Swamp Rat......Scrapyard SR101

leatherman said:
Which one used 12C27? One of my favorite old school steels! I had no idea.
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The Hot Diggity Dog Dagger is the only one that I am aware of in this steel, here's my double cut/comp finish beauty that I just got back from AValenz...... :)

He basically finished it like those Competition Finish Bushwhacker Mistress' that have the INFI dimples intact, I love the look of these machine marks...... :)

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That looks sweet! :eek:

Hopefully they will come out with a more utility type knife with that steel someday. :)
 
Man sorry to hear about the break in!!! Petifiles and thieves are my most hated criminals!! Just down right wrong. Hope it all works out for you.
 
I don't know I've used a Junglas pretty hard. I don't think you'll get any gross failures with either. I'll be honest I like the 9-11 better than either. 9-11 will remain my go to knife. It does everything I need it to.
 
All be it I love my SR101, but I am just as impressed with my Rowen made ESEE knives. Rowen is magic with 1095, the edge holding and toughness of them is incredible.

I wouldn't put my Junglas through what my Rat Mastiff has gone through though. :)
 
leatherman said:
All be it I love my SR101, but I am just as impressed with my Rowen made ESEE knives. Rowen is magic with 1095, the edge holding and toughness of them is incredible.

I wouldn't put my Junglas through what my Rat Mastiff has gone through though. :)
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I've beaten on my Junglas but can't say I've abused it either. I can't say I've abused any of my knives. Busse or Esee. I think 1095 can be sufficient. We know it's not as spasticaly as limber as other steels. But Rowen does test the knives to 35 degrees. So I think its plenty tough however its not SR101. 52100/Sr101 just has more in it to make it better.

On a side note...I've come to figure a few things out about steel. And I'm willing to bet money Rowen is Mar-tempering his 1095. It's been said that this process can add 20-25% to a steels performance. Plus his grinding and HT is also proprietary. Busse is just as hush hush with their HT as well.
Another side note :-P If you don't think cryo treating alloy works better take a look at Harley Davidson. Harley was having problems with the evo motor when it came out blowing out gaskets. Cryo treating the gaskets solved the problem. The Evo became Harleys first ultra reliable engine.
 
Cryo treating does help some steel such as 52100 but it also useless on other like 1095. Its really all about knowing the steel you are using and getting the most out of it, both the Swamp and Rowen do that with 52100 and 1095.

However that being said both the Swamp and Rowen are still production companies and cant match the ht a custom maker can do to 52100 or 1095.
 
I've got several ESEE's, and have used one of them EXTENSIVELY butchering deer. I have also used several other knives, from several other manuf., along with one or two customs. The ESEE from Rowen that I have used is good, but nothing spectacular that makes it stand out above other factory knives. The only ones that I have used that stand out as edge-holders are Fallkniven's VG-10, and one custom that I have used from a good friend, in O1. That knife was truly impressive in its edge holding. Actually, the maker is a "provider" in here, RWN2000.

I'm hoping to get as good edge holding from my Ratmandu as I did from his knife.
 
From my experiences with Falkkniven and Spyderco knives in VG10 (my edc is a Caly 3.5 in VG10) the 52100 as done by the Swamp is just as good at edge retention as VG10 while being a tougher alloy.

However my experience with custom O1 is that O1 will holds its edge longer than SR101 mainly due to being run harder more often than not. All the customs I have had in O1 have been 60 HRC or higher while SR101 normally comes in at the 59 range. Also all things being equal (geometry, hardness, grind, and thickness) O1 will holds its edge longer than 52100 due to alloy make up. However yet again 52100 will be tougher.

For someone who doesn't mind taking care of there tools you will be very hard pressed to find a better all around alloy than SR101, in my eyes the only one that comes close is CPM 3V and yes I put SR101 above INFI.
 
Well, that makes me feel good about my Ratmandu purchase. I'll reserve judgement on SR-101, for now, until I have some time with it.
 
Every time I use SR-101 it never ceases to amaze me just how good this stuff really is……… :)

SR-101 is right up there with INFI, just slightly behind in terms of across the board performance. The major difference I see is that the edge tends to take damage through deformation, whereas INFI would likely just roll and could be steeled right back in place.

