New SRK in SK-5 Steel

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Sep 28, 2007
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Really happy to see the SRK being offered in a more affordable version for 2017. Would like to know a little more about SK-5 steel, the good and bad...particularly country of origin, edge retention, corrosion/rust resistance and risk of chipping. Thanks in advance.
 
My trailmaster in SK-5 worked wonders for 8 years before I sold it off, with still years of life left in it. Surely, this SRK is gonna be awesome, I'll take two of those for sure.
 
Really happy to see the SRK being offered in a more affordable version for 2017. Would like to know a little more about SK-5 steel, the good and bad...particularly country of origin, edge retention, corrosion/rust resistance and risk of chipping. Thanks in advance.

China, edge retention will be mediocre at best probably in the neighborhood of 1075 (as it's functionally analogous to 1075 or 1080), essentially no corrosion resistance (basic carbon steel), but it will be plenty tough and should roll long before it chips. I think it will be a really nice budget option that should be aimed to compete with the Condor and Schrade lines very effectively.
 
Humm china....but my older CS chinese machete were of better quality then the subsequent africa made. So, it's not all bad, as long as the heat treat is good...AND THE SECURE EX NOT KILLING THE EDGE! Lol
 
Humm china....but my older CS chinese machete were of better quality then the subsequent africa made. So, it's not all bad, as long as the heat treat is good...AND THE SECURE EX NOT KILLING THE EDGE! Lol

Yeah, edge retention is pretty well moot on many of the CS fixed blades as long as they stick with Secure-Ex.:(

Moniker, the SK5 stuff may be made in China (not sure if they're doing China or Taiwan these days), but I thought the steel itself was Japanese?
 
I just wish they'd get rid of the damn "Tuff-Ex" coating. It almost sickens me that they use the word Tuff on something that falls off almost as soon as you take it out of the box. Hell, the sheath takes the coating off! Then my OCD kicks in and I have to strip that crap off. It should be a crime I tell ya! It would only add $7 or $8 to DLC them and that would be well worth for me it at something just under $50.

It's the exact reason that I'll probably get the only $20 or so more expensive Leatherneck in D2 DLC. Oh how I would love a Trail Master in D2 with or without DLC! Unfortunately, like the Recon Scout (I would have one if it didn't come with the dog turd coating and ultra rusting O1) I'm not keen on the new SRK and it will be an unfortunate pass. It's sad, I was really excited at first until I saw the coating.
 
Yeah, as G. Scott H. mentions, I think the SK5 steel is made in Japan, at least it used to be. It was shipped to Taiwan and everything else, including heat treat, was done there. That's how they were doing it in the past with their SK5 knives, according to my internet research. If anyone else has found anything different, please post so we can all see. They could have changed steel suppliers to China, which could be why SK5 was phased out in some of the big knives, but that's just speculation. Cold Steel is pretty secretive about where their manufacturing processes and steel sources. I see now from searching the internet that there is SK5 steel coming out of China as well.
 
I am a little confused about some of these steels. Is this SK-5 the same as the old carbon V that folks used to oooh and ahhh over ? My impression is that these simpler steels best suit toughness over staying sharp ? I would find it hard to drop below AUS8 which was already quite affordable, maybe slightly long in the tooth, but well ballanced. But what do I know, maybe the new SK-5 SRK's will be the cats azz as an inexpensive survival tool.
 
I am a little confused about some of these steels. Is this SK-5 the same as the old carbon V that folks used to oooh and ahhh over ? My impression is that these simpler steels best suit toughness over staying sharp ? I would find it hard to drop below AUS8 which was already quite affordable, maybe slightly long in the tooth, but well ballanced. But what do I know, maybe the new SK-5 SRK's will be the cats azz as an inexpensive survival tool.


Carbon V was established to be similar to 1095crovan, while SK-5 is the japanese equivalent of 1080. Japan is known for the purety and homoginity of their ingot steel.

