5160 is another excellent steel, I find it actually to be my personal favorite to make blades from, from cost to performance wise, I find that it holds its edge longer than SR77 with the same angle,, with abuse the 5160 would be more prone to chip, and SR77 more prone to roll, from what I've found... of course HT is the biggest determination when it comes to steel vs steel.

I'll take the Scrap Yard thanks. My tests confirm for my use that Scrap Yard knives are better in the survival situation, in fact every situation, for me!

without a doubt i have always noticed a difference between the two and have used both extensively {at the risk of sounding like an internet expert}

if you think about what the 2 steels are really used for it makes sense.

my BR definitely stays sharp longer than my DFLE when chopping for hours and my HRLM will out slice my YK.

i'm not as sure to say that 52100 takes and edge easier than S7 in my experiences though.for me thats a toss up

i dont doubt for a second though that scrapyards S7 out shines anyone else in the knife worlds.

since cutting is what i use my knives for most,and i include chopping in cutting,i prefer 52100 over S7.if i had a job where i needed to pry a lot with a blade and other extreme knife tasks i'd choose S7.

most of us will never take either of the two companies knives to the point of breaking to see how much stronger S7 is but any of us who own the two and use them WILL experience the difference in edge performance,so what i'm saying is that scrapyards S7's "strong point" and claim to fame is something most of us will ever even witness,utilize or benefit from.since were cutting and chopping wood we see its "CONS" {edge retention} but since we're not prying open car doors and using it like noss we dont see its biggest "PROS" {strength}

the funny thing is that even though my DFLE doesnt stay sharp as long 90% of the time i choose it over any swapmrat chopper because it has the best design and feel to me.

and for the record the difference between the two's edge retention isnt that big

they'll both do fine

i forgot to mention that this 154CM the 2 companies have been using might out slice the 52100.this stuff really,honestly blows my mind with its how friken sharp it gets and how long it stays sharp and with all that said it tough

PERFECTION

I'm definitely a SwampRat guy,even more so from the res-c handle days.I love the Scrapyard brand too though.My Yard Hook and CGDM have seen some hard use and seem to hold an edge extremely well.They don't hold an edge as well though as my CT but I always attributed that to the differential edge tempering on the Tramp,much like a Japanese katana.I can only assume that the edge RC on the CT is higher than the through tempering on the SY blades.

Let's not forget that heat treating has as much to do with how a steel behaves as anything. For instance, if Jerry sent out a batch of Camp Tramps in SR101 to an incompetent heat treater, they would likely turn out to be poor quality blades that none of us would want. By the way, SR101(52100) is very hard to heat treat properly.

I would much rather have a big chopper out of plain old 1095 with a Busse or BOS heat treat than I would have that same knife in SR77, SR101, or even INFI with an improperly done heat treat.

YES, it's that important!


Not a stupid question at all. Personally it's one of my favorites as well. It's right up there with the best of them in the toughness category, and as far as edge holding goes I would put it somewhere between SR77 and SR101 depending on who did the heat treat. Justin's Rangers have a good heat treat and so do Bill Siegle's 5160 knives.

Jerry definitely is a master of the heat treating process, and I can only hope and pray that we haven't seen the last of SR101.

I really don't think we have. I think we will see the next Swamp Rat release in about, oh, let's see, maybe two weeks??? That's two weeks in Busse time of course <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />!

I have noticed the same thing. While definitely harder for me to sharpen than the SR101, the 154CM takes the sharpest edge of any knife I own. I don't hear that many praises for it on the forums, but once you get a Bird Dog or Hairy Carry sharp, they are just plain scary, literally razor sharp.

As for 50-100B or "Carbon V", I could certainly go for a Swamp Rat in that steel. That steel has a great combination of hardness and toughness. With Jerry's heat treat, it would be even better. Those old Cold Steels and Beckers were among my first "high performance" knives, and I still use them.

A big +1 to that.

That's why I'm having my Texas Pig Sticker made out of that excellent old 0170-6C Becker BK6 blank that already has the Camillus heat treat on it.

For those of you here who may not know, 0170-6C is the same steel as 50-100B, "Carbon V", and Cases CV. Supposedly, Jerry bought a big batch of 0170-6C at the Camillus bankruptcy auction. Let's hope he slaps some Res-C on the end of some of it and cranks out some knives with it! <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/crossfingers.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/crossfingers.gif" alt="" />