Review I'm Sorry but A2 Steel is overrated.

Is A2 Steel Overrated?

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I’ll toss in my .02’s worth here. I have a custom made Gravelle knife heat treated at Peters. It only has a black oxide (?) layer on it. I edc this blade A LOT lol, and with minimal maintenance life is great :-) Now if it’s not on my person, I’ll toss it in my lunch cooler lol. It’s gets oiled once in awhile, Gibbs penetrant, Corrosion block, mineral oil, renasiance wax etc. It takes and holds an edge very well. Really durable , although I don’t going looking to break my blades :-)

But for me, I like tough steel over rust resistance :-)
 
"This $200,000 masterpiece of a sword is rusting too fast for the price...?""""
Um, what does rust resistance have to do with price??


I can direct you to a $20,000 custom by a master maker that will rust like all carbon steels rust."

Does that mean my $6 stainless Opinel is a priceless artifact because it does not rust?????
 
JPricey82 said:
Knife review videos are typically aimed towards people who are new to a particular steel or manufacturer as opposed to an "expert". I was highly aware that A2 would rust, I just didn't know how fast it would set in
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This is far different from saying that a steel is overrated. This is certainly something to point out to viewers, along with mention of proper care. New is another way to say in need of education.
I stand by everything I said. Five hours is not fast. If you were aware that this steel is lightly chromed, you are at fault. If this was a "new" blade - untarnished - it should be immediately cleaned, dried, and oiled after use until a patina has set in. The 5% chrome gives you some time, but somebody should make you run laps for letting it sit in sheath for 5 hours.
A patina can be forced and should be if you need to give yourself a little time before cleaning after use. Still needs to be cleaned.
 
Ourorboros said:
This is far different from saying that a steel is overrated. This is certainly something to point out to viewers, along with mention of proper care. New is another way to say in need of education.
I stand by everything I said. Five hours is not fast. If you were aware that this steel is lightly chromed, you are at fault. If this was a "new" blade - untarnished - it should be immediately cleaned, dried, and oiled after use until a patina has set in. The 5% chrome gives you some time, but somebody should make you run laps for letting it sit in sheath for 5 hours.
A patina can be forced and should be if you need to give yourself a little time before cleaning after use. Still needs to be cleaned.
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Apparently there is no middle ground between leaving it covered with blood for five hours and hauling around an oil container. Once upon a time, when people understood carbon steels, an oily rag was part of a basic outdoor kit. I guess times change... :rolleyes:
 
Lapedog said:
Can you take the handles off the knife to clean any rust underneath?

I recommend you watch a few youtube videos of how fo force a patina. If possible to get the handles off patina the whole knife so that way you have rust resistance all over. (Under handle rust is particularly dangerous since it can spread without being seen)

If you don’t want to patina the knife there are other options than mineral oil. Try froglube or tuffglide. Just make sure the knife is completely clean of oil from your hands and moisture before you apply a layer of these. Otherwise it can trap the moisture between the coating and the steel and actually cause rust that way.
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Rust under the handle is my biggest fear as well Lapedog. The handle scales are pinned on there, so I guess I need to send it off for a spa treatment after only one use. lol
 
shinyedges said:
My previous post may come off harsh but I don't intend to insult you personally. I'm being honest. You should learn more about knives and steels before doing reviews..

YouTube is filled with "reviewers" who aren't really knife guys. Stand out by being educated on knives and experienced! Sure it will take some years to build up experience but, damn, it's better than not knowing what you are talking about..
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It's all good. Constructive criticism will help me improve. The focus of my channel will be hunting gear in general, so I'm not trying to totally geek out on knife steels. I know that tool steel is designed to be tough, and that is great for shovels, hammers, etc. But those items cost $50 or less. When I'm purchasing a high performance instrument like a knife, I don't think it makes a ton of sense for it to corrode quickly. I'll stick with stainless options from here on out, because they offer similar performance with no rust.
 
JPricey82 said:
It's all good. Constructive criticism will help me improve. The focus of my channel will be hunting gear in general, so I'm not trying to totally geek out on knife steels. I know that tool steel is designed to be tough, and that is great for shovels, hammers, etc. But those items cost $50 or less. When I'm purchasing a high performance instrument like a knife, I don't think it makes a ton of sense for it to corrode quickly. I'll stick with stainless options from here on out, because they offer similar performance with no rust.
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Why don't you include a segment in your videos that covers the maintenance requirements of the gear you're going to be pushing?
With the proper care, an A2 knife can last a lifetime of hunting season use. I'm pretty sure an oily rag in a zip-loc sandwich bag isn't gonna weigh or slow anybody down. :rolleyes:
Are people really so lazy that they will refuse to take proper care of things that they have pride of ownership in and get satisfaction from using? :confused:
 
danbot said:
Why don't you include a segment in your videos that covers the maintenance requirements of the gear you're going to be pushing?
With the proper care, an A2 knife can last a lifetime of hunting season use. I'm pretty sure an oily rag in a zip-loc sandwich bag isn't gonna weigh or slow anybody down. :rolleyes:
Are people really so lazy that they will refuse to take proper care of things that they have pride of ownership in and get satisfaction from using? :confused:
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I do have an oil soaked rag that I use for the knife as well as my different guns. However, scent control is a huge part of archery hunting. And those rags(baggie or not) give off major scent.
 
