Which of these two has a better steel? Keemake vs Lucky?

[Juan]

I'm looking for a kitchen knife under $100.

Which one do you think has better edge retention and is harder?
Which one is more rust resistant?

This Keemake "Liquid Metal" allegedly 65HRC:

or This Lucky "Hap40" allegedly 63HRC:

There is also a 70HRC Keemake version but it's not available now.

 

[KenHash]

There are certain characteristics I have noticed about these Kitchen knives coming out of China.
For one, they follow the same design/profile despite various brand names, which is to be expected as they
all come from the same Yangjiang factories. Most are copies of well selling designs, particularly Shun and Zwilling.
Both of these companies have licensed Bob Kramer's unique design, and both Chinese knives above are knockoffs.
I personally do not like unlicensed knockoff knives of any kind, either outdoor knives or kitchen knives.
Secondly, the represented steel is very often dubious, Knives made in China represented as VG10 (a Japanese steel) are
often 10Cr15C or 10Cr15CoMoV, a Chinese steel equivalent. There have been Chinese knives alleged to be Japanese
powder steels like HAP40 that simply weren't.
Honestly, I wouldn't touch either of the two knives above with a ten foot pole. Such knives advertise "Japanese steel" or in this case "Japanese G10"*
to project the image to the consumer that it is a "Japanese Knife". It isn't.
There are real Japanese knives, made in Japan available for the same under $100 price level such as the Tojiro DP series.

*WTF???


Zwilling/Henckels Kramer.

Shun (KAI) Kramer

S

 

[DocT]

Keemake seems to use AUS10 or German 4116 in their knives. Not bad. However, Lucky uses HAP40 that is cladded with a softer steel (probably 420J or something similar). The HAP40 is a truly great steel, but it is not stainless, hence the cladding. Spyderco uses HAP40 in some of its knives and knifecenter.com has Spyderco exclusives with pakkawood and HAP40. So, in my estimation, if you want a great steel that is impressive, get the Lucky, but don't put it in the dishwasher. If being stainless is more important, get the Keemake.

 

[KenHash]

All good and fine if the steels are actually what they are represented as. There has been no HAP40 Chinese knife because Hitachi/Yasugi doesn't export it. If they did it's a good bet that the end product won't be a $100 knife.

 

[ace]

I agree it is very doubtful that the steels are actually what they are stated to be or that heat treat is well done.