yoopernauts™;5991735 said:
Thanks for all the responses. Yeah, I was looking for rather a high-end puukko...with possibly a supersteel or D2. Does anyone know who would make that? And would those Kellam knives benefit from a cryo-treat service after purchase?
BTW, The Cold Steel SISU knife in the catalog says it is hand made. Do you think it makes a difference?
And why do so many people here poo-pooh the Cold Steel SAN MAI 3. What exactly is it's drawback? It seems rather flexible on the CS video... Please excuse my ignorance on this matter.
As far as the Cold Steel Sisu goes:
First and foremost, it is colossally overpriced. You can get a real (Finnish hand-made) puukko for less money than this copy. Why pay more for a copy?
Also, it only resembles a puukko in basic shape. Traditional puukkos have birch or reindeer handles, not plastic or Micarta (and I do like Micarta.) This is strictly an aesthetic quibble, but Cold Steel is infamous for re-interpreting traditional designs in non-traditional ways. Like putting rubber handles on Japanese Tanto knives....
The whole point of laminated blades (like San Mai 3) is that you can use a super hardened steel for the core that would be too brittle to make the whole blade out of. Laminates are usually more $$$, but have better performance than a knife made out of a softer version of the "core" steel.
Cold Steel however, doesn't make the center steel harder than other, similar non-laminated knives, so again, why pay through the nose for it?
Lastly, hand-made can make a difference. For puukkos, (besides having a proper handle) higher end hand made ones are usually differentially tempered (hard edge, soft back) out of a single piece of steel. There are very few factory knives with a differential temper---Although the Kellam-Wild Finn -Wolverine Puukko I referred to in post #11 has one.
