So this afternoon and evening I’ve been doing a bit of cutting. I started out by cutting through a scrap of Kore buffalo belt. These have a very thick inner core made of some sort of plastic I presume. I made 9 cuts and there wasn’t any impact on cutting ability, which is basically what I expected. Still wave cutting receipt paper. Then I made some needless cuts through cardboard, but not many. Basically just a simulation of breaking down a box or two, which is something I typically do. I started to notice a slight loss of front end sharpness, which is my favorite level of sharpness because of how smoothly the knife cuts on that front end.
I strop at this point on my super steels even though it is completely unnecessary because it is still a very sharp knife. I just really like that front end sharpness and how it glides through anything. Obviously, the super steels go much longer before losing this sharpness, particularly K390. That steel is so strange. Easy to sharpen, yet is run very hard and has ridiculous edge retention. Of course, my Spyderco Stretch in K390 also cost about 7x what this knife cost.
I went out back and whittled three 15+ inch sticks of maple into oblivion, which is something I do regularly with my other knives. I could still wave cut paper and slice receipt paper, but my wave cuts were a bit rougher and didn’t go as long before ripping paper. Again, still a very sharp knife, but that ridiculous front end sharpness is now gone. So far, this steel is performing a lot like my BD1N Spyderco knives, with the exception that BD1N takes a ridiculous edge right after sharpening. Much better than many high tier super steels seem to.
Keep in mind, there is absolutely nothing scientific about any of my silly tests. This is just how I use my knives regularly. All I am giving is some anecdotal information about this blade steel. However, most folks don’t aimlessly whittle and cut stupid stuff. This may be a month’s worth of use for the average knife owner. This knife is still easily cutting receipt paper. I plan to go until I can’t wave cut printer paper at all and then touch it up on my Sharpmaker. At that point I think I’ll have a good idea on how this steel performs.
Honestly though, the super steels aren’t really necessary at all. It’s apparent already that most daily usage will still leave a knife like this plenty sharp for regular usage for a good while.