Damascus as a hard use steel??

Translash

Translash

Doing evil things...
Joined
Jan 18, 2011
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Hi all, I have a question that I've always wondered about but really gave thought to until now. I always check "the bay" for any great knife deals that may be available, but I always see a ton of blades/axes that are made of damascus. Now, I am wondering, other than aesthetic purposes, is damascus steel any good for hard use such as chopping/batonning wood? Or even bushcraft?
 
Should be if it's made right. The stuff coming from Pakistan and India is questionable to me though.
 
If it is cheap damascus, there is a good chance that it is crap and shouldn't be put to any sort of use. Even if it were Damascus from a reputable maker, why would you choose it over other well established steels?
 
1. The Damascus knives you see on eBay are, most likely, Pakistani-made crap.

2. The toughness of Damascus depends on (1,) how well it's made; and (2,) the steels that comprise it. Pakistani Damascus is (generally,) very poorly made out of cheap steel. It (again, generally,) won't hold an edge, and will most likely break very easily. The majority of high quality Damascus is made using high carbon steels, and will be fairly tough. It's what you'd want for hard use. Stainless Damascus, made with stainless steels, will be less tough than the carbon Damascus. Fine for regular use, not a good choice for a beater knife.

3. Even the best Damascus won't perform as well as a decently heat treated, normal blade.
 
the damascus sebenza pictured is one of my edc's. It holds an edge as good if not better than s30v and cuts great. I cant say about chopping but it will make feather sticks and process tree limbs without issues.

damascus if heat treated right makes a great blade.

 
not sure if they made a Damascus one, I have a custom opinel with rosta frei steel though. I batoned through a Strider with it.
 
1095/52100 Damascus is a lot better than people give it credit. 1095 by its self is a great tough steel, 52100 is used for ball bearings. Both of these carbon steels are still very popular due to ease of sharpening/toughness/edge retention. I've have a couple of EDC 1095 Damascus knives and they have performed just as well as my stainless knives in all areas besides corrosion resistance (I work offshore so the salt water isn't easy on them)
 
My favorite is Damasteel, a Swedish damascus used by some knife-makers. It can be HT to 61-62 HRC. And it's purdy. Check my colection below for a selection of commonly used damascus, by Devon and Rob Thomas, Chad Nichols, etc. CRK uses Devon Thomas, which is very usable as an above poster indicated. These are all SS damascus, which are corrosion resistant. High carbon damascus has a higher contrast, but requires some periodic oiling.
 
DTR, the laminate Damascus stuff is neat. No different than a Mora in some aspects. But, you have to realize you are paying purely for cosmetics at that point which I have a hard time swallowing.
 
goodeyesniper said:
not sure if they made a Damascus one, I have a custom opinel with rosta frei steel though. I batoned through a Strider with it.
Click to expand...

Rostafrei steel the very best, mon!

Russian tank hatch? Opens like beer can!

Strider knives? Goes through them like it was a rubber knife!

Tempered with secret herbs in the mountains of Jamaica, Rostafrei the best steel mon!
 
I am actually quite embarrassed. I had just posted incorrect information in the last few posts.

It turns out according to the latest research that Jesus actually WAS a Rostafrei knife.
 
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