After more than half-a-century playing with all types of knives, I find the continuous debate over knife steels both dull and irritating. Yes, some steels are better at certain tasks than others; but, with any reasonably made item of cutlery the difference is so minor as to make it completely irrelevant.
Knives are a fascinating subject. the tool has been with us for so long that anthropologist use their presence to help distinguish man from ape. They have been used in just about every conflict ever fought and have sat on the side and work table of everyone who has ever made or invented or explored anything. The variety and diversity of these tools and weapons across cultures and ages has been noting less than vast, and nowhere have knives been more prevalent and colorful than today. I understand why we keep discussing knife steels, the minor chemical tweaking gives the industry a means to distinguish products in a heavily flooded marketplace. But, we have clearly been driven into a rut and continue to endlessly ask the wrong question. We shouldn't care whether the latest steel tests better than the stuff from last year; what we should be asking is which knife is best for my particular use?
This year we will probably see 10 thousand unique models of bowie knives made, to join the many millions of previously made bowie knives in just about every size and configuration imaginable. Wouldn't it be more interesting to ask to what purpose and end each of these knives were made. The vast majority were made simply to make money. It was something that the maker felt they could put together and sell, with little or no thought given to practical use. The shape was popular, the blade was of the latest and greatest, and the grind and working edge was almost randomly determined. As such these knives, blade steel and materials are seldom more than a fad. How different it would be if we instead ask the producer to explain why they made what they made. Did they have a specific use in mind and if so, how was the finished item optimized for that purpose? We seem willing to purchase just about anything provided it is marked with a popular steel; even multiples of the same exact knife so long as different steels are indicated.
Granted, most of us are not working in a meat processing plant, harvesting agricultural products, or blazing trails through the wilderness as occupations and most of our knives see little use. Ironically, those who use their knives the most, those in the trades, likely care the least about blade steels and simply want a knife to get them through the day. I doubt any construction union has gone on strike because their utility knives were not made from Magnicut. But, the interesting part of the hobby for me goes back to the purpose. Why did a particular population, in a given city, during a unique period evolve a certain type of knife. What were the economic, legal and practical factors involved and is any of that still relevant to anyone today?
BTW, for those steel snobs who feel the urge to have only the latest and greatest; please feel free to donate any of those obsolescent knives to me.
n2s
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