Off Topic If your favorite Becker was made in a higher performing steel....would you switch?

If your most used Becker was made in a more modern powered steel....would you switch?

  • Yes. Who could say no to Cruwear, 3v, 4v, m4, magnacut and all the many others...

    Votes: 33 70.2%

  • No. 1095 CroVan (50100b) is perfect for me and Ill keep using that.

    Votes: 13 27.7%

  • I could give two fricks what steel my knife is made of. (objectively wrong answer)

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • The Joy of Cooking doesn't care what steel my knife is made from.

    Votes: 1 2.1%
  • Total voters
    47
Would be the matter if cost, quality and field maintenance ability.

I went for my BK-9s because it was almost half of that Junglessesses thingy, and its made of a better steel than just 1095. Yes I put Micart handles on them for an up grade. But that was at a later time when I could afford it. I still had 2 later 3 useful knives for helper outers.
 
plumberroy said:
I'm fine with 1095 or the stainless mora uses. That are a good balance between ease of sharpening and edge retention if I have to get out diamond stone to touch up a blade in a reasonable time I don't want it
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Why dont you like diamond stones? Personally I carry the DMT diafolds and they kick ass for on the go sharpening of higher carbide steels.
 
Not that I don't like diamond stones I use them to shape the edge on the first sharpening . I want to be able to use improvised sharpener if I have to. 1095 carbon steel or 12c27 stainless holds a decent edge and sharpens fairly easy since I know how to sharpen a knife I don't need super steel. I wish my mini grip had a 12c27 blade instead of 154cm

Edit to say making a knife in one of the "super steels" would make me not buy it
 
I went to diamond stones for everything.
But often strop on a nail buffer. Touched up The Botanist's 154CM knife on the bottom of her coffee cup. The finer-carbide steels sharpen better on non-diamonds than the older formulas, IMO.
 
I don’t know…
Becker knives are a value in my book. And that’s always been a big draw for me. The 1095 CroVan gets scary sharp and is easy to sharpen when needed.
You start talking premium steel and you start talking premium price. Would I pay a premium price for a BK16 with grivory scales, compared to what else is out there at a comparable price?…I don’t know.

Yeah, I probably would! Haha :D
 
It really becomes a matter of the company. The architect comes in 1095 and 3v difference in price is $20. They don't have to reinvent the wheel. Same shape same size just a different steel and no coating. Add in a little extra for research on the models to offer and whatever r&d they deem necessary. Would it have to be a massive increase in cost? Or that's just what we expect to pay now so they are happy to comply?
 
I think they are currently using the right steel for the application. Going to a “higher grade” of steel may change the market for these knives. There is no getting around 1095 CroVan (aka Cold Steel‘s Carbon V) is good stuff.

n2s
 
BlindMouse2of3 said:
It really becomes a matter of the company. The architect comes in 1095 and 3v difference in price is $20. They don't have to reinvent the wheel. Same shape same size just a different steel and no coating. Add in a little extra for research on the models to offer and whatever r&d they deem necessary. Would it have to be a massive increase in cost? Or that's just what we expect to pay now so they are happy to comply?
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I think it's a battle with the economies of scale vs. anything else.
1095CV and CPM3V will use substantially different heat treatments, so that would be a major process change and/or parallel production lines. Plus there might be others (grind hard vs. grind soft etc.) Also, I doubt 3V is available in the quantities Ka-Bar ships, tho it could be a specialty item.

On the other hand, I think they're doing their S35VN in-house, which would be a similar heat-treat to 3V. But it does mess up all the batching to switch between materials if they have to overlap some of the same equipment, staff, etc.

Not saying it can't be done if the priorities are aligned - merely that it's not simply the steel difference.

In some ways it's easier for a small company to make those kinds of changes vs. a big one.
 
They won't be for everyone and that's ok.. I love my Esee 3 and 4 in S35VN so I'd likely buy a BK 16 or 18. Current price difference for the stainless 4 is less than $50.
 
If they came out with any Beckers in a premium steel I would buy them regardless. However, I don’t think larger blades need/deserve a premium steel option. A bk4/9/20 etc. is for hard use and perfect with a nice carbon steel. I would make the argument that a belt knife or smaller blade (such as the bk11/14/15/16/18) could really benefit from a nice stainless like aebl or s35vn. I’m not much of a steel snob so I’m 100% fine with the current steel offerings.

With that said, I think the market is shifting to stainless. Simply because if you ask an exclusive user of stainless steel if they would ever use the same knife in carbon steel (or buy a knife in carbon steel), they say no. If you ask a carbon steel user: they don’t care one way or the other. Makers just use a stainless so they don’t alienate a portion of their market. I think this is very prevalent in the custom market. Production knives will take more time to make the transition.
 
knifejunkie1928 said:
If they came out with any Beckers in a premium steel I would buy them regardless. However, I don’t think larger blades need/deserve a premium steel option. A bk4/9/20 etc. is for hard use and perfect with a nice carbon steel. I would make the argument that a belt knife or smaller blade (such as the bk11/14/15/16/18) could really benefit from a nice stainless like aebl or s35vn. I’m not much of a steel snob so I’m 100% fine with the current steel offerings.

With that said, I think the market is shifting to stainless. Simply because if you ask an exclusive user of stainless steel if they would ever use the same knife in carbon steel (or buy a knife in carbon steel), they say no. If you ask a carbon steel user: they don’t care one way or the other. Makers just use a stainless so they don’t alienate a portion of their market. I think this is very prevalent in the custom market. Production knives will take more time to make the transition.
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I think a big part of that market switch is two things:

1. Stainless steels have come a long way in the last 15-20 years. Hell, even in the last couple we have things like 14c28n becoming dirt cheap, as well as Magnacut which sets an entirely new bar for what a well rounded supersteel is... No longer do you have to choose between edge retention - toughness - corrosion resistance... (well you still have to choose but dont have to give up as much of the first to for stainlessness)

2. I think with the growth of the knife community, the biggest area that has seen an influx with those with money to burn is the pocketknife/folder crowd. People now regularly spend hundreds (sometimes thousands) on folders....when in the past before the boom of social media was only a very select few. Folders (especially ones owned by people not doing too much hard work with it) benefit the most from higher edge retention, super stainless supersteels...with toughness of more basic carbon steels being unnecessary.
 
How about Becker’s out of properly heat treated 420hc (think buck 119)? Stainless version at same price point.
 
I think some of the Becker shapes in a nice tool steel would sell like hot cakes.
 
Why
Dr Rez said:
Why...?

It has better edge retention at the same hardness. It is tougher, stainless, and barely any harder to sharpen.
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But... why?
This thread is about higher-performance steels. 420hc is not that.
Even boring old AEB-L is wicked tough at 61Rc and will get more wear resistance from the higher hardness.
The heat-treat is half the expense, so skimping on the material is false economy unless you're buying the very latest steel.
 
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