Wondering Re: Variants of Cold Steel S.R.K.

[redsquid2]

I notice there are a wide variety of SRK's. Some are "carbon v" and I think there are also some stainless and some steels that I do not recognise. Some are made in USA and others in Japan.

I see a wide range of asking prices on ebay. I realize there are shysters on ebay, but I think there must also be some legitimacy in the price differences. Maybe there is good reason for some to be pricier than others?

Is there any one place where the different variants are compared? One spreadsheet/chart?

 

[Misanthropia]

The Carbon V ones are probably the most coveted, they were made in America and haven't been in production for a long time now. I believe those all had the black coating. Available right now are the AUS-8A variant, which is stainless and the cheapest, it's black coated as well. I don't have experience with it in a large fixed blade, so I can't comment on the strengths of it. The more expensive version is the San Mai III version, which has a polished satin finish and a VG-1 core sandwiched by 420J. It's a lot like Fallkniven's knives and is pretty highly regarded, but obviously is more prone to chipping. I think both come with the Secure-Ex sheath.