What's so good about 3 layers?

 What's so good about 3 layers?

WithArmour's Cajo 1 BK in WASTEEL, a s san mai construction ie laminated steel blade.

Three layered steel knives have been around for a long long time. They are a progression or rather a offshoot from the traditional folded steel blades of Indian and Japanese history.

The layered steel knife today is commonly known as "San mai" from the Japanese (三枚) meaning 3 layers or sheets. As of writing there are no western entities mass  producing such steel and the bulk of knife maker's materials are originating within Japan and China.

Whilst such constructions can be made by the custom knife maker, in reality to produce a homogeneous san mai construction requires exacting metallurgical technologies beyond the realm of the individual. As such, one company stands out as a leader in these technologies, they are Takefu Special Steel Co., Ltd. 

Image taken from their (Takefu Special Steel Co., Ltd.) web site.

I reached out to them asking if they could provide some further information, specifically regarding their welding process which enables the homogenous bonding of the two steel types for example: 420 J2 to VG-10. Unfortunately, despite having several emails going back and forth they did not take me seriously enough and hence I can not provide you with any such information. My only guess is that they may have figured I work closely with several knife manufactures and maybe they didn't like this? I made it clear that I was NOT asking for any information which could be construed as confidential of course. Anyway enough of that. I tried. They do of course have some extremely basic cartoon like images 

The process is definitely not this simple.

but these serve no purpose other than to illustrate that they make laminated steel products, not how they make them.

Why 3 layers?

 BTW before anyone says, hey Fällkniven are making san mai knives! 

Fallkniven S1 with a laminated VG-7 core

Yes, they are but they are not making the san mail steel. They import the steel from Japan.

Ok, so back to the question, "Why three layers"?

This question can be answered by asking what is the point of having three layers of steel? The inner layer is always the alloy which can be made the harder of two steel types, for example VG-10, whilst the outer layers can be of 420 J2, a softer grade stainless alloy but of superior corrosion resistance to VG-10. Such a combination can lead to a blade which possesses crazy toughness as once demonstrated on the internet by a you tuber who wore a hockey mask and routinely destroyed knives  in his workshop. The only knife he never could break was  Fällkniven  san mai constructed blade. All other makes and models eventually snapped under his onslaught of crazy bending and bashing tests. Not only does such a blade exhibit crazy toughness but the steel doing the cutting only needs to be thin, just  thin enough to be able to be sharpened easily. So there is also good economic reasons for such blades.

Where the technology comes into play is how both sets of alloys are seamlessly bonded to one another so that during great stress, such a bending moments, the two individual alloys do not part company along the "weld".

The above sample image was taken from a WithArmour blade knife using their proprietary "san mai" steel they are calling WASTEEL

If it's so good then why aren't all knife manufacturers doing this?  Well as I explained, not many have this technology, and it's probably cheaper not mass producing such blades, as for example, if one makes a knife out of just VG-10, then an equivalent knife from VG-10 and 420J2 has to be more expensive due to more steps involved. However, if one wants to own a knife from a 3  layer construction and benefit from such an indestructible design 

WithArmour's WASTEEL (san mai construction) Cajo 1 BK

then this will drive the market for such production to continue.

One of my favourite knives

 

One of my favourite Extrema Ratio knife models has got to be the MK 2.1

Why is it one of my favorite models?

Maybe because of the modern take on an iconic knife design. The original design had a aesthetic to it and also a simplicity which made it a timeless design. The reinterpretation of this original design as seen in the MK 2.1 is outstanding in that it embodies this simplicity with a rugged construction (far more rugged than the original) for not only the knife but also the carry system.

 I'm not going to say anymore than this because I've covered this model in high detail over the many years since it came out  and I think the pictures here speak plenty for it.

However, if you'd like to read more about this blade in detail then I welcome you to check this out!

Enjoy!

BCT

FKMD FX-9CM01 B FOX TRACKER SNIPER KNIFE Review

 FKMD FX-9CM01 B FOX TRACKER SNIPER KNIFE

Some of the specifications at a glance. 

Thickness: 6mm or 0.24" (I measured 6.19mm at the guard)

Blade Length: 150mm or  5.91"

Weight: 310gr or 10.93 Oz.

Steel: Böhler  N690

Blade coating: PVD DLC

Designer: Giorgio Danese (military background)- I found him impossible to locate and as such I will not be able to offer any input from the designer.

Handle: Forprene elasto polymer (TPV- thermoplastic vulcanizate). Long since field proven toughness.

Tang: Full width to tapering with lanyard hole.

Scabbard: Ballistic nylon and plastic. There is a hard plastic inner scabbard liner, an elasticized leg loop and a quick release dangler strap which also features a safety lock to prevent accidental release.

 This knife can also be worn simply attached to a belt . OR carried directly on a pack or any article of clothing that features PALS webbing.

So I've had my eye on this knife from FKMD (the military division of FOX Knives in Maniago) for many years, (about 15 to be exact) infact ever since they started producing it however for some strange reason, I  never got it but now all that has changed and I decided I MUST have this knife 

because I must share my thoughts on  it with other outdoors persons and just knife enthusiasts the world over! (You can tell I'm excited about it!).

Already a very satisfied user of other similar yet different FKMD products as shown here, this is like the bare bones "military grade" version of the Trapper knife also by FKMD, which was one of my earliest acquisitions from FOX and has served me well all around the globe. I saw no reason why the FX-9CM01B would not also serve me well.

The FX-9CM01 B TRACKER SNIPER KNIFE is a small knife by outdoor standards coming in at only just under 6".

 The Tracker seen here for size comparison to the FKMD Taranis a typical 7" field knife.

Make no mistake, this is a very very capable outdoors knife as well.

I just made mince meat of this well seasoned cotton wood.

However, as a military knife which needs to be carried with a plethora of other equipment, especially a sniper, then the size is totally appropriate. It is of very robust design without being overly heavy.

As mentioned above the blade has been coated with a Diamond like Carbon via a PVD process. This is the same PVD process which has been used on my super abused and heavily used FKMD Hitam Golok. (Shown below)

The FKMD FX9CM01B has 3 separate blade grinds. A small recurved portion closest to the hilt, A belly region and the tip is in the shape of a Western styled tanto.

I'm not going to say this knife is "bullet-proof" but I'm certain it could take several rounds and come out basically unscathed!

The scabbard is very well made and features what appears to be Hypalon material ( see above) for the retention strap (same stuff Zodiac inflatables are made from). The stitching is top notch as could be expected for a military end point knife. 

There is a rigid plastic insert within the ballistic nylon scabbard. The knife carry is noiseless and the plastic insert also protects the user from accidental injury. (see below)

There is a traditional belt carry system with Velcro quick release (shown open here).

There is also a dangler which features a quick release but with an adde safety, that three things need to be actuated at once in order to remove the clip.

The scabbard also has generous room for a pistol mag or for a folding knife or a multitool (or cordage as seen above).

Plastic hardware is by Duraflex

One thing you will find in ALL of my blogs about knives is that there will definitely be images showing the spine. Why do I do this? Well, that's because when I read a blog or watch a video about a knife and there is no image of the knife's spine, this annoys me because the spine shape will tell you a lot about the knife even before one sees the blade. In the above image, one can clearly see that the spine is at full thickness but at approximately 40mm away from the guard it starts to taper with a chamfer to the tip. 

Solid very seasoned Oak

The tip is not overly thick so this knife is still capable of piercing tasks without too much effort.

There is a generous thumb ramp to upper guard the guard has two holes which could be used for a multitude of purposes, for example but far from limited to: lashing to a pole, wire bending, extraction of certain objects made from lead (5.8, 5.56, 5.45 mm) use your imagination here, these guard holes are NOT some random diameter. After all this knife is intended for military personnel and I'm a big advocate of certain military knives as excellent bushcrafting knives, notwithstanding their usual robustness as a key feature. 

Why the recurved blade region?

The initial recurve section acts just like a sickle.

 So in summary, this FKMD knife, called the TRACKER was in production over 16 years ago, designed by Giorgio Danese, manufactured by FOX knives. At least 3 years before the release of the movie, The Hunted and definitely BEFORE the release of the Tom Brown Tracker knife manufactured by TOPS knives. You see, maybe Russon had a great idea back in the eighties but he didn't know how to bring it into production (and he put his trust in the wrong people aka Tom Brown- see previous blog to learn the facts surrounding this subject). 

.....And before anyone says Danese copied Russon's designs, I doubt that Danese ever saw any of Russon's earlier correspondence between Russon and Tom Brown (he would have been a kid or not even born then LOL) , that would have been impossible at the time. What I'm getting at is that if one thinks they have a good idea then usually there is a high probability that someone somewhere else will have the same idea. The dual blade edges thing are NOT new. This form of knife has been around for 100's of years, (see early Spanish designs). Truly new knife designs, at least functional ones, have already been invented! Just go visit any good history museum which houses edged weapons and you'll be going: "Ah, he was right!"

(Yes, those wild strawberries were super sweet and the only reason there are not more present is because the rest were in my gut and the mossies prevented me from picking anymore LOL).

Anyway, stick around for some outdoor stuff. I haven't done any full reviews for some time as the audience retention level is non existent so I really appreciate those of you who bother to read my articles and watch my videos.

@BushCampingTools

* I say gimmicky because there are definitely good spine saws but the one on the Russon tracker and Tops Tracker are not good saws as they are just of the wrong design IMHO.