You don't even NEED an "oil soaked rag" to wipe a knife dry when you're done using it. That is all that a carbon steel needs in order to be maintained! You simply wipe it dry when you're done using it. There is no "need" to oil a carbon steel blade if it is dry. Long term storage in a humid environment, this is when to use a coat of oil. Most of my kitchen knives are carbon steel that don't even have the 5% chromium that A2 does, and they have never been oiled at all, and have never seen a speck of rust. Patina, yeah, rust no. My hunting knife in Cru Forge V only has 0.5% Chromium and has never seen a speck of rust, and I don't oil it, either. Also, most knives that have full tangs and pinned scales are also epoxied in place so no moisture can get between the tang and scale.

If corrosion resistance is your # 1 priority, you might look into steels like H1, LC200n, Nitrobe77, etc.
 
JPricey82 said:
It's all good. Constructive criticism will help me improve. The focus of my channel will be hunting gear in general, so I'm not trying to totally geek out on knife steels. I know that tool steel is designed to be tough, and that is great for shovels, hammers, etc. But those items cost $50 or less. When I'm purchasing a high performance instrument like a knife, I don't think it makes a ton of sense for it to corrode quickly. I'll stick with stainless options from here on out, because they offer similar performance with no rust.
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Why are you here peddling your channel? You haven't even bothered buying a basic membership for this community, and you're here trying to use its membership base to drum up clicks/views for your garbage Youtube channel? That's shady as all get out.
 
JPricey82 said:
That's cool if some of you don't enjoy knife videos, but they are incredibly valuable to someone who has never seen or handled a particular knife before. Text and pictures in a forum are great, but they are no substitute for actually being able to see a knife in action.
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And by "incredibly valuable", you mean "For me personally, when enough people click through and give me ad revenue."

My onpoint response would be this: No, A2 is definitely not overrated. In fact, such an admission is actually an admission of "I don't have much knowledge of knife-steels or their history."
 
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JPricey82 said:
Rust under the handle is my biggest fear as well Lapedog. The handle scales are pinned on there, so I guess I need to send it off for a spa treatment after only one use. lol
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If you send it off for a spa treatment, request they take the handles off and epoxy (and pin) them back on. The epoxy is just as valuable for not letting rust getting under the handle as it is for fixing the handle on the tang, IMO. You might need to pay extra for that, but if you like the performance of the knife, this one step will make it outlast you, as long as it's take care of. I had a kitchen knife in stainless steel come apart on my because of this.

Also, I personally like to patina my knives, but be aware that surface rust on a carbon steel can be much less destructive than rust on a stainless steel, which tends to pit. Stainless should really be 2 words - stain less.
 
sodak said:
If you send it off for a spa treatment, request they take the handles off and epoxy (and pin) them back on. The epoxy is just as valuable for not letting rust getting under the handle as it is for fixing the handle on the tang, IMO. You might need to pay extra for that, but if you like the performance of the knife, this one step will make it outlast you, as long as it's take care of. I had a kitchen knife in stainless steel come apart on my because of this.

Also, I personally like to patina my knives, but be aware that surface rust on a carbon steel can be much less destructive than rust on a stainless steel, which tends to pit. Stainless should really be 2 words - stain less.
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Those handles are epoxied and pinned from the factory, handle corrosion on this is unlikely to go past the surface layer without extreme neglect.
 
That's good to know, thanks!

To the OP, in that case, just take care of the knife and you'll be fine.
 
samuraistuart said:
You don't even NEED an "oil soaked rag" to wipe a knife dry when you're done using it. That is all that a carbon steel needs in order to be maintained! You simply wipe it dry when you're done using it. There is no "need" to oil a carbon steel blade if it is dry. Long term storage in a humid environment, this is when to use a coat of oil. Most of my kitchen knives are carbon steel that don't even have the 5% chromium that A2 does, and they have never been oiled at all, and have never seen a speck of rust. Patina, yeah, rust no. My hunting knife in Cru Forge V only has 0.5% Chromium and has never seen a speck of rust, and I don't oil it, either. Also, most knives that have full tangs and pinned scales are also epoxied in place so no moisture can get between the tang and scale.

If corrosion resistance is your # 1 priority, you might look into steels like H1, LC200n, Nitrobe77, etc.
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If you haven’t washed the blood off then wiping carbon steel blades ‘dry’ is sub-optimal. As you most certainly would know. He had been butchering a deer apparently. And I agree. Clean blade, no moisture, no problem.
 
JPricey82 said:
I know that tool steel is designed to be tough, and that is great for shovels, hammers, etc.
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Actually that's great for hard use knives too. Chippy steels need careful handling, which isn't so easy when blade meets bone.
So you know that the rep of the steel is toughness, but you address overrated by rust resistance? That's like judging a model for their personality or intelligence. Sure, nice qualities to have and needed in a complete person, but misses the point of what they are doing.
 
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