Rock Creek knives?

I have been noticing them being advertised lately. I would like to see one in person! They do look nice!
 
I've noticed them, too. Rock Creek Knives are forged from a proprietary alloy I'm not familiar with (HWS-1). It appears to be the same alloy CAS Hanwei is using in some of their upper-end Katanas. If that's the case, Rock Creek Knives should be pretty tough. And the street prices are reasonable. So they're probably worth a try.

Here's the info on Rock Creek Knives from CAS Hanwei: http://www.casiberia.com/resources.aspx?node=309

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CAS Hanwei makes very good theme blades, rather than the usual mall-ninja, BUDK crap, and I would expect their pocketknives to be of similar quality. While not exactly groundbreaking, they do have nice designs and are probably a good value. I'd like to see someone review them when they become more widely distributed.
 
This Hanwei Rock Creek Saguaro does look interesting...I think one is in my future to play with...

hanweirockcreek.jpg
 
There's a good article on Rock Creek knives in the November 2010 issue of Tactical Knives. The bad news is that the author was unable to discover the chemical compsition of the alloy Hanwei uses in manufacturing the knives (HWS-1). The good news is that he put a Rock Creek knife, specifically the Eland, through its paces and it performed pretty well. Check it out for yourself. The article begins on page 26.

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Place where I buy a lot of my knives is a big Hanwei dealer. I asked him if he was going to bring the hunting/bushcraft knives in, and he didn't think so as the market is pretty much flooded with those types of blades right now. He said they are made "offshore" which is China it seems. The HWS proprietary steel is the same they use in a lot of their swords. I'm just guessing here, but it's likely some very common lower grade steel they call HWS, like SK-5 is just 1080...probably some version of 420 would be my guess.
 
The HWS proprietary steel is the same they use in a lot of their swords. I'm just guessing here, but it's likely some very common lower grade steel they call HWS, like SK-5 is just 1080...probably some version of 420 would be my guess.

I noticed on their site that they claim 58-60rc hardness for the blades, so it must be a reasonably decent steel.
 
I just received a Saguaro and I am quite pleased with it. Fit and finish is good, the action is smooth, lockup is firm, the grinds are very well done, and it was sharp out of the box. I paid a little over $50 for it and it compares favorably with other knives I have that were in the same price range.
 
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