I'm looking at buying a KA-BAR, and I've narrowed down my search to the D2 extreme, or one of the next generation knives. I'm only new to this wesite, and I've been reading around and it seems that there are some pretty knowledgable people here. So my question is, what is your recommendation as a general purpose knife for use in the bush? I live in Australia by the way, in the tropics, so it gets pretty humid here in Summer. The main factor for my choice is resistance to rust and general performance. I know the next generation will resist rust better than the D2, but if the D2 resists rust and corrosion quite well for a non stainless metal, and outperforms the next generation in most other apsects, I'll probably get it instead.
Now, I have been researching a fair bit, and have discovered alot in my research. Firstly, from my understanding, the next generation knives are made from 440a stainless, which is supposed to resist rust very well (I know all knives will eventually rust, but apparently 440a is the best at resisting it out of the 440 range of steels). If the D2 will develope a coating of rust after about a few days, then I don't think it would be suitable for me. I dont know about the edge holding capabiliteies of this steel, or if it gets a sharp edge compared to the D2. I also understand that the 440a steel is tougher than D2, and will bend/ flex more so it is less likely to snap and chip. However, I have also found out that the D2 steel is very strong, and would take a huge force to end up snapping/ chipping, and I am unlikely to expose it to that kind of force. So, my questions for you are:
1: How well does D2 resist rust compared to 440a, and how well does it resist rust in general?
2:How long would it take for D2 to rust if it was neglected from care for whatever reason?
3: Does 440a hold a better edge than D2? (i know D2 will hold it for longer, because its a much more abrasion resistant steel, but does 440a hold a sharper edge?)
4: How long does the next generation 440a KA-BAR hold its sharp edge? Would it need to be sharpened daily with milld use?
5: Does the D2 snap or chip very easily? Becasue I found videos of a guy on youtube (noss4) who tests a D2 KA-BAR and tries to cut through concrete with it and it doesn't chip at all. That being said, has anyone at all had problems with D2 being too brittle? Does the metal chip and snap very easily?
You can probably tell my biggest concern is rust, but I have never really liked knives that rust, simply because I had a rusty old pocket knife, removed all the rust with steel wool and wd-40 and rustbuster and coated it with wd-40 and cleaned it everyday but it still rusted. I don't understand how people can have knives that rust so easily. Anyway, the rust is my biggest concern. Thats why I didn't even look at the USMC fighting knives and the black versions. I would think D2 would outperform 440a in almost all ways but rust resistance because it is more abrasion resistant etc. but I could be wrong. I did find a few videos on youtube by noss4 of him putting a D2 extreme through alot of punishment (cutting concrete, stabbing sheetmetal etc) and I liked what I saw in terms of performance (apparently D2 is supposed to be really brittle, but this video didn't show the D2 as a brittle blade because he cut through concrete without the balde chipping). Howver, one thing they cannot show in the video is rust resitance. I doubt the 440a blade would perform as well as the D2 in most areas, but like I said. Rust resistance is my primary concern, and if the D2 can handle rust reasonably well, I'll get it.
Now, I have been researching a fair bit, and have discovered alot in my research. Firstly, from my understanding, the next generation knives are made from 440a stainless, which is supposed to resist rust very well (I know all knives will eventually rust, but apparently 440a is the best at resisting it out of the 440 range of steels). If the D2 will develope a coating of rust after about a few days, then I don't think it would be suitable for me. I dont know about the edge holding capabiliteies of this steel, or if it gets a sharp edge compared to the D2. I also understand that the 440a steel is tougher than D2, and will bend/ flex more so it is less likely to snap and chip. However, I have also found out that the D2 steel is very strong, and would take a huge force to end up snapping/ chipping, and I am unlikely to expose it to that kind of force. So, my questions for you are:
1: How well does D2 resist rust compared to 440a, and how well does it resist rust in general?
2:How long would it take for D2 to rust if it was neglected from care for whatever reason?
3: Does 440a hold a better edge than D2? (i know D2 will hold it for longer, because its a much more abrasion resistant steel, but does 440a hold a sharper edge?)
4: How long does the next generation 440a KA-BAR hold its sharp edge? Would it need to be sharpened daily with milld use?
5: Does the D2 snap or chip very easily? Becasue I found videos of a guy on youtube (noss4) who tests a D2 KA-BAR and tries to cut through concrete with it and it doesn't chip at all. That being said, has anyone at all had problems with D2 being too brittle? Does the metal chip and snap very easily?
You can probably tell my biggest concern is rust, but I have never really liked knives that rust, simply because I had a rusty old pocket knife, removed all the rust with steel wool and wd-40 and rustbuster and coated it with wd-40 and cleaned it everyday but it still rusted. I don't understand how people can have knives that rust so easily. Anyway, the rust is my biggest concern. Thats why I didn't even look at the USMC fighting knives and the black versions. I would think D2 would outperform 440a in almost all ways but rust resistance because it is more abrasion resistant etc. but I could be wrong. I did find a few videos on youtube by noss4 of him putting a D2 extreme through alot of punishment (cutting concrete, stabbing sheetmetal etc) and I liked what I saw in terms of performance (apparently D2 is supposed to be really brittle, but this video didn't show the D2 as a brittle blade because he cut through concrete without the balde chipping). Howver, one thing they cannot show in the video is rust resitance. I doubt the 440a blade would perform as well as the D2 in most areas, but like I said. Rust resistance is my primary concern, and if the D2 can handle rust reasonably well, I'll get it.
