D2 vs 12C27 on a Budget Bestech?

[Chronovore]

people who say they've never experienced 12c27, perhaps don't realize how prevalent it is:

think about this: it is the default stainless for all of these companies:
morakniv
opinel
helle
eka
laguiole
casstrom

the first 2 I think most of us have had (or should have) ... they are ubiquitous, and all of these are well known for a reason

I know this might be shocking but there are still a few people who have never tried a Morakniv.

They mention 12C27 on the Kansbol as a feature. I hadn't realized that was their default "stainless".

 

[Mlm0889]

If they can't do D2 successfully I sure wouldn't trust them with any other steel 12C27 included. They should be able to handle D2 if they can do others. I think many of us set the bar too low with those imports.

Yeah I agree, if a certain way of heat treating is netting bad results and that OEM is alright with substandard results.. I wouldn’t trust them with any steel.

 

[ShaiHulud]

(deleted)

 

[Chronovore]

Yeah I agree, if a certain way of heat treating is netting bad results and that OEM is alright with substandard results.. I wouldn’t trust them with any steel.

This thread is from 2019. There has been a lot of discussion about specific issues with Chinese D2 since then. While some companies do better than others, performance on Chinese D2 is rarely on par with American or other D2, especially in premium knives. Speculation on why ranges from issues in mass heat treatment to larger variation in the vanadium content in the Chinese D2. This might be why we've since seen some of the better companies using a lot of Chinese D2, including Bestech and Petrified Fish, importing Bohler K110.

While yes, they do get a little bump in price for the K110, it is theoretically cleaner or made with tighter tolerances versus the Chinese stuff. So for companies already set up to use D2, it might be a good answer. Of course, I haven't seen any of those knives tested and my own use isn't heavy enough to notice a big difference. (Part of that is also my EDC rotation absolutely exploding since 2019. )