<font face="Verdana, Arial" size="2">Originally posted by yitz:
...they all say, "nothing cuts like a Hartsfield." I've heard him speak about the spirit of the blade. It's an old oriental concept. I'm not sure if I fully believe it, but there are a lot of strange things in this world, and I don't disbelieve it either. </font>
I am blessed/cursed with a bias towards the left side of my brain, being an engineer by training and profession. Engineers don't last long if they are fanciful at the expense of practical.
Knife making fascinates me because the good makers can exercise both sides of their brains... they can impress me with ergonomics (left) and style (right), practicality of blade and handle shape for a given purpose (left), and cleverness of sheath/carry systems (left & right) along with the technical stuff like heat treat and grind for performance (left). I get great satisfaction from finding, owning, carrying, and using knives that speak to me on all of these fronts. I still own about 1/2 of the knives I've ever purchased, those that left doing so as a result of the learning process.
If the "spirit of the blade" refers to a very refined heat treatment for a particular type of steel for a particular purpose, then I understand. If "spirit of the blade" refers to some mysticism or incantation or even meditation or prayer-over-finished-product, or other similar "eye of newt, toe of frog" approach, well, I can't pay any of my personal money as a premium for such things, as they are lost on me so I get no return ... I'll take the cutting or chopping tests as indication of heat treat and "spirit".
And for my own personal money, Hartsfield looks like a master niche marketer and a decent (but not great) maker with a product that would appear to be 50% to 100% overpriced. Simply having Hartsfield's name on a simple chisel ground A2 blade with a good heat treat isn't worth that premium to me. Your (generically, not aimed at Yitz) opinions and expenditure tendencies may vary.
If all you want is a cost effective, no nonsense cutting/utility knife, I suggest Bob Dozier's work, as his heat treat of D2 is great, his designs spartan and utilitarian, his sheaths very functional if you like kydex, and his prices very reasonable for fixed blades (most all between $120 and $180).
I own one RJ Martin's knives, the Trek. It is a tremendous knife that reflects, to my eye, tremendous refinement in it's final design, in it's niche. I have four more of RJ's knives in mind for the next year+. They speak to me on the aforementioned fronts (having handled them at a show).
[This message has been edited by rdangerer (edited 02-03-2001).]
