Straight Outta Tokyo - Rockstead Higo ZDP-189

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doug5551

Joined
Jan 20, 2015
Messages
69
So I have been spending way too much time on this forum. I have somehow ended up with a knife collection worth more than my car (2002 Honda Accord, 4 Cylinder, 125K miles, Manual Trans). But if you add my 3 motorcycles, too, than all my vehicles are worth more than the knives...:)

I decided I needed a Rockstead Higo because it is much larger than a Hizan and much more affordable than a Shin. I am a big fan of ZDP-189 and I knew I wanted that metal with the mirror finish.

I read a few good reviews about ordering directly from Japan, so last week I ordered from www.rocksteadshop.jp. They shipped quickly, in 24 hours, and included no sales tax, free air shipping, no additional fee for PayPal goods, and no hassle with customs. It arrived in LA, CA in less than a week.

Classified as a camping tool:



It was well protected for the airplane ride:



Perfect mirror finish, great quality.



HRC 67.2

Oh yeah, baby!!!!



Very pleased to have this and look forward to trying it out. If you have any suggestions for me to use as a cutting test, please let me know. I am going to try toilet paper and phone book paper and see how that goes.

I hope you enjoy the pics!
 
Just like everything else, their postal system is very efficient too. Nice photos, enjoy in good health!
 
Wow. WOW. That is flat out gorgeous. What a stunner.
 
A buddy of mine had one of those...he tested it by cutting University phone books in half with one push-cut. Now, that's sharp.
 
Congrats OP. That's a nice Higo.

[video=youtube_share;JWcWMa9tmtw]http://youtu.be/JWcWMa9tmtw[/video]

Rockstead makes high-quality and beautiful knives with scary sharp blades.

The stunning Rockstead Shun is coming out in September and it's a collaboration with Dmitry Sinkevich so it's very slick, slim and trim with a 4.1" blade of ZDP-189/VG-10 laminate and titanium frame lock. About $2K!

shun-6.jpg

shun-5.jpg

shun-4_1.jpg

shun-1.jpg

shun-2.jpg
 
OMG that is impressive!! But since I'm still trying to figure out how to pull off $400 for a Nirvana, that Shun will have to wait until I win the lottery
 
Did I read that invoice right? A Rockwell hardness of 67.2? That steel better be all but unshatterable.

And how do you sharpen it?
 
AreBeeBee said:
Did I read that invoice right? A Rockwell hardness of 67.2? That steel better be all but unshatterable.

And how do you sharpen it?
Click to expand...

Yeah, you read that right. Rockstead makes their blades with that in mind though, and the combination of a proprietary heat-treat, their massively complex sharpening process, and the microscopically smooth primary bevel make the blade capable of handling tasks that basically no other blade could even attempt at that hardness.

They don't recommend sharpenning the blade at all though. Just some light stropping if you need to, but even if you used the knife every day for a year, most people wouldn't be able to get this knife even close to becoming dull. If you ever do need it sharpened, they (and most people who have owned one - myself included) recommend that you just ship it to them to have it sharpened.
No one is going to be able to replicate their grinds on the bevel without years of experience at that particular type of edge (hanzokuri), and even with it, you need a very specific set of materials to be able to work with steel that hard and wear-resistant.
 
choombak said:
Just like everything else, their postal system is very efficient too. Nice photos, enjoy in good health!
Click to expand...

EMS and Japan Post are absolutely incredible and efficient. I've ordered items from Japan and they have arrived faster than some orders shipping USPS Priority.
 
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