New SRK in SK-5 Steel

GrReaper said:
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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I'm hoping it's from Japan too. I'm sure they'll be a couple of u-tube reviews of this model once it's out. Thanks again everybody.
 
DShiflet said:
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.
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This is an AUS8 SRK

[video=youtube;mN0kfBMt-5M]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mN0kfBMt-5M[/video]

Unless SK-5 magically makes the Kraton tougher, your box and steak comment is completely unfounded.

I'd take an AUS8 SRK over an SK-5 SRK.


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sean1999 said:
I'm hoping it's from Japan too. I'm sure they'll be a couple of u-tube reviews of this model once it's out. Thanks again everybody.
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The AUS8 SRKs are made in Japan. They have FLAWLESS grind lines and symmetry. They are also tough as hell.

AUS8 is tougher than 440B, which is what Randall made their stainless knives out of. I've never heard that a Randall was only good for occasionally citing open a box, or a steak.


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From what I recall reading about various knife steels over the past 20+ years.

Japanese Aus-8A is a clone of American 440B.
 
GCG199 said:
From what I recall reading about various knife steels over the past 20+ years.

Japanese Aus-8A is a clone of American 440B.
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No, it isn't. 440B has more chromium. It also does not contain vanadium or nickel. AUS8 has both. AUS8 has higher tensile strength, wear resistance, and has a finer grain structure.


But, 440B is more stain resistant.

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@ ursamajor (post #22) I don't think dshiflet was saying AUS8 is not good enough. He was saying only that SK5 should be tougher than AUS8 so he would rather take SK5 for hard woods use. I've seen that video before and it's impressive for sure. Bear in mind though that the SRK is a small knife as compared to the larger bowies. A larger knife is subjected to greater forces because of the physics involved. Those larger bowies were made of SK5 and not AUS8. And presumably one of the reasons was that SK5 was a lot tougher than AUS8. While I'm sure that the AUS8 SRK is tough, I agree with dshiflet that an SK5 SRK should be significantly tougher steel. (But as I've commented above, this is assuming that the new SK5 SRK is made of quality steel and given the right heat treat.)
 
ursamajor said:
This is an AUS8 SRK

[video=youtube;mN0kfBMt-5M]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mN0kfBMt-5M[/video]

Unless SK-5 magically makes the Kraton tougher, your box and steak comment is completely unfounded.

I'd take an AUS8 SRK over an SK-5 SRK.


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Post all the videos you want, I've chipped the edges on AUS-8 blades. Never chipped SK5.
 
DShiflet said:
Post all the videos you want, I've chipped the edges on AUS-8 blades. Never chipped SK5.
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Vladimir Putin must have hacked the heat treat of your AUS8 blades. Luckily for me, the Russians didn't hack my AUS8 SRK. It's been a beast.


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Seriously though, maybe the Japanese makers who produced the SRK for Cold Steel, nailed the heat treat. I've thumped on my Cold Steel SRK. Not like this video, but I have inadvertently hit rocks with it. Dented edges, but not chipped. It is a knife that's thick behind the edge though.


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DShiflet said:
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.
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3V version is $220.00 up here.
 
DShiflet said:
Ouch, that's pricey. Unfortunately, the SK5 version will probably be more than $42 up there as well...
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Ya, if they are in the 60-70 range I see no point in getting any as the AUS8A are still around for $100-110 here. I have 2 SRK's and 2 Recon Tanto's in AUS8A already, and really like them. But I'm sure that I will bite on some of the new toys, it's hard to resist. ;)
 
Noticed much lower prices. Glad to see some of the models out in AUS8A will be well under the $40 mark.
 
I don't ubderstand the hate for sk5.......my trail master in sk5 has stood up to many years of hard usage, tough and easy to sharpen
 
Brad "the butcher";16807535 said:
I don't ubderstand the hate for sk5.......my trail master in sk5 has stood up to many years of hard usage, tough and easy to sharpen
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No hate here Brad. I am just having an internal debate on grabbing more SRK's,.... that would dull quicker than what I already have. The toughness is without question though, which is attractive for pounding one through dead fall for a fire. I was more or less thinking of a few more in SK-5 to replace a few bag Mora's.
 
so.........SK-5.....is a decent steel that takes a good edge, is easy to sharpen and is quite tough.

Cold steel most likely has a winner here. An affordable, well designed knife that will be hard to hurt.
 
Angus McGunnigle said:
so.........SK-5.....is a decent steel that takes a good edge, is easy to sharpen and is quite tough.

Cold steel most likely has a winner here. An affordable, well designed knife that will be hard to hurt.
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Yeah, I got no issues with SK5, and at $42, the SRK is finally a price I'm willing to pay.
 
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