Rigid U2X steel bowie

[seth2915]

I hope someone can answer this.

i bought a Rigid RG69 bowie, stamped with U2X steel on the base of the blade. got the thing brand new after talking the shop owner about 40 percent in his asking price. It seems to be a decent knife, but when I hit a knot in a piece of wood I was chopping, the edge bent. I spent the better part of an hour regrinding the convex edge (no easy task) and repolishing the blade. gave it a little beefier edge there so, at least I hope, that won't happen again.

But does anyone know what U2X steel is? I've heard AUS-8 and 420J2. It doesn't feel like the 420 J-2 I have dealt with, and I have relatively little experience with AUS-8.

Has anybody had similar experiences with the Rigid RG69 or the Grand Teton Bowie (apparently the same knife)? is it worth buying? Anybody know what kind of steel this is?

 

[deltablade]

I also have a rigid bowie stamped ux2 and rg69. I bought it about 15 years ago, and used it to chop up a deer which my Trailmaster does with no problem.. The rigid blade chipped all over. I have had it reground and it still looks great, yet I am afraid to use it again.

 

[rumple]

This information came straight from the horse's mouth - a United Cutlery Customer Service Representative who took the time and effort to research my question concerning the U2X steel used on my Rigid RG69. She also came up with some information on the origin of the grip. I attached some pictures of my RG69 in my email to her so there would be no confusion about what knife and steel I was referring to. "This" and "this same knife" refer to the pictures I sent of my RG69 :

Mr. Pxxxx,

United used several factories in Seki Japan back then. I think this was made by the factory making the Trailmaster for Cold Steel. Kit Rae designed this grip for a Rigid camp knife that was never made, so it got used on this instead. They made this same knife for several other companies after United stopped selling it.

As far as "U2X" steel, that was supposed to be a specially milled proprietary steel of that factory, but it spec'd out similar to 440C. A lot of knife companies and factories were just making steel names up at the time though, so I doubt it was really anything custom milled. We were using AUS-6 for the mid-grade knives and AUS-8 for the higher quality knives. We would have wanted a 440C equivalent on a high end knife like this, so it was probably just common AUS-8 stainless.
J Hope this helps!

Everybody who owns an RG69 probably wonders what U2X steel is. It looks like it is almost certainly AUS-8.

 

[KenHash]

The information you received from United appears basically correct.
Back in the day, G. Sakai of Seki was making knives for ALOT of companies. Although most famous for making Al Mar knives, they were making the Aus6 Trail Masters for Cold Steel, which changed to Hattori on the Sanmais. In the 1990s G.Sakai was also making the Rigid RG69 for United, as well as the Teton Bowie for Mike Stewart's Blackjack. Both of these were Aus8.

Rigid RG69:

Blackjack Teton Bowie-

In the early 2000s G. Sakai marketed the Samurai Bowie aka High Speed Edge Knife (HSEK) again in Aus8 but marked 440c. They also did one production of a "supersteel" version in SRS15 High Speed Powder Steel.

This model is still offered today by G.Sakai as the Super Samurai Bowie using SKD11 with an RC of 60-62. This SKD is reported to be similar to D2. Different handle materials and a kydex sheath is offered.

I have a question about the accuracy about Kit Rae having designed this handle for Rigid, because the same handle was used on
the Kuzan Tanto made by G.Sakai for Pacific Cutlery in 1983 which I think supercedes the big bowies. Anyway could be.

Kuzan Tanto: