Guessing through-hardened. Plain-Jane S7 is extremely tough; SR-77 should be even tougher (from the lil buzzwords Dumpster Dan drops, it should be comparable to Angelsword's heat-treatment results of S7).

Good question Stealther! I was getting round to asking that..

Hmm, Thom any thoughts on this equation, "thru hardening + prying = warranty claim" . Forgive the bad joke but.. can you safely (and possibly unsafely) pry with these?? I don't go out of my way to wreck knives but sometimes it (prying) is a task that needs doing...

You're not giving the steel enough credit. Weaker steels, such as 5160 and INFI, can pry all day and night. So can regular S7 and through-hardened SR-101. Most of what we've been told about differential tempers is b.s. Dan's Sister-in-law's company differentially tempers some of their SR-101 knives 'just in case' as SR-101 is extremely strong, but INFI is stronger and 5160 can be stronger.

Both S7 (weaker than SR-77) and SR-101 can chop into galvanized steel with barely any trouble (microchips on the edges which are fixed in under 5 minutes with a pocket-sized diamond paddle or in under a minute with a belt sander... ...guess how I know. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif" alt="" /> ).

The reason Dan and Patti offer their warranty is because they know their knives can take strenuous and creative abuse. When your Scrapper 6 arrives, you'll realize (oh yeah, this is what knives are supposed to do.

Thom, who would you recommend that does make stong 5160?

Thanks Thom, good to get your input on that one! I love the idea that INFI is weaker than the sr77, that is a nice comforting concept! How's sr77's corrosion resistance compared to INFI and similar high end steel? I now have my Scrapper, have sharpened it up nicely and plan to start abusing it.. I mean 'using' it soon!

NO...I think you had it right the first time!...Or, when are you going to take that dog out for some exercise!?

Himalayan Import khuk's are pretty close to 5160(5150 maybe?) and are pretty tough.

GF my little Scrapper ate an old plank over the weekend, he finished it off today during sharpening... I'll take him for a walk this week (chores and wife permitting) and beat the brown stuff out of the countryside (at least little non environmentally damaging bits anyway!!).

One hint: You have two of his RD-9's. There are some swordmakers out there, too. One superfied my 5160 RD-9.

Ok, I was just checking about that...I didn't want to come out and say it....and what exactly does "superfied" entail?

None of the other high-end steels you'll see in big-priced knives are similar to INFI. The ones that have similar or higher corrosion resistance lack the impact resistance. The ones that have similar or higher impact resistance lack the corrosion resistance. They may have more or less wear-resistance or hardness.

Don't have my SR77 fix yet (heard a 10.5" bladed bowie may be out next, though), but I've put a wet S7 chopper back in its sheath for a weak with no visible rust. It also turned black where its edge touched staghorn sumac (a swamp tree in the USA), so it some things will corrode it.

Just remember to sharpen out any nicks in the edge should they occur, and lightly wipe your blade with mineral oil when not in use and it won't mind the constant beatings you'll give it.