Rats in a-2

Simply put: why? It`s unlikely that RAT and Rowen are going to change steels at this time, especially something like a-2
 
A2 is a very good steel, it's a tool steel I'm pretty sure, and it has one heck of an edge retention. Hopefully down the road, Jeff seems to be doing so expanding with the company and it's product so nothing is out of the question, except maybe a machete....... oh wait.
 
BenchmadeBoy said:
Simply put: why? It`s unlikely that RAT and Rowen are going to change steels at this time, especially something like a-2
Click to expand...

You think there is something wrong with a-2? And as to why, have you noticed how the knife industry works? How about cpm-m4?
 
winbag338 said:
You think there is something wrong with a-2? And as to why, have you noticed how the knife industry works? How about cpm-m4?
Click to expand...

No... actually I think what he ment was that 1095 is working well so far, and A2 (great steel BTW) is more difficult and more costly to work with. Jeff has stated in teh past that they weren't really interested in expanding the line past 1095 and 440C (I think) for the new stainless models coming out.

I have a couple of Scott Gossman's blades in A2 and 01 tool steel and the stuff rocks, once it is sharp, it stays sharp. Tough stuff.
 
The whole theory behind the ESEE line is cutting the bulls*^t and keeping things simple.

The status quo withing the knife industry is to make any given model in a new steel every few years to boost sales and rejuvenate the product line without the expense of reengineering any of the designs.

Now you need to ask yourself if the performance of A-2 or D-2 is superior enough to Rowen 1095 for it to be worth the work.

I doubt it. I've had and still have quite a few blades in A-2. Good steel but not all that much different than 1095.

The reality is that aside from carbon and stainless, if the name of the steel weren't stamped on the blade or on a website somewhere, most folks would be hard pressed to tell the difference between, D-2, 1095 or A-2. Same with s30v and 440c.

The bulk of it is just hype.
 
Shotgunner and Mr.Coffee have hit the nail on head. I could not have said it better myself (and didn't). A-2 is a great steel. I just don't see them making ESEE knives with it anytime soon.
 
shotgunner11 said:
The whole theory behind the ESEE line is cutting the bulls*^t and keeping things simple.

The status quo withing the knife industry is to make any given model in a new steel every few years to boost sales and rejuvenate the product line without the expense of reengineering any of the designs.

Now you need to ask yourself if the performance of A-2 or D-2 is superior enough to Rowen 1095 for it to be worth the work.

I doubt it. I've had and still have quite a few blades in A-2. Good steel but not all that much different than 1095.

The reality is that aside from carbon and stainless, if the name of the steel weren't stamped on the blade or on a website somewhere, most folks would be hard pressed to tell the difference between, D-2, 1095 or A-2. Same with s30v and 440c.

The bulk of it is just hype.
Click to expand...

There is a fair amount of difference between 1095 & a-2 in corrosion performance and edge holding ability that i have noticed over the years. Please explain what you mean by hype.
 
I officially stopped the steel chase last year. I myself as an end user just don't see much performance improvement over 1095 and other steels that I have used. I am impressed with 440C - guess what, it works. I am far more interested in design these days.
 
I'm pretty sure by hype, shotgunner was talking about some of the "bandwagon" steels. Yes they are good, but sometimes pure hype alone of one steel will drive the demand up which in turns drives the price up which makes the "bandwagon" steel seem that much more luxurious, and the wheel keeps on turning.
 
winbag338 said:
There is a fair amount of difference between 1095 & a-2 in corrosion performance and edge holding ability that i have noticed over the years. Please explain what you mean by hype.
Click to expand...

There are differences, no doubt, but for the use a knife goes through it really hardly matters.

I worked in tooling for a long time, there, when cutting steel with steel, the composition matters and different steels have different uses but with a knife you might get a marginal increase in edge holding, ease of sharpening or rust resistance but if you didn't know what you were using I really doubt most folks would notice.
 
I just spent a week hammering rowen's 1095 through frozen solid oak and maple in ten degree weather. It got soaked, blasted into ice, frozen, and slammed through knots.

I'm happy, and not really interested in any new steels.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top