It is also obviously less corrosion resistant, but I use a good CLP (Eezox) on satin SR-101 and have had no problems with rust since starting this. Also, less lateral strength but I'm such a small person I don't ever expect to break a 3/16" and up Swamp Rat or Scrap Yard blade under my own body weight. I'd need to use something to provide additional leverage or something else to get enough force to have that happen.

I'll second what resinguy said earlier, Swamp Rat's do seem to have 95% performance of Busse at 60% of the price. Pure win unless absolute durability is paramount, such as a survival/combat situation…. :)
 
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aaaa_cccc said:
Every time I use SR-101 it never ceases to amaze me just how good this stuff really is……… :)

SR-101 is right up there with INFI, just slightly behind in terms of across the board performance. The major difference I see is that the edge tends to take damage through deformation, whereas INFI would likely just roll and could be steeled right back in place.

It is also obviously less corrosion resistant, but I use a good CLP (Eezox) on satin SR-101 and have had no problems with rust since starting this. Also, less lateral strength but I'm such a small person I don't ever expect to break a 3/16" and up Swamp Rat or Scrap Yard blade under my own body weight. I'd need to use something to provide additional leverage or something else to get enough force to have that happen.

I'll second what resinguy said earlier, Swamp Rat's do seem to have 95% performance of Busse at 60% of the price. Pure win unless absolute durability is paramount, such as a survival/combat situation…. :)
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I would highly doubt anyone can tell the difference in SR101 and INFI in terms of performance. INFI has better corrosion resistance where as SR101 hold its edge longer beyond that I think the only differences people can see are on paper.
 
PatrickKnight said:
I would highly doubt anyone can tell the difference in SR101 and INFI in terms of performance. INFI has better corrosion resistance where as SR101 hold its edge longer beyond that I think the only differences people can see are on paper.
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Pretty much.

I have noticed with INFI it generally will cut way past it's fine edge. Where as other steels keep that fine edge longer but will blunt out faster. It holds true for SR77/S7 also.
 
aaaa_cccc said:
Every time I use SR-101 it never ceases to amaze me just how good this stuff really is……… :)

SR-101 is right up there with INFI, just slightly behind in terms of across the board performance. The major difference I see is that the edge tends to take damage through deformation, whereas INFI would likely just roll and could be steeled right back in place.

It is also obviously less corrosion resistant, but I use a good CLP (Eezox) on satin SR-101 and have had no problems with rust since starting this. Also, less lateral strength but I'm such a small person I don't ever expect to break a 3/16" and up Swamp Rat or Scrap Yard blade under my own body weight. I'd need to use something to provide additional leverage or something else to get enough force to have that happen.

I'll second what resinguy said earlier, Swamp Rat's do seem to have 95% performance of Busse at 60% of the price. Pure win unless absolute durability is paramount, such as a survival/combat situation…. :)
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Uhhhhh ... What's the difference between edge deformation and edge rolling? Aren't they the same? Or do you mean deformation as in breaking pieces out of the edge?

Meant to add: I can start seeing how the edge holds up now! My Ratmandu came in yesterday! Just haven't had a chance to take it out and beat on it yet. Came pretty sharp, but not as sharp as I like. Need to touch up the edge a little. Might thin it out a little, too.
 
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rockspyder said:
Uhhhhh ... What's the difference between edge deformation and edge rolling? Aren't they the same? Or do you mean deformation as in breaking pieces out of the edge?

Meant to add: I can start seeing how the edge holds up now! My Ratmandu came in yesterday! Just haven't had a chance to take it out and beat on it yet. Came pretty sharp, but not as sharp as I like. Need to touch up the edge a little. Might thin it out a little, too.
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Deformation means dents in the steel
Rolling means sideway bend
 
rockspyder said:
Uhhhhh ... What's the difference between edge deformation and edge rolling? Aren't they the same? Or do you mean deformation as in breaking pieces out of the edge?

Meant to add: I can start seeing how the edge holds up now! My Ratmandu came in yesterday! Just haven't had a chance to take it out and beat on it yet. Came pretty sharp, but not as sharp as I like. Need to touch up the edge a little. Might thin it out a little, too.
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SR101 is more likely to chip where as INFI is more likely to roll. That is the trade off to longer edge retention.
 
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