My SK-5 trailmaster performed very well at chopping wood and keeping it's edge.
 
Looks like most of the responses regarding SK-5 are not good....was hoping for more positive reviews:( I may still get the new SRK and see for myself. Hopefully the SK-5 steel is in fact Japanese made. Thanks everyone and Happy New Year!
 
Yeah, edge retention is pretty well moot on many of the CS fixed blades as long as they stick with Secure-Ex.:(

Moniker, the SK5 stuff may be made in China (not sure if they're doing China or Taiwan these days), but I thought the steel itself was Japanese?

You're right! That was my mistake.
 
Looks like most of the responses regarding SK-5 are not good....was hoping for more positive reviews:( I may still get the new SRK and see for myself. Hopefully the SK-5 steel is in fact Japanese made. Thanks everyone and Happy New Year!

It's not bad, it's just a low alloy high carbon steel. If you plan to slice a lot of cardboard with it you're gonna be sad, but if you want toughness and the ability to bash stuff in the woods, it will be more than good enough.
 
How could sk-5 steel ever be considered an upgrade over 3V? The srk is available in 3V now and I expected to hear great things but so far I haven't heard much. I have one in 3V but I haven't had a chance to get it out.
 
How could sk-5 steel ever be considered an upgrade over 3V? The srk is available in 3V now and I expected to hear great things but so far I haven't heard much. I have one in 3V but I haven't had a chance to get it out.

Umm, it's not considered an upgrade over 3V. It's considered an option that's a lot more affordable than 3V. The 3V SRK is selling for $140. The SK5 version looks like be like $42, so almost $100 cheaper. No way in hell would I pay $140 for an SRK, but $42? Yeah, I'll do that.
 
Umm, it's not considered an upgrade over 3V. It's considered an option that's a lot more affordable than 3V. The 3V SRK is selling for $140. The SK5 version looks like be like $42, so almost $100 cheaper. No way in hell would I pay $140 for an SRK, but $42? Yeah, I'll do that.
Ah, that makes a lot of sense. Big difference

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I'd take the AUS8 SRK over the SK-5


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Based on my experience with both steels, SK-5 is definitely tougher and more rugged than AUS-8. If I was planning on using my SRK to open an occasional box and cut my steak, AUS-8 would be great. If I actually planned to take it out in the woods or something on a regular basis, SK-5 wins that contest.

Also, the AUS-8 version is discontinued, it was replaced by the VG-10 version. And that version costs $90, still more than twice as much as the SK-5 version. And frankly, the SRK is not worth $90 in my book.
 
Based on my experience with both steels, SK-5 is definitely tougher and more rugged than AUS-8.

Yes, definitely tougher. And actually I think the edge retention is about the same with them, from my usage at least. So the only advantage AUS8 would have is that it's stainless. I don't like stainless in a hard use knife.
 
Looks like most of the responses regarding SK-5 are not good....was hoping for more positive reviews:( I may still get the new SRK and see for myself. Hopefully the SK-5 steel is in fact Japanese made. Thanks everyone and Happy New Year!

No, I don't think most of the responses were negative. It just depends on what you want to do with the knife. SK5 in the Trailmaster, Laredo and Natchez was very tough and durable steel. That steel was made in Japan of high quality steel, equivalent to 1080 American. With Cold Steel's heat treat and manufacture in Taiwan, SK5 performed very well as a tough outdoor hard use steel and got good reviews before they phased it out in favor of O-1. IAs far as I could tell, there was only a small minority of users who didn't like its performance. I don't know whether this new SRK still uses Japanese SK5 or whether they're now sourcing it from China. As I said, if you check the internet these days, now there are steel websites with SK5 from China, not just Japan. If this SK5 is from China, then the jury is still out as to whether the steel quality is as good as the old Japanese SK5. Only hard use and testing will prove quality. So yeah I do hope the new SK5 is sourced from Japan.
 
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