Looking up on Amazon the offer in outdoor knives and the variation in prices, and how cornerstone is the kind of the steel used, I was wondering, how can one know for sure that the knife is really made from the declared steel? For a $100 knife, how much would be extra neutral certification? Somebody said in a review for a D2 steel knife, that the knife got scratched by another knife of inferior steel, something that normally can't happen(therefore the "D2 knife" was made from a different steel), yet he was kind of ok with the purchase...Can you certify the knife for a reasonable price or not?
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Is the knife really made from the declared steel?
- Thread starter Ionion
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not2sharp
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First we have to consider that all steel is steel. The chemistry might change and the marketing may back one formulation over another, but for the most part the difference in performance is small. What I look at is the level of finish, the materials used throughout, the profile of the blade, quality of heat treatment, and the utility of the handle and sheath. Performance counts, whatever is marked on the blade is hype; some companies are reputable others are not.
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Basically if you can’t trust the company then the steel is mystery steel no matter what they claim it to be. Even then you have no idea if you can trust their heat treat process
Only buy knives from reputable companies that are known for good heat treatment.
A Buck using a cheap steel will out perform a cheap knife using a high grade steel.
Only buy knives from reputable companies that are known for good heat treatment.
A Buck using a cheap steel will out perform a cheap knife using a high grade steel.
The D2 designation tells you the main ingredients in the steel. Ingot made D2 has large carbides, where CPM D2 or SPF27 use the same recipe as D2 compositionally, but have much smaller carbides due to how they are made. They perform very differently! Many makers in China are using their own version of steels, but calling them the American name for popularity, but you don't know how it was processed, heat treated, other impurities in it, etc. So because an inferior knife scratched it doesn't necessarily mean it wasn't D2, it means that the inferior knife is harder than the D2 blade. Some claim the Chinese steels are the "equivalent" of D2, but there is no way of knowing if that is true or not, even before the heat treat portion of the process or how the steel was made originally is entered into the equation.
Think of bread. You take 3 bakers, give them the same ingredients and ratios. They get mixed differently and baked according to each bakers style/pans/methods. They are all "bread", but will be different based on other factors. One may be done in a convection oven, one may be proofed longer, one may mix everything at once instead of mixing the wet stuff, the dry stuff, then combining, one may use a different style/material pan, etc. Same recipe, different results!
Think of bread. You take 3 bakers, give them the same ingredients and ratios. They get mixed differently and baked according to each bakers style/pans/methods. They are all "bread", but will be different based on other factors. One may be done in a convection oven, one may be proofed longer, one may mix everything at once instead of mixing the wet stuff, the dry stuff, then combining, one may use a different style/material pan, etc. Same recipe, different results!
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Amazon?
Use a reputable dealer or order directly from the company/maker.
There are knife makers on this Forum who I'd trust making something with D2 over anything that can be bought on Amazon.
And I don't even like D2.
Amazon makes the quintessential 'black market' look like amateurs.
Use a reputable dealer or order directly from the company/maker.
There are knife makers on this Forum who I'd trust making something with D2 over anything that can be bought on Amazon.
And I don't even like D2.
Amazon makes the quintessential 'black market' look like amateurs.
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