This is the knife I tested, along with the results of the XRF tested in three different locations of the blade:
For full disclosure, the XRF gun I have doesn’t read “light” elements, like Aluminum, Silicon and Carbon. Carbon is a little tricky because most knife steels have some. Despite that, it has still been able to correctly identify the 50 knives in my collection based on Chromium, Vanadium, Molybdenum, Cobalt, Manganese, Tungsten and Nickel (and Iron obviously…) content.
According to Carpenter’s spec sheet, CTS BD4P contains:
C 1 (unreadable for me)
Si 0.2 (unreadable)
Cr 14 (blade at 12.8ish, which is an acceptable difference)
Mn .5 (ND means non/detectable, but a trace amount is present. Much lower than the expected .5)
Mo 4 (.158 much too low)
V 0.1 (none detected)
W 0.1 (none detected)
Basically because the Moly is way off and there was no Vanadium or Tungsten detected at all, not even trace, it is absolutely impossible that this is BD4P.
It still contains many random elements that aren’t present in SUS410, which is why I think it’s just poor quality controlled stainless steel from China.
And on a final note- I find absolutely nothing wrong with Chinese knives or Chinese steel. It’s all about the manufacturer and their supplier, which can be good or bad for every country. The only reason Chinese steel has notoriety for poorly QCd steel is because they mass-produced steel smelted from unsorted scrap during China’s “Great Leap Forward” under Mao Zedong. That stuff still finds its way into the supply chain even now. Most reputable Chinese knife manufacturers use steel bought from overseas, and the ones that don’t partner with reputable domestic suppliers.
Quartermaster Knives wouldn’t have had a problem if they were just transparent about manufacturing in China, instead of trying to gain the “Made in America” clout. There’re plenty of small scale American knife designers today that have huge success while openly partnering with Chinese OEMs. Take The James Brand or EMP EDC for example.