Hardcore Knives and tools for Wilderness Camping: Kizlyar Supreme Bastardo in 420 HC Martensitic Stainless Steel

Kizlyar Supreme Bastardo in 420HC.

Kizlyar Supreme Bastardo (Hunting knife, Sharp Villain!)

"Bastardo" is Spanish for "Impudent or Scoundrel"

The Kizlyar Supreme Bastardo has been hardened to achieve a HRC 57.

#kizlyarSupremebastardo

The Kizlyar Supreme Bastardo (it was released about 2 years ago now) is also available in Uddeholm Sleipner tool steel (with Black G10 scales).

Learn something I bet you didn't know about 420HC stainless steel.

420HC is an interesting stainless steel for many reasons. Many look upon this steel as a budget stainless knife steel which is a poor performer (it appears in several USA branded knives of good repute). This general outlook has been propagated via the ignorance of many on the social media (including so called knife makers who think they are gods-in other words with an overly high opinion of themselves) and certainly from those who do not understand the critical nature of heat treatment regimes (namely garbage manufacturers) for this particular grade of 420 stainless steel.

Yes, it is a budget stainless steel BUT it can indeed be hardened to a HRC of 57 via a precise heat treatment and tempering regimes dependent upon the actual elemental constituency of the 420HC grade (there are indeed variations dependent upon who is manufacturing this steel). The achievement of a HRC values of 56-57 are well-documented in the literature, especially within the metallurgical engineering papers/publications, which (as a scientist) I do trust. (see below for further reading).

So if this is the case then why do we not see better HRC values/properties in the budget knives made from this alloy? Well, the reason is simple; during mass production, production costs will rise considerably if one requires multiple steps as apposed to a few steps during heat treatment and tempering phases. (exceptions mentioned/hinted at above re some well-known USA brands who use 420HC in their products.)

What are the advantages of such a steel? Firstly, easy to sharpen by almost anyone without the need for expensive sharpening tools. Excellent corrosion resistance for easy maintenance in the field. Large tough quality knives can be made without costing the earth to the consumer but with a HRC of 57, this is more than hard enough for serious outdoor tasks.

The handle scales of the Kizlyar Supreme Bastardo are made from very nice walnut wood (root) and just fit the look of such a knife! Into the scales have been milled a grippy, yet comfortable texture.

The Kizlyar Supreme Bastardo is one BIG BOWIE knife with a bad ass blade of 8.5"/~220mm! With a blade thickness of 1/4"/6mm! "he aint heavy" because the handle/tang has been partially skeletonized, so it is not heavy in the hand. An important feature to help reduce hand/wrist fatigue.

Made in Russia-goes without saying.

A big 8" plus blade for serious camp tasks and big game hunting but can one prepare a simple meal with it? Why yes, see below!

The full leather scabbard is well-made, ie stitched thoroughly and the belt loop has been riveted on.

The retention strap does exactly what it is supposed to do.

Easy to feather hard birch

The Kizlyar Supreme Bastardo "looks like a knife"!

I cut into hard fat wood with ease as well. No edge damage observed.

Some educational info regarding 420HC

Before I hear the cries of:"OMG what crap steel"!

Let's learn something about 420HC, and to be honest, before I started my research into this alloy, I knew nothing and was also prejudiced about it's use in the knife industry!

https://www.aksteel.com/sites/default/files/2019-10/martensitic-comparator-0.pdf

According to AK Steel, it is possible to obtain a HRC of 56 for 420HC martensitic Stainless Steel alloy.

The HRC value of 56 was taken directly from their test data

Other (Raw material) suppliers also say similar up to 57 and possibly higher dependent upon many parameters in the heat treatment regime. (the Austenizing regimes appear to be critical too)

As noted in the above table these are Typical VALUES and do not represent minimum or maximum values of elemental %'s.

AK steel suggest cryogenic treatment of the 420HC to obtain maximum hardness but this is not necessary dependent upon the actual heat treatment protocols in use.

Ok, so one of Kizlyar Supreme's biggest knives to date, the "Bastardo" is made in 2 variations, one Sleipner and the other in 420HC.

Given the proven track record from Kizlyar Supreme in regards to their excellent command of heat treatment it will come as no surprise that they are capable of optimising the hardness and toughness characteristics of 420HC as a knife steel.

We know from experience that they are not the only ones (for example many USA manufacturers are using 420HC to good effect.)

A big knife like the Kizlyar Supreme Bastardo requires optimal toughness too for wilderness performance but with such a large blade something which is not beyond the practicalities of sharpening in the field.

Now read more about 420HC and educate yourself from the hearsay.

Further, I would like to dispel the myths about 420 and 420HC by referring directly to the research done by Cliff Stamp on the martensitic 420 and 420HC, where Mr Stamp has collected (I checked by reading some of these papers) the relevant data regarding 420 and 420HC. In summary, 420 is actually, in terms of an alloy can contain a broad range of alloying components and hence the heat treatment is critical to achieve the best possible results in terms of corrosion resistance, hardness and toughness dependent upon the final application and the actual alloy as supplied by the manufacturer.

As Mr/Dr Stamp points out in his final assessment of the data (taken around 2015), 420 HC and 420 has a poor reputation amongst knife "aficionados" (my wording) simply because in order to obtain the optimal results for 420, requires some serious "science" (my words again) behind the heat treatment and tempering protocols; these protocols cost time and money and in order to mass produce cutlery in 420, they are not conducted in order to save time and money. I have read several key metallurgical papers discussing this aspect of 420 and the higher carbon version. The minimum HRC obtainable from 420 is HRC55 and thus a greater HRC value is certainly obtainable from 420HC as it generally contains carbon content in the range of 0.38%-0.45%.

Kizlyar Supreme, in my experience have a good reputation for a very very good heat treatment of their steels, so it came as no surprise to me that the Bastardo edge retention was indeed excellent.

Shown here approx 500grams of a total of 1kg of pig meat cut from a fillet.

A serious test for the edge holding capacity of any knife is the good old HDPE chopping board as used by chefs and cooks around the globe. Here I cut up approx 1kg of raw pig and several potatoes with the Kizlyar Supreme Bastardo to see what if any effects this material had upon the blade edge. Answer NONE! Cutting/slicing up hard vegetables without causing them to break apart, was easily achieved using the Kizlyar Supreme Bastardo.