Discuss: Ebay Mistakes vs Quality Budget Knives, Batoning

D2 is good for wear resistance and holding a decent edge for a long time...(assuming it is properly heat treated and ground).

That said, it's not known for toughness...so, not the best overall selection for a knife taking hard use under field conditions. My friend Bob Dozier might take issue, and he knows his D2, as many can attest to.
 
SmoothLikePowerSteering said:
Thanks for all the knowledge and suggestions! Looks like I will be sticking to reputable mfg.s for my next purchase, or reputable forgers on this site. Maybe a TBT is in my future, the aforementioned was borrowed from a friend to try it out.

Here are some pictures:
IPAK broken
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CFK/ IPAK used to be good, at least about refunding broken returns . :rolleyes:

I would contact them . But do not mention this forum if you want your money back . ;)
 
Triton said:
I know Dozier uses D2, and certainly has a solid reputation.

In general my opinion is that batoning is knife abuse plain and simple. If you want to pound something through wood get the above mentioned froe or a wedge.

Additionally the whole idea seems silly. I can't imagine a survival situation where perfectly cut logs a lying about ready to be batoned. Instead wood will either take the form of sticks and twigs or larger dead falls. Either way no baton ing required. Some knives can take the abuse, but that doesn't mean you should.

As for these particular knives... Don't buy random unknown knives on eBay. Its not a good idea!
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A number of knifesmiths use D2 and stay with it because they are familiar with it. Bob Levine belonged to my Gun Club prior to his passing in 2020. Bob made custom knives for decades and he preferred D2. He told me about how he wrapped the blade in the Sunday Comics, and wrapped that in tin foil, prior to a final heat treat. He said the carbon diffusion from the comics created a super hard edge. It was a steel he was familiar with and used it unless the customer wanted something else. But Bob and his customers were smart enough not to use his knives as froe's.

Knife owner fantasies over SHTF include chopping forests down with their favorite monster blade. Anyone doing that in a low calorie environment will be dead within weeks. It takes one hell of a lot of energy to chop wood, and needlessly chopping wood will deplete the fats and energy in your body. There are not enough squirrels in Los Angeles County to feed 12 million, never mind the 39 million in Southern California. Once the water stops flowing, the Grocery Markets run bare, the power plants turn off, and the Pharmacies close, these SHTF knife dreams will splat out on the wall of reality.

Sells knives though.
 
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Alone said:
I live in South Texas, and we're up to our ears in REALLY relentless wood. (*Oak, Mesquite, Ligustrum, etc.)

In my humble opinion, D2 is the wrong steel for hard use.
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But it's great for holding a mediocre edge a long time!
 
I don't know where the "D2 takes a mediocre edge and holds it forever started", and since all the cool kids were saying it, I thought it was true. It is not. However, the cool kids standards may be different from mine. My standard for sharpness is a Roma tomato. If the knife cuts a Roma tomato cleanly, effortlessly, then the knife is sharp. D2 will slice a Roma tomato very nicely. In fact, so will every other steel I have, as long as the edge is keen enough to cut a mushy thing. I don't use an axe to prepare food, maybe the cool kids do. There may be galaxies of sharpness BEYOND THE ROMA TOMATO, but I don't travel there.

And I don't shave with my knives. Tried it, and found it painful, Gillette razors beat the heck out of any knife I own for shaving comfort.
 
Because of the particular brand in question, I can not really say if this is a "D2" issue, It very well might be,
But It might also be a HT issue. Or not even D2.
 
DocJD said:
CFK/ IPAK used to be good, at least about refunding broken returns . :rolleyes:

I would contact them . But do not mention this forum if you want your money back . ;)
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Funny that you mention it, cuz I got this message from customer support after negotiating a replacement (I was swayed from a refund- *see below)

Ian,

I saw your grievance post over at Bladeforums. SmoothLikePowerSteering

A lot of knife maker's warranty their blades. And have replacement programs as we do. We make all our knives by hand and sometimes they break due to bad tempers, etc. things that can not be seen when making them. Instead of screwing our buyers like the Pakistani companies do, we back you up.

