questions about a certain knife blade steel

[borrowedtime69]

i bought a Gerber LMF II last winter and it has become a favorite, and is possibly the best knife ive ever owned . my question concerns the steel the blade is made of. i have absolutely no knowledge of metalurgy so , how good is, and what are the properties of 12C27 Stainless steel?

Gerber made the knife for helicopter air crews to cut through a fusaloge (spelling?) of a downed bird or knock out the windows to exit the downed chopper.

thank you for any info you have! -Eric

 

[hso]

Euro stainless similar to 440C.

Good rust resistance, can be over hardened and become brittle in heat treat, a little more tolerant of shock than 440C, but still not a great chopper.

 

[daniel (australia)]

A lot of Scandinavian knives have blades of Sandvik 12C27, including knives by Mora, EKA, Brusletto etc. Some of the Helle range are made from this too, and one of the Helles I have, a Tollekniv, is in this category. There are fancier knife steels but I don't think there's anything wrong with it for a good utility knife, and it sure takes a good edge. Of course the grind and heat treatment makes a difference, but really that is true of any decent steel.