Octav,
We kept the same steel (1095CV aka 0170-06) for the Big Brother. I don't know if it is an "all known fact" that a larger blade needs to have a different steel if the blade is over 7". The Becker BK-9 is made from 1095 CV and does quite well. There are other factors besides steel alloy that needs to be taken into consideration...heat treat method, temper, type of grinds...
The proper terminalogy for the tang is: full length, narrow tang.. not a "Rat Tail" tang. A Rat tail tang tapers down to a point and is usually rammed onto a wooden handle. ie; an ice pick. The tangs on our 1217 et al knives are differentially heat treated. The shoulder being "spring: hardness (HRc 45-52), the hardness gradually moves to soft toward the pommel end. The tang at the pommel end will bend...that is what we want...To bend not break. A bent tang can be straightened back to a usuable knife. A broken tang gives you an unusable knife. While full tang knives offer stronger handles, narrow tang knives are capable of holding up to alot of stress.
We are developing a hard plastic sheath as an option for the Big Brothers. It will be out sometime in the future.
Hope this helps.
Best Regards,
Paul Tsujimoto
Sr Eng
Prod Dev and Qual
KA-BAR Knives
We kept the same steel (1095CV aka 0170-06) for the Big Brother. I don't know if it is an "all known fact" that a larger blade needs to have a different steel if the blade is over 7". The Becker BK-9 is made from 1095 CV and does quite well. There are other factors besides steel alloy that needs to be taken into consideration...heat treat method, temper, type of grinds...
The proper terminalogy for the tang is: full length, narrow tang.. not a "Rat Tail" tang. A Rat tail tang tapers down to a point and is usually rammed onto a wooden handle. ie; an ice pick. The tangs on our 1217 et al knives are differentially heat treated. The shoulder being "spring: hardness (HRc 45-52), the hardness gradually moves to soft toward the pommel end. The tang at the pommel end will bend...that is what we want...To bend not break. A bent tang can be straightened back to a usuable knife. A broken tang gives you an unusable knife. While full tang knives offer stronger handles, narrow tang knives are capable of holding up to alot of stress.
We are developing a hard plastic sheath as an option for the Big Brothers. It will be out sometime in the future.
Hope this helps.
Best Regards,
Paul Tsujimoto
Sr Eng
Prod Dev and Qual
KA-BAR Knives