Spyderco Tenacious v. Kershaw Blur v. Ontario Rat

[Chronovore]

I agree with pretty much everything you posted except the Rat 1/2 in D2 is made in Taiwan, not China. It's probably not in the same class as the best custom D2, but I would guess it probably has been made to better standards and is more consistently of better quality than some of the more questionable Chinese stuff you are talking about. The Rat 2 that I have has been very impressive.

You're right that the Rats are made in Taiwan. Does anyone know if they have a different source for their D2? Going back to the video I posted earlier, notice that the D2 Rat did better than average for "Chinese D2".

... RAT - Esp. in D2, this is a slam dunk. D2 makes it legitimately worth more than the AUS8. (which is on par with 8Cr) Build quality on all three of these knives is stupendous for this price class. ...

I see this a lot on forums and around the web. I've had a ton of 8Cr13Mov over the years and I disagree. The performance of all of these steels can vary but in my experience, AUS-8 tends to range from a little better to a lot better than 8Cr13Mov.

In my experience, the worst examples of Chinese D2 still tend to have better edge retention than 8Cr13Mov. Meanwhile, good AUS-8 is easily better than bad D2. In the Rat comparison video I shared, we see a good example of AUS-8 and what would be a good example for Chinese D2. With a polished edge against cardboard, the AUS-8 did a little better but both are a solid step up from 8Cr13Mov.

 

[chalby]

I see this a lot on forums and around the web. I've had a ton of 8Cr13Mov over the years and I disagree. The performance of all of these steels can vary but in my experience, AUS-8 tends to range from a little better to a lot better than 8Cr13Mov.

In my experience, the worst examples of Chinese D2 still tend to have better edge retention than 8Cr13Mov. Meanwhile, good AUS-8 is easily better than bad D2. In the Rat comparison video I shared, we see a good example of AUS-8 and what would be a good example for Chinese D2. With a polished edge against cardboard, the AUS-8 did a little better but both are a solid step up from 8Cr13Mov.

There will always be varying results from edge retention tests due to a number of factors including the heat treatment and edge geometry amongst other things. However, AUS8 is in the same class and has a similar composition to 8cr13mov and 440a/440b. In theory D2 should easily be better in edge retention, although it tends to have large carbides which gives it strengths and weaknesses compared to other steels that have smaller carbides and/or smaller grain structure.

 

[Chronovore]

There will always be varying results from edge retention tests due to a number of factors including the heat treatment and edge geometry amongst other things. However, AUS8 is in the same class and has a similar composition to 8cr13mov and 440a/440b. In theory D2 should easily be better in edge retention, although it tends to have large carbides which gives it strengths and weaknesses compared to other steels that have smaller carbides and/or smaller grain structure.

Indeed, there is a schism between the steel that built the reputation and the steel that cashed in on it. It's the reason for the controversy and for the specification of "Chinese D2". As previously discussed, D2 already seems to be more sensitive or more difficult with respect to mass heat treatment. Additionally, XRF tests have shown compositional variation in Chinese D2. These "other" factors can be hugely significant.

Look, I've had some pretty good Chinese D2. Some companies seem to have a better handle on the heat treatment than others. I suppose it's possible that some companies within China have access to better starting material than others. The issues are that the average tends to fall below the hype and we do see examples of Chinese D2 getting outcut by less expensive steels such as AUS-8 and 9Cr18Mov.

 

[lonestar1979]

tenacious is ok,but overpriced in my opinion and where i live,same as byrd knives.Id get kershaw blur has nice assisted action and 14c28 sandvik thats pretty good.

 

[lonestar1979]

Ps.these Chinese 8cr,9cr steels are pretty good....same are labeled as d2 lol...but yeah,theyre pretty good at golding edge,have couple sanrenmy knives and spyderco tenacious,and they hold edge well

 

[skx013k2]

Deleted

 

[c7m2p3]

Spyderco makes nice knives, they are always a safe choice, and they are a company that is extremely approachable (you can post on their forum and their owner will likely respond). Their prices are rising and it’s making it tough to justify their Chinese made offerings - but they make good quality products.

The discussion re: Chinese D2. This is one reason I do not buy Chinese made knives unless you really trust the company selling them has top notch QA (like Spyderco). There can be significant variations in quality of material used by Chinese mass quantity manufacturers.

Which is why if you go that route there are plenty of pretty good options from well regarded companies such as Civivi that are competitive with the three knives the OP mentioned. As I said earlier, you can get pretty good bang for your buck now in the budget knife world when it comes to action and steel and 8CR blades at 50$ are no longer a good value.