Stainless Steel is not just stainless steel .

T

TheEdge01

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Apr 3, 2015
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I went to a sporting goods store yesterday. They had a couple custom knives on display made by someone local. They appeared to be well made, so I asked if I could take a look at one of them. Other than it being fairly dull, it didn't have any markings indicating the type of blade steel. If I'm going to pay around 250 dollars for a knife, I would like to know what I'm paying for.
So, I ask the gentlemen assisting us what it is, he informs me the knife is made locally, it's intended use is hunting and camping, so it must be stainless steel.
For confirmation, he asks another employee whom they refer to as the stores "knife expert" and he says, it is stainless steel. That tells me nothing, I wouldn't want to drop 250 dollars on a 420j, 420hc, or even a 440c blade. To those guys, stainless steel is just stainless steel, they apparently need to join Bladeforums and hang out here a while to learn otherwise.
 
There's a reason they work at a sporting good store. Not knocking them for working but if they knew the science , industry, math etc. Behind the products they stock on the shelves, they wouldn't be stocking shelves.

You might get a few geeks here and there that read a lot about the products, but by and large the people selling guns and knives don't really know anything other than their price and terms like "custom" " locally made" and "stainless" sell.
 
Next time you are in there, ask them just that.
"What type of stainless steel?
AEB-L, 420hc, 440a, 440b, 440c?"

If their eyes widen in confusion, either walk away or ask for the name of the local maker and call them directly.
 
I would also ask if you could talk to the maker if it's local and you're really interested. I haven't found a custom knife maker yet that doesn't like talking about knives, especially their knives.
 
NJBillK said:
Next time you are in there, ask them just that.
"What type of stainless steel?
AEB-L, 420hc, 440a, 440b, 440c?"

If their eyes widen in confusion, either walk away or ask for the name of the local maker and call them directly.
Click to expand...

Yeah, contacting the knife maker would have been a good idea.
 
Forum thread is not just forum thread.
 
TheEdge01 said:
I went to a sporting goods store yesterday. They had a couple custom knives on display made by someone local. They appeared to be well made, so I asked if I could take a look at one of them. Other than it being fairly dull, it didn't have any markings indicating the type of blade steel. If I'm going to pay around 250 dollars for a knife, I would like to know what I'm paying for.
So, I ask the gentlemen assisting us what it is, he informs me the knife is made locally, it's intended use is hunting and camping, so it must be stainless steel.
For confirmation, he asks another employee whom they refer to as the stores "knife expert" and he says, it is stainless steel. That tells me nothing, I wouldn't want to drop 250 dollars on a 420j, 420hc, or even a 440c blade. To those guys, stainless steel is just stainless steel, they apparently need to join Bladeforums and hang out here a while to learn otherwise.
Click to expand...

Ha, ha, ha.
I know what you mean.
We have a major fishing / guide shop here (Colorado fly fishing mostly) it's been here and growing for thirty years that I know of. It finally dawned on me several months ago that they should have a good selection of pocket knives and I called over there, before I went, to find out what they had. I was looking for something or other and figured I would buy it local for a change.

The guy on the phone says "Knives ? ? ? Pocket knives ? ? ?
. . . . .
. . . . .
er . . . .
and he finally went and looked and named off something or other I had never heard of. He didn't even mention Swiss Army knives.

Needless to say I placed my order on line and didn't make the trek over to the fishing shop.
Freekin' pathetic.
 
I have a lot of custom knives and most of them don't have any indication on them of the steel. Back when I was buying these knives the customary steel was ATS34 so that's probably what they were. But years later I don't remember what the steel was and don't have any record of it. It would be better to have it stamped or etched on the blade.

It's always amazing to me to read what manufacturers, salesmen and marketers say about their products and don't say about their products. Usually they say a lot of fluff and don't tell me what I want to know. But I'm sure I'm pickier than most consumers.
 
Why does the knife maker sell in a store without having some sort of description card printed up for each of his knives ?
He's not there to tell people about them , so he can't just tell this stuff to the store expecting it to be remembered and relayed to potential customers can he ?
 
The real funny thing is all of us snobs on BF think we're so smart asking about alloys and heat-treat. All they have to do is spit "Umm..it's CPM3V at 60RC" and 99% percent of us would be like...

shut_up_and_take_my_money-t2.jpg
 
Use your knowledge to help out your local shop.

Kershaw makes a decent line of filet knives. You could get them to lean in this direction, they'll start offering a decent product.

If they look at you sideways and disregard your suggestion, well at least you tried.

We can sit back and ridicule the brick and mortar boys, or we can use our knowledge to educate our local suppliers. You make the call.
 
Hmmm? Provide free technical consulting to a business owner who didn't ask your opinion or ridicule questionable marketing practices for a giggle on the internet forums....I'm gonna have to think about it a minute... to really appreciate the dilemma.
 
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