Identififying "High carbon steel"

To get an approximate estimate of carbon content of a knife one can use a spark test.
 
To me it always seemed to be like "surgical stainless" its just something that sounds good. To me heat treat is what brings home the bacon.
 
When they say "high carbon steel" for those cheap knives, it could be either simple carbon steel (like 1095) or cheap stainless. In the case of Rough Riders, it appears that they are 440A stainless. Most of the time, when they don't specify, and it's one of these kinds of cheap imported knives from communist China, it's going to be 440A. If you like inexpensive knives, stick with Mora. I'd stay away from Rough Rider or Boker Plus. The German made "Boker" brand makes good knives, but "Boker Plus" is not made in Germany. Mora actually does indicate whether it's carbon steel or stainless. Mora has a great reputation and I would trust Mora any day over those other two brands you mentioned.
 
I've done a lot of knife shopping on the internet and high carbon means next to nothing in places. It might mean something elsewhere but in most knife selling internet stores it means "high carbon stainless", "high carbon steel " like 1095, or even powder steel non stainless alloys and HSS like 10V or CPM M4hc. The latter is even true here with guys on the forum. Mostly though on knife stores and internet searches it means "we'll tell you anything to convince you to buy from us".
 
camcam2016 said:
Hey im curious if anyone can tell me what high carbon steel usually is that isnt specified. What makes me bring this up is on a top site there is 1045 up to 1095 and then a specific spot for high carbon knives that has 121 matches, that dont fit into the 1045-1095 criteria. I recently bought a rough rider that said high carbon steel, on the site it was the only one that didnt say 440a. In the description it said 440 formulation high carbon steel so i emailed them and they said they think it is 440a with a higher than normal carbon content. If anyone is interested in looking at the knife its on a site pertaining to the mountains for 12.99 and is the only g10 trapper. So i guess 2 questions. 1 what do yall think about 440 with a higher carbon content, doesnt make sense to me. Seems like it wouldnt be 440a then. And 2, What does it usually mean when they just put high carbon steel. Alot of the boker plus line does this
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I don’t think there is a standard definition for high carbon steel, it kind of depends on who you ask. Mostly the term is just a marketing ploy used with lower grade steels and budget knives.

The first rule I have when buying a knife is to never buy a knife if the manufacturer does not state what steel and HRC is used. Give me no information and I Just assume it’s a low grade, soft steel. Leave it for someone else to buy.

420 steel, has a carbon content of 0.15.
420HC (High Carbon) has a carbon content of 0.46. That’s still a low carbon steel.
The name 420HC (high carbon) just means it has more carbon than plain 420.

None of the following terms are a specific steel. Just marketing gimmicks.
Stainless
Surgical Stainless
High Carbon
High Carbon Stainless
True Sharp
CV
Diamond Edge
440 Stainless
Etc.
 
Avoid 440a for cutting tasks. Retention is low and will require multiple sharpening sessions just to get through cutting a cardboard box.
 
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