Yes, I ment shock steel. I know some guys that made their knives out of old jeep leaf springs, and they were very servicable knives. The only problem is that they didn't want to make any more of them. I guess I mistook one for the other.

As for the pink, I did have pink paracord wrapped around the handle of one of my CRKT Neck Pecks. It made it seem less of a "weapon" and more of a tool when I worked in public places. Most people didn't notice it on my belt, and those that did were confused as to why I was wearing it backwards. The funny thing is, I wasn't. The modified sheepsfoot blade has the flat edge ground, the curved side is a the back of the knife, with a false edge. Most people just look at the shape and judge it wrong.

I switched to a fluorescent green color chordage on the next Peck.

FWIW, I broke the very tippy-tip off of the Tops Scalpel. I had it re-ground and never really noticed any difference.

A couple of months ago I was using a large Gerber folding Tanto liner-lock. It was easy to open with one hand, but very large for a folder. I usually don't prefer a Tanto blade, but I had a limited choice as to what knife I could get- my company was paying for it and I had to order out of MSC- and it was the only folder without serrations. A serrated edge, to me, is a lost part of a blade and may as well not be a sharpened portion. I kept leving the darn thing above ceilings and lost it for good on the third time. I guess that's why I need a fixed blade knife. The tanto blade was very easy to resharpen.