way of the warrior part three: how to be prepared for any situation, cont'd

with a moniker such as 'the machete', one can see that i am a bit of a knife person.  it's good to have a knife.  the other day dustin and i were loading up two older gentlemen and we needed to cut some thick double ply cardboard.  i pulled out my ka-bar and cut it to size.  one of the gentleman asked why i was carrying a deadly weapon, to which i replied i was merely carrying a tool.  if i wanted to hurt someone, i says, i would hit them in the face and then say something rude about their mother and then possibly urinate on their pillow shams.  i know how to hurt people... 

with regards to knife steel, everything is a trade off.  the harder the steel, the better the edge retention will be thus improving cutting performance.  unfortunately the harder a steel is, the more brittle it will be. the more brittle a steel is the less durable it will be.  it can possibly break or shatter.

ka-bar usmc fighting/utility knife

the ka-bar is made of 1095 cro-van steel which is a very durable heat-treated carbon steel, with chromium and vanadium to improve hardness and strength. it won't shatter or break except under the most rigorous use.  it can split wood and do other chores that would shatter or break other knives.  you can beat the hell out of this knife.  the drawback: it's durability means that it doesn't hold it's edge as well as other knives.  it's high carbon content means that it is prone to rusting.  it is really tough though.  i oil and sharpen this knife to a hair splitting edge about once a week.  i only pull it out when there are serious tasks to be done.  it's a business knife.

for almost everything other than serious tasks,i use a kershaw knockout:
 















this knife is made from sandvik 14c28n stainless and it is highly resistant to corrosion.  i have several blades with this steel and not only does it hold it's edge but it is very easy get it shaving sharp- quite the contrast to the 1095 cro-van, which is a labor of love to hone.  knife up magazine says the sandvik 14c28n "allows for the highest attainable hardness without the compromising of micro-structure integrity".  they say this but it will still break.  i broke the tip off of my kershaw leek, which is made of the same steel.

because it's illegal to carry in public, i don't carry this next knife unless i'm in the warehouse all day.  my only automatic (read: switchblade) knife- the piranha bodyguard 

the bodyguard is a american-made automatic knife: anodized aircraft aluminum handle, titanium pocket clip, and high end cpm s30v steel.  it was not cheap and it's mostly because the blade steel is considered a top shelf steel.  knife sensei doug ritter says the s30v steel is "designed to offer the best combination of toughness, wear resistance and corrosion resistance".  it's the ultimate compromise, carefully expressing the pro's of the steel while minimizing the cons.  it's tough but it will shatter- i dropped it and chipped the point off.  it is also a bit difficult to sharpen because the steel is so hard.  it's worth it because it holds an edge for a long time.