Why are modern daggers made from stainless steel?

Hermit_Knight said:
Not a specific brand or maker I just see that most production daggers are stainless, but with the thin dagger profile style wouldn’t it be prone to snapping when used for its intended use?
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How many of these knives do you honestly think are ever going to be used for their “intended use”?

Tactical knives are letter openers or worrystones at most for 99% of people who own them. Cloak-and-dagger military operations are almost certainly more likely to be done with drones and snipers, and there aren’t roving gangs of ninjas in the streets.
 
abcdef said:
Also considering the intended use of a dagger, even a cheap stainless would do.
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It's the other way around: For daggers, perhaps some modern expensive steel will do. Although S30V is stepping too low: That S30V commemorative dagger micro-folded enough to grab nail fuzz within a few slices into 1/8" cardboard:

L3F91np.jpg


For heavy chopping work, you need to get out the really serious stuff: Low end 420J:

pNRsRsq.jpg


But it is generally true you don't need all that for a dagger. Carbon steel would be easier to sharpen, and that would help greatly as daggers are hard as hell to sharpen (outside of Randalls and old Gerbers, which are near zero-edged). Randall offers the option of Carbon on their daggers, but they are quite thin edged, so they are probably unusually easy to sharpen: I'd still go stainless on those because of that.

Gaston
 
Lapedog said:
The better question is why weren’t older daggers made from stainless steel.

Because stainless steels in the past didn’t have the toughness or properties of modern stainless which were required to make a good dagger. This is why a myth persists and many older folk still believe that stainless steel cannot make a good knife.

Modern stainless steels and heat treats allow for much better properties in stainless steels today that were relatively unknown in the past.
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Stainless wasn't even used very commonly in non-knife applications. The use of stainless really didn't take off until well after the end of WW2 in general everyday non-knife applications.
 
JJ_Colt45 said:
Well you're a member of the forums ... the best place I know to learn whatever you want about knives ... and most here are great to help anyone that wants to learn ... so if you have questions people will help ...

you can also try the search upper right hand and search for certain steel types to learn about them ...

alot of people were in the same mindset until they dove deeper into knives ...
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Will do mate I really should have a different mindset as my aus 8 srk has never chipped or failed me!
 
Comeuppance said:
How many of these knives do you honestly think are ever going to be used for their “intended use”?

Tactical knives are letter openers or worrystones at most for 99% of people who own them. Cloak-and-dagger military operations are almost certainly more likely to be done with drones and snipers, and there aren’t roving gangs of ninjas in the streets.
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Good point.
 
I think blade geometry, thickness and use matter more than the type of steel used. The fairbairn sykes fighting knife was made out of high carbon steel and I've seen a lot of photos of FS knives with a broken tip. That dagger had 1 intended job and soldiers were using it for everything but.
 
Gaston444 said:
It's the other way around: For daggers, perhaps some modern expensive steel will do. Although S30V is stepping too low: That S30V commemorative dagger micro-folded enough to grab nail fuzz within a few slices into 1/8" cardboard:

L3F91np.jpg


For heavy chopping work, you need to get out the really serious stuff: Low end 420J:

pNRsRsq.jpg


But it is generally true you don't need all that for a dagger. Carbon steel would be easier to sharpen, and that would help greatly as daggers are hard as hell to sharpen (outside of Randalls and old Gerbers, which are near zero-edged). Randall offers the option of Carbon on their daggers, but they are quite thin edged, so they are probably unusually easy to sharpen: I'd still go stainless on those because of that.

Gaston
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I don't see what's wrong with S30V. I just did a few slices into carboard and I don't see any blade damage. Either you got a defective piece or Gerber stepped up their game when my commemorative dagger was made.

20180528_152007.jpg

20180528_152002.jpg
20180528_151950.jpg
 
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Hermit_Knight said:
What a needle point on that thing!!
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Yeap. And you know because of it sadly it is a weak point. You can make it from High Carbon or any kind of super steel. That point will always be prone to breaking if used wrongly. I've heard some FS knives broke simply for falling in the ground tip down. That being said, geometry helps. This knife is 6 mm thick at the base. Thickness provides strenght to the point. The applegate fairbairn dagger has a broader blade that makes it a better slicer and less prone to breaking.
 
Legendary_Jarl said:
I don't see what's wrong with S30V. I just did a few slices into carboard and I don't see any blade damage. Either you got a defective piece or Gerber stepped up their game when my commemorative dagger was made.

20180528_152007.jpg

20180528_152002.jpg
20180528_151950.jpg
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Gaston is trolling. Or he doesn't know how to properly sharpen CPM steels and blames the steel.:rolleyes:
Pay him no mind!:poop:
 
Legendary_Jarl said:
Yeap. And you know because of it sadly it is a weak point. You can make it from High Carbon or any kind of super steel. That point will always be prone to breaking if used wrongly. I've heard some FS knives broke simply for falling in the ground tip down. That being said, geometry helps. This knife is 6 mm thick at the base. Thickness provides strenght to the point. The applegate fairbairn dagger has a broader blade that makes it a better slicer and less prone to breaking.
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Speaking of weak point Gerbers check out this one from a gentlemen soon collection it’s been reground.

KHUWzXp


https://imgur.com/KHUWzXp
 
I have a custom dagger from Austin Goldman that I bought here on the knife exchange, its made of 01 steel I do believe. And yeah, I mostly use it as a letter opener and sometimes when I am feeling medieval,at the dinner table I'll cut slabs of my steak with it and poke it, then eat it.
 
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