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

[BigMoney]

What performance are you interested in? If you want stainless and toughness 420hc qualifies.

 

[Dr Rez]

Why

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.

Higher performance is relative. In this scenario it is relative to 50100b or 1095 crovan at 57 hrc. 420hc is objectively superior in every way except for the slight decrease in ease of sharpenability.

You mention heat treat...when making the above statements I am Assuming same or nearly the same hardness. I believe Bucks 420hc is 58, only one Rockwell point higher than kabars crovan.

So yes 420hc is indeed higher performance unless your sole performance metric is ease of sharpenability.

 

[MolokaiRider]

In all honesty, I'd rather see a sheath upgrade rather than steel if I had a choice.

When the snap breaks or is accidentally cut, there is zero retention.

Even the Ontario line has a better sheath, as it has two snaps.

 

[Dr Rez]

In all honesty, I'd rather see a sheath upgrade rather than steel if I had a choice.

When the snap breaks or is accidentally cut, there is zero retention.

Even the Ontario line has a better sheath, as it has two snaps.

FYI BPS knives sell really solid leather dangler sheaths for about 16 bucks that fit the tweeners perfectly.

 

[daizee]

So yes 420hc is indeed higher performance unless your sole performance metric is ease of sharpenability.

Yes, we can split this hair.
I think it's a huge process change (and therefore expense) for only a very marginal increase in performance (across various metrics - stain resistance being the greatest) and very modest increase in marketability.

FWIW, I've never used a steel that I found hard to sharpen except D2, other than kitchen knives at high hardness (62+). And frankly, that's me putting the FIRST edge on a new blade. Touching up a blade with existing edge bevels... should be easy unless someone is insisting on 10V or some such silliness.

The large Becker sheaths are functional, but nothing to write home about. People respond well to quality sheaths, that's for sure. I really do like the Tweener nylon sheaths, tho. And they fit the BK62 as well. It would be hard to improve on those in synthetic, IMO. They could be made domestically, but that would triple the price. Actually, I'm having a local guy make a prototype of something similar. Maybe I should ask him about a full-size one too, and see what that would cost to do.

 

[Tdhurl1103]

I'd restart my collection for a 15 in 3V.

 

[unklfranco]

A BK 9 in Nitro V or Magnacut sounds interesting.

 

[Dr Rez]

A BK 9 in Nitro V or Magnacut sounds interesting.

Also about 400 bucks lol

 

[daizee]

Also about 400 bucks lol

I'd pick Nitro-V over Magnacut for a chopper.
Hmmm.... So last year I started something I called the "Machefe" which was sort of BK-9-shaped, but thinner like a chef knife. I wrecked it during straightening, so it will be something... shorter. Variety of compounding errors.

BUT I do have a piece of Nitro-V in the right dimensions, and doing an air-cooled (plate, really) version might be more successful.... HMMMMMmm.....

You guys always give me good bad ideas.

 

[Dr Rez]

Hmmm.... So last year I started something I called the "Machefe" which was sort of BK-9-shaped, but thinner like a chef knife.

This is my 7 dollar thin bk9 replacement. Will baton through a massive log, weights barely anything, and can slice a grape in half carefully.

 

[IaccidentlyCutmyThumb]

I would love to see a semi-soft (58-60 hrc) 3V, or AEB-L/14C28N, 52100, 5160, S7 or even 12C27. The key to me is improving toughness AND improving edge retention and these steels can do it over 1095. Going for S35VN wouldn't make sense to me because it only does one thing better in terms of performance, while making maintenance easier. I'd like to see either a VAST improvement in one area (toughness for example with S7) and remaining the same in other areas, or good-moderate improvements in 2, while becoming stainless.

1095CV is a great steel, but I do feel like its day has come. There are other steels that do what it does better, cheaper, and in some cases, stainless. Personally I'd like to see all Beckers in 52100 as a base (maybe S7 for the BK9 [and maybe for the 7?]), and some really tough and good stainless at an alternative with the same price point, and something with CPM steel as a "premium." Honestly it doesn't make sense to not do this, because I think the only reason Beckers aren't the absolutely dominant knife in the market offered is the steel or for some people, the skeletonized tangs.