Blade Magazine, I know you read these forums. I respect your magazine and many of the articles this month are definitely geared toward the new market: younger people who want "tactical" knives that do more than just look good, and who are informed as to what makes a high quality knife. But, why are you inhibiting progress of the knife industry by perpetuating lies such as the one that ATS-34 is a top steel? (In your first article on page 12, April 1999)
ATS-34 USED TO BE a top steel. Today it is bottom of the rung, and with the performance I get from it (i.e. chipping and breaking as well as rusting), I wonder if it ever was a move forward in knife steels at all. Sometimes I think that I would rather have my stainless folders in AUS-8. A may have to sharpen it more often, but at least it doesnt rust much, and best of all, it bends instead of chips!
ATS-34 on a "tactical" knife is a joke. It is weak, brittle and inflexible. It chips under heavy use, rusts under extreme conditions, and dont you dare pry with it if you want to keep your knife in working order! I have to think that anyone that believes ATS-34 to be a "tactical steel" has never really used it hard! I have chipped my ATS-34 blades by hitting nothing more than a staple while opening a box, and I have broken off the tips by dropping them from three feet to a Lenoleum floor! ATS-34 is far from a "tactical", hard use steel. The only people that believe that ATS-34 is a good steel for a hard-use knife must have never cut more than a bagel with their "tactical" folder. I have chipped so many blades while using this brittle steel that I have given up on it. I would rather have AUS-8 that bends, and I can "steel" it back into shape with a kitchen steeling rod or sharpener. A dull blade can be sharpened, but a chipped up, broken tipped, rusted blade becomes much more of a problem in the field.
But, the question is: why "settle" at all!? There are steels out today that are eons ahead of ATS-34 and give you strength, corrosion resistance, toughness, AND supreme edge retention. Lets talk about 440V, 420V, BG-42 and Tool Steels like M2 that are coated with rust inhibitors like Black Teflon. Now we dont have to "settle" for anything! For instance, 440V is shown to have 10 times the wear resistance (edge holding) of ATS-34 and it is also more rust resistant and tougher as well! BG-42 is not far behind 440V, showing three times the wear resistance of ATS-34! I havent even mentioned the possible King of stainless blade steels today: 420V. Then there is teflon coated tool steel like M2, which sports all the best of all attributes!
Please, stop holding back progress by continuing to fool people that ATS-34 is a top steel. I do realize that you included credits to other steels in your article, but you filled the article with poor statements like "Youre not going to find a better stainless steel (than ATS-34)" and you put bold print items like "ATS-34 is the stuff to have" and implied that it was "exotic". Are you trying to program us like the television media? Do you think that if you say something often enough in the right places (such as at the END of the article) that people will be brainwashed into thinking that they are getting the best when they fall for the hype? Why not try to perpetuate progress in the knife industry, and expose ATS-34 for the fraud that it is? Lets try to push manufacturers to move forward into the steels that are coming out, rather than stroking them and the buyers by telling us all (falsely!) that ATS-34 is the top stainless.
You need to do more articles on the new steels, so that they become well known. You are in control of what the buyers look for, and your claims that everyone wants ATS-34 are a self fulfilling prophecy because you are misinforming people and they think it is the best so they buy it. There is so much better out there, and with media hype like your article, we are never going to get the makers to move into the new era and use some of the supreme steels that are becoming available.
We, the educated knife buying public, are slowly making progress in the knife world by asking the knife manufacturers to move forward with technology. We have had quite an effect so far by voting with our voices and dollars, in getting Spyderco and Benchmade to introduce their knives with better blade steels. Please stop impeding the progress of the knife world with your misinformation about outdated materials to the masses.
Sincerely,
J. Thaddeus Hornbaker