Make sure you tell the wonder people over at Bladeforums that we replaced it for free with a nicer newer one!

Thanks,
--
Indeed, the knife was replaced with one (that I chose) of more value and quality; the blade is 25% thicker (this one's actually marketed as a bushcraft knife, which is my intended use) but it's branded Hill and Creek Handmade Knives so I don't know what to think. Description has the same D2 Steel shpiel. I hope this one doesn't break, too. If I decide to be rough on the knife, I will update this thread with my findings. But I do have to agree with everyone's opinion that I should have opted for either a trusted mfg or a handmade from a reputable user on this forum... sometimes you gotta learn the hard way.
*
Link to ebay removed by staff
(*See post #58)
 
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I am working on inventing a super heavy duty bushcraft knife that's thicker than any knife you've ever seen. I plan to call it a "Jacks".
 
This post isn't directed at you Smooth..., it's just some thoughts I've had on the subject for some time.

For some people, "batonning" with a knife means lightly tapping a blade through a thick stick in order to expose the dry interior for use in fire starting. I've seen people do this with folding knives without the slightest issue.

And for other people, "batonning" with a knife means trying to split seasoned logs by pounding the blade of a knife with another log.

I've always found it strange how some people will judge the value of a knife, and the quality of it's steel, by whether or not it can survive being hammered through seasoned logs with another log.

But to each their own. We each judge the value of a knife in our own way. :)
 
SmoothLikePowerSteering said:
Funny that you mention it, cuz I got this message from customer support after negotiating a replacement (I was swayed from a refund- *see below)

Ian,

I saw your grievance post over at Bladeforums. SmoothLikePowerSteering

A lot of knife maker's warranty their blades. And have replacement programs as we do. We make all our knives by hand and sometimes they break due to bad tempers, etc. things that can not be seen when making them. Instead of screwing our buyers like the Pakistani companies do, we back you up.

Make sure you tell the wonder people over at Bladeforums that we replaced it for free with a nicer newer one!

Thanks,
--
Indeed, the knife was replaced with one (that I chose) of more value and quality; the blade is 25% thicker (this one's actually marketed as a bushcraft knife, which is my intended use) but it's branded Hill and Creek Handmade Knives so I don't know what to think. Description has the same D2 Steel shpiel. I hope this one doesn't break, too. If I decide to be rough on the knife, I will update this thread with my findings. But I do have to agree with everyone's opinion that I should have opted for either a trusted mfg or a handmade from a reputable user on this forum... sometimes you gotta learn the hard way.
*
Link to ebay removed by staff
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Welp ...sorry you got caught up in this long standing crossfire , but at least you received an upgrade replacement . :cool:

Please put it to a fair test and give us a review , at your convenience .

With pics ! ;)
 
DocJD DocJD No apology necessary, it was good to learn some of the history forum members had with the co- and it didn't do any harm, I was just impressed that they found the post and called me out by username 😂

I may get rid of the knife in favor of something more trustworthy... I guess I'm uncertain as to what kind of knife I need and what benefits a larger knife has compared to a morakniv companion... Any advice? I have some more research to do. And my bad I didn't know about ebay links being nonconpliant; here's a picture for the voyeurs
3bOUkAs.jpeg
 
D2 steel is excellent for skinning and wood shaving, hunters has used it for long without issue. Most of the time, when a knife maker advertised their product as hunting knife, they usually mean these tasks. The general purpose outdoor knives, camping, survival or chopper type are more sturdy due to their different uses. The kind of "torture test" on YouTube will always favor tough and thick blade, which usually has low edge retention (80CrV2 for example),which might make some people misuse the tool. If they add something like a leather or meat cutting endurance tests, the 80CrV2 blade can't hold a candle against D2 blade.

Nevertheless, on your excuse, I checked the shop of your knife maker, they put all of the buzz words in to the name, which is confusing, the blade material going with some design doesn't line up neither (they have a chopper made of D2, big eh), but it makes it easier for marketing on place like eBay. Someone, in this case, you, might used it as advertised despite the product was not made for it.

You can determine your criteria, and people will give you a hand on choosing, but it will still take some investment to really find what you really want or need.
 
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