposed to have a scandi, and a scandi is hard to sharpen (lot of steel to remove)if it’s a hard, carbideloaded stainless steel. And since the perception is that the stainless will not hold up to woodworking with the low angles scandis are supposed to have = carbon is better.

This is something I have heard as long as I can remember, and the newer stainless «super steels» are mostly unknown among the average outdoor person who use the knife only to make a skewer to cook hot dogs over the fire..

Because of this, many use the same knife ( helle or strømeng, for example), as a hunting knife, where a more wear resistant steel with a different grind perhaps would be a better choice.
 
Last edited:
TheEdge01 said:
Have you guys ever heard someone make a statement like this? I have heard similar comments more than once. I guess it is a common opinion among non-knife folks. Some people may not realize some stainless steels have a higher carbon content than some carbon steels. Have you engaged in similar conversations with non-knife folks?
Click to expand...
This actually was pretty true at one time . Especially on longer knifes and choppers that NEED to be tough . It was common to have very overly hard and brittle stainless that could take a nice polish but be prone to breaking . Even now , toughness must be sacrificed for maximum corrosion resistance . I notice more carbon steels being use on folders and still prevalent on big knives .
 
jimmyd1982 said:
Carbon steel sucks, it rusts instantly if you put it in a brown leather sheath! (black leather is fine)
Give me some good old fashioned 420j, it can literally chop the world in half and you will never get a wobbly apex!
....I miss Gaston
Click to expand...

Well, I don’t know about Gaston but this thread was actually meant to spark a conversation not be offensive. I certainly didn’t mean to come across that way. I really hope the mods come by and close this thread. I went as far as rewriting the opening statement and apparently it still comes across the wrong way.
 
TheEdge01 said:
Well, I don’t know about Gaston but this thread was actually meant to spark a conversation not be offensive. I certainly didn’t mean to come across that way. I really hope the mods come by and close this thread. I went as far as rewriting the opening statement and apparently it still comes across the wrong way.
Click to expand...
You’re the op. I think you can close it. Check “thread tools” tab.
 
TheEdge01 said:
Well, I don’t know about Gaston but this thread was actually meant to spark a conversation not be offensive. I certainly didn’t mean to come across that way. I really hope the mods come by and close this thread. I went as far as rewriting the opening statement and apparently it still comes across the wrong way.
Click to expand...

You titled your thread as if it was a statement that you were making, I'd say that was a mistake if you wanted a conversation devoid of misunderstandings.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top