Question on Strider's Toughness

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Jun 5, 2002
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Strider's claim to fame so to speak is how tough their knives and blades are, how you can abuse them, cut through even some metals without damaging the edge, or at least, incurring less damage than a lesser knife.

My question is this, since i believe Strider's new blades use S30V and since many other quality knives use the same steel, why would an S30V Strider's edge withstand more abuse than say the S30V edge of a Sebenza? Seems to me that S30V is S30V, whether its on a Strider or a Sebenza. Im not flaming or putting down Strider at all, but i often hear of how their blades are better able to withstand abuse than other quality knives, and thus my question. Your thoughts?
 
Not sure if strider has ever said that they are the Toughest, but the are high speed tools for hardcore individuals.

WHen talking about "toughness" there are various interpretations of what this means, one of the things that you referneced was Edge Toughness, this can mean Edge holding, or its ability to resist chipping, This quality of the Blade is going to be greatly influenced by the Steel, you are correct. It is also Greatly influenced by the Heat Treat, and the Heat treat of Stider (paul Boss) and Chris Reeve are also probably different. One Factor that is key in "edge toughness" is going to be the edge geometry, edge thickness (behind the bevel), and the type of grind used. With out owning either one i am going to say that a typical strider (such as a BT or even an AR) is going to have a thicker more obtuse edge than the sebenza, this means that the strider will probably hold up better under heavy use, but the Seb will offer greater cutting performance.

The Real reason that Striders are so tough, is because they are well designed, well made, from excellent steel, with an Excellent heat treat, and many of them are 1/4 inch thick (btw that is soo thick).

The closest thing to a strider vs Reeve would probably be an SNG vs Small seb. And the Beret knife Vs an MT, my guess is they are both going to be better than you need. (but the reeve's will probably be prettier).
 
Steel type is not everything.

Edge geometry plays a big part in how durable the edge is. I have not held a Strider knife, but I would venture that the edge on the Striders is thicker than on the Sebenza.

If I'm wrong, please correct me...

Matthew
 
Starfish needs no correction!

When 2 blades have identical steels, you have to look at other properties to determien toughness. Thickness of steel, width of steel, grind type, how high the grind line goes (e.g. full flat grind vs. saber), edge geometry, edge finish (high polish is longer lasting/tougher), hardness of the blades and heat treat. There may be other factors too, but these are the biggies that I am aware of.

Mick and Duane developed a proprietary heat treat, I am guessing with Paul Bos, and that is what Bos used on Strider fixed blades. You can do different heat treats on soem steels to maximize certain properties. Mick and Duane could grind 2 identical knives from ATS-34 and have Bos heat treat one with the special heat treat, and heat treat the other with a different heat treat. The knife with the proprietary heat treat would be tougher. I don't know if Mick and Duane have a special heat treat for their S30V blades. That would be a good question to ask on their forums.

I think that a lot of the success behind the toughness of Strider blades comes from usage and feedback. From what I understand, Mick and Duane have had a long history of following a simple formula. Make knives from the best materials possible, coax as much performance out of them, and put them in the hands of professionals who depend on their knives, and are rough with them. Get feedback. Fix what is not working, keep what works. Repeat. Easy! As far as I understand, Mick and Duane are very active in doing this.
 
Strider blades are much thicker than Sebenza blades. They aren't hollow ground, which means additional strength and their heat treating focus is probably more on high hardness than on easy resharpenability (the latter is what CRK has in mind when heat treating their steel).
 
As a Strider customer, I agree with most of the above. My AR is one stout knife, it stays sharp and I'm not afraid to ding it if need be.

Also, and this is a big point, Strider backs up their knives with good customer service. As you know, Lynn Little is a good friend of mine and he corresponds with Mick directly. I like that; Bill Ruger used to answer his own phone, and Mike Dillon takes a shift answering in-coming customer service complaints. It is no wonder that these companies have some of the most loyal clients.

As Mick gets to know me better (and looks over the damage I might to do a blade) he might suggest a cerrtain model for those needs. He did so in a recent thread. I would buy that knife.
 
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