Rats or Dogs ?

shigawire4sure

shigawire4sure

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Jul 16, 2007
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Of the two family members which do you all think performs the closest to INFI? Ive seen some of the tests SY has done with SR77 but I havent seen anything like that for SR101.Ive also heard that SR101 can be suseptable to corrosion problems.Which of the two steels do most prefer?
 
I N F I :p

Great question actually. I think SR77 has more lateral strength so I like that on my big choppers. 'Cause I like to pry my blades free. Dog Father baby! ;)
 
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i haven't tried the sr-77 yet. sr-101 is pretty damn good. infi's closest competition as far as i'm concerned.
 
I can't compare cause I've never really worked the Ratweiler but I do whack, pound and pry the DogFather with confidence.:thumbup:
 
Good question... I cannot attest to the sr77 yet, but I've found the SR101 to be excellent at taking and holding an edge with some decent use chopping, batoning and cutting cardboard. I think it is pretty close to INFI in that respect. Perhaps the only drawback of the SR101 is that it will rust fairly easily if neglected.
 
I think that if INFI didn't exist (yes, this brings a tear to my eye, too :(), SR-101 is what we would be here talking about.
 
In a thread (perhaps more than one) many moons ago Eric had more or less said that most of the toughness differences between SR101 and INFI would only really be noticeable in controlled tests.
 
Someone send Noss one of their Swamp rats. This is an excellent question that deserves a definitive answer! :p:p:p
 
I have used all three and enjoy all three and NONE have failed to impress.

  • INFI and SR77 are considered the toughest... but SR101 is plenty tough for ANYTHING I have ever thrown at it.
  • INFI and SR101 are considered the best for holding an edge... but SR77 has held an edge fine for me.
  • INFI and SR77 are considered the most corrosion/rust resistant... but I don't store my knives damp so I have never had a rust problem with my SR101.
INFI is the best combination of all the factors. SR101 and SR77 are both great steels. The Busse family heat treatment does wonders.
 
Jerry keeps fiddling around with that INFI stuff, trying to come up with something that performs nearly as well as SR101 and that Rat hating HOGs will buy. :eek:

Apparently HOGs don't like to clean up after a hard day's work, so he has to dumb it down a little to make it more stain resistant.

Rats is where it's at baby!
 
PoorGuy said:
Jerry keeps fiddling around with that INFI stuff, trying to come up with something that performs nearly as well as SR101 and that Rat hating HOGs will buy. :eek:

Apparently HOGs don't like to clean up after a hard day's work, so he has to dumb it down a little to make it more stain resistant.

Rats is where it's at baby!
Click to expand...

ill send noss my hrlm
 
i used my camp tramp for a lot of yard work. it's gotten wet and dirty and i just put it back in the sheath after i was done. didn't really clean it much and it never had any corrosion problems
 
Whoops, sorry about that shigawire4sure, didn't mean to hi-jack your thread.

Seriously, as far as SR-101 goes, they use to play a really cool testing video at the shows and SR-101 is unbelievable at its price point. Heck, at any price point. Chopping through cinder blocks, bending in a vice and snapping back to true, sticking a Battle Rat in the receiver hitch of a pickup with an engine block in the bed and jacking it up without a problem.

The edge performance is very similar to INFI as well. It will tend to roll or dent but not chip under heavy impact with harder objects. It easily takes a keen edge and holds it very well. It's easy to bring back to sharp.

As stated, INFI's higher resistance to corrosion is a plus. However, when SR-101 begins to rust, it is a very light surface rust that is easily rubbed out. And, even with satin blades that are used often and have a minimum amount of maintenance at the end of the day, I've never had a problem with rust.

One interesting thing about the larger old school Rats is their differential temper. The edge was brought to high hardness but the spine was drawn down a bit making it softer in order to more closely match the lateral performance of INFI. Of course, INFI is through hardened, yet remains incredibly strong. Newer rats have reportedly been trough hardened as well, but I doubt any of us will ever tell the difference in real world use. And I think that's the key. The things that you and I will experience as users is the performance of the edge during heavy impact, ease of sharpening and edge retention more than anything else. To get any of these knives to bend so far as to damage them will generally take a helper bar to get enough leverage and at this point, we are way beyond normal knife use.

INFI is superior to the other two overall, but I think there is a point of diminishing returns in blade steels. If you want the best, get INFI. If you want the best performance per dollar, go with SR101 and if you want fantastic performance at an unbelievable price, SY is where it's at.

Now, let's go chop something!
 
PoorGuy said:
One interesting thing about the larger old school Rats is their differential temper. The edge was brought to high hardness but the spine was drawn down a bit making it softer in order to more closely match the lateral performance of INFI.
Click to expand...

Mmmmm... (Solstice work...)

Ratweiler01.jpg
 
In my experience I like SR101 in the smaller knives and SR77 in the choppers. The smaller knives in SR101 seem to take a keener edge,I have cut everything from cabbage to steel straps with my Bandicoot and it goes back to shaving in no time. I love my dogfather LE and other scrappers they are great knife and the SR77 holds an edge well for chopping and doesnt wanna give. .....very tuff question. Buy one of everything.
 
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