Counterfet? / Carbon V care? Carbon V vs. San Mai?

[themarshall]

Hey guys, Been reading your forum for a long time, finally joined. I have been a fan of Cold Steel since early 90's when I purchased a Carbon V Trailmaster. Loved it and sold it about a year ago. Love the carbon v, and am familiar with the negative spotting and rusting trends for the metal. However, I just purchased a Cold Steel, Red River knife with the Carbon V. I purchased for my wife for the kitchen. Ha! I had it all polished and looking pretyy for her. Her first use was with tomatoes. I know they are acidic, but one hour after use, those Cold Steel spots came rushing to sight. Bad. Knife is still great, so far, but beauty is shot. Ha ha. I am a knowledgeable cutlery fan of Cold Steel "wanna be". I also have a recon tanto, atc kukri, twistmaster, and master hunter plus folder in carbon v. What can I say. I have a sk5 bushmaster which I think is great for the price. Any suggestions for care of Carbon V?

2nd question: Looking a dagger that claims to be Cold Steel carbon v, but the handle and the blade don't join as evenly as I think they should. It looks like the same poor workmanship the counterfeit TrailMasters had that came out a few years back. Nice looking knife except for that. Does anyone know of these knives ever being produced at CS?

3rd question for the day. Have not had any experience with the San Mai iii blade. Know they are supposed to be very good quality. Any imput? Thanks for all your help.

 

[Derek Bergstrom]

Hi there, ive been a cold steel collecter for about 6 years. i have 3 carbon v knives and have had 4 san mai ones. the advantage of the san mai3 is toughness. Vg-1 is a tough but not hard steel. it does ok for a stainless i prefere is over the aus series of stainlesses but think it could be greatly improved upon for how many countless shoices are out there. lyn thompson once personally emailed me back *bows* the only reason why vg 1 was chosen over s30v was it was tougher. the core of san mai 3 doesnt need to be tough, because its friggen laminated. the tip of my r 1 military classic bent (the vg 1 core not the laminated section so just a very small amount) , didnt break like it should have, so it could be hardened by a few more points in my opinion, but from their perspective they have to look at 1.price 2. ease of sharpening. so i understand why they make the choices they do. If yourer fascination with san mai persists for a while, id say go buy one definately for the experience.
Carbon V. The good stuff they should still use. Well, i once held sk 5 recon scout in one hand and my carbon one in the other and alternate chopped left right untill i was through a tree. the carbon v in a thinner edge still shaved, the reinforced thicker sk 5 angle did not still shave when i was done. For caring for carbon v, as with carbon steel, is dont use it in the kitchen at all. the acids and water will always corrode the steel and the fda forbids it in use of cutlery for dining establishments because the carbon not coated in the chrome micro coating contaminates the food and also makes it taste weird, so ive heard. so keep it rinsed and dry and lightly oiled. hope this helps