I know this has been discussed before, I have been in on those discussions. I came across a great deal on one, and picked it up to increase my first hand knowledge. Here you go
Steel: This is a low hardness carbon alloy steel of some kind. I would guess it is in the 1055 category or similar. It does not hold its edge well at all. It sharpens best when you start with a file and work your way to a diamond stone and then ceramic stones. I spent the better part of an hour putting a workable edge on it. The grind was inconsistent so parts of the blade took the edge quickly and other parts did not. I threw it, batonned some hard wood with it, and cut some sod. It went from decent edge to no edge pretty quick. The tip (slightly rounded to begin with) held up, no bending after batoning and throwing.
Handle: Plastic with a metal guard, plastic plug type pommell. This held up well to repeated misses on throws (pommel end first) and batonning. I hammered it in classically, wood on blade, and then also as a wedge, like a nail. It took both the wood baton and the steel hammer face of an axe very well.
Overall Impressions: It performs like a bayonet. It is narrow blade and thick. You can get the edges sharp, and you can do some light to moderate cutting with it no problem. Any substantive work and it will lose the edge quickly. Think some of the 1055 carbon throwing knives out there, they have similar edge retention. It is a tough knife, but tough as in sharpened pry bar. I can baton RAT's, Kabars, my Ontario AFSK and my new Benchmade CSK II into wood and they retain their cutting edge, the Glock knife did not. What you get is reflected in the price, 20-30 dollars does not get you much, and since it is priced at the same point as many throwing knives made of Carbon Steel, look there for your comparisons. Is it a "bad" knife? No, it simply has its limitations. I had fun throwing it, testing it, etc. It is not a serious contender for use in any of my kits, so it has a rightful place in a shoe box for days when I feel like throwing a knife around, or I want sharpening practice. 10-20 bucks more and you have a KaBar. 30-40 bucks more and you have some of more woods/camp/survival style blades ala Ontario/RAT, Benchmade, Cold Steel, etc. blades.
Steel: This is a low hardness carbon alloy steel of some kind. I would guess it is in the 1055 category or similar. It does not hold its edge well at all. It sharpens best when you start with a file and work your way to a diamond stone and then ceramic stones. I spent the better part of an hour putting a workable edge on it. The grind was inconsistent so parts of the blade took the edge quickly and other parts did not. I threw it, batonned some hard wood with it, and cut some sod. It went from decent edge to no edge pretty quick. The tip (slightly rounded to begin with) held up, no bending after batoning and throwing.
Handle: Plastic with a metal guard, plastic plug type pommell. This held up well to repeated misses on throws (pommel end first) and batonning. I hammered it in classically, wood on blade, and then also as a wedge, like a nail. It took both the wood baton and the steel hammer face of an axe very well.
Overall Impressions: It performs like a bayonet. It is narrow blade and thick. You can get the edges sharp, and you can do some light to moderate cutting with it no problem. Any substantive work and it will lose the edge quickly. Think some of the 1055 carbon throwing knives out there, they have similar edge retention. It is a tough knife, but tough as in sharpened pry bar. I can baton RAT's, Kabars, my Ontario AFSK and my new Benchmade CSK II into wood and they retain their cutting edge, the Glock knife did not. What you get is reflected in the price, 20-30 dollars does not get you much, and since it is priced at the same point as many throwing knives made of Carbon Steel, look there for your comparisons. Is it a "bad" knife? No, it simply has its limitations. I had fun throwing it, testing it, etc. It is not a serious contender for use in any of my kits, so it has a rightful place in a shoe box for days when I feel like throwing a knife around, or I want sharpening practice. 10-20 bucks more and you have a KaBar. 30-40 bucks more and you have some of more woods/camp/survival style blades ala Ontario/RAT, Benchmade, Cold Steel, etc. blades.
The hardness was in my view left intentionally low to increase toughness.