Ragnar is The Man, when it comes to Moras, I agree. But in this instance, I think Ragnar overgeneralizes in his literature for the sake of bringing his product descriptions into some terminology American will recognize. I posted to him a few minutes ago, and we'll see what he has to say. He is often slow answering his e-mail.

In the meantime, see the following. The first is a competing domsestic vendor. The second is a Swedish sources, and the third is the manufacturer of Kolstal steel.

http://www.buckshotscamp.com/Mora-Knives-Sales.htm

http://www.kolstal.pl/index2.html

http://www.gen-smide.se/kolstal.html

As for S30V, I find it easy to sharpen on diamond surfaces, ceramics, or other industrial abrasives. Sure, it's tough; the reason the knives are more expensive is not just because of materials cost, it is also because it wears out tooling quicker. The same is true of D2 and any of a variety of newer 'supersteels.'

I don't have enough experience with S90V to comment. To my knowledge, the only blade I have made of it is only 1 1/2".

Now, what I am really curious about is where titanium blade metalurgy is going. I freely admit it is a knife geek sort of thing. I still hate 1090 and 1095.

I wouldn't consider S90V a "current" knife steel since noone is mass producing knives with it yet. IMHO, S30V and the Falkniven 420 Laminated VG10 are the best things out there for survival purposes. If you're on a budget 154CM/ATS-34 is a real good compromise. If you need to go even cheaper, some mfrs like Benchmade actually do a respectable job with 440C but I would be careful about who you get your 440C from or you may find holds a worthless edge, dulls, folds, etc. There are lots of great carbon steels available also but I wouldn't recommend a non stainless steel for survival, but that's just me (IIRC Doug says something similar in his article on sharps). I believe in keeping survival gear as low maintenance as possible. Uncoated D2 will rust up pretty quickly too. Even Moras come in SS and Laminated versions.

Your opinions and eperience mirror mine exactly, except that I have had no corrosion problems with D2.

That little S90V blade is not ezactly a knife, more like a tool. I fear it is very brittle. Absolutely no flex to it.

There are some very respectable makers still working in 440C, like Tom Mayo. It's gotten a bad rap, but I'd be really careful what/who/where its from.

It'll be interesting to see what you hear back from Ragnar. Please post it here. (I'm not sure what your links were for, as they don't seem to resolve the issue.)

I'm very interested in Titanium too, but until they come out of the astronomical price range, let's just say I'd be in big trouble if I bought one....

Ok, I just can't resist. You know, Cody Lundin carries a carbon steel Mora knife. In fact, you can buy one right from his website. (But maybe he doesn't count cause he lives in a desert?) <img src="/images/graemlins/smirk.gif" alt="" />

Anyway, I agree with some of what you say, disagree with the rest. Personally, D2 is the best compromise of current steels for my tastes. And of course, far more able woodsmen than me have sworn by less expensive carbon steels for years.

Well, I haven't heard from Ragnar, yet, but I did hear back from another Mora dealer, Abe Elias: http://home.cogeco.ca/~aelias/

Here is the full text of our exchange:

Hi Randall

Well the truth of the matter is I have called Sweden a number of times direct and talked to them direct and at the time they were not willing to let out the actual steel they use. So I don't know how people are coming up with the names of the steel they are using when they are not telling or did not tell. I have seen listings for the stainless and carbons I don't know how these people are getting the information. Sometimes I wonder if the information that is being spread is made up or a guess but anyone claiming to know should provide how they found out. I even have a dealers catalogue and it is not mentioned in there catalogue or site.

Sorry I couldn't be of more help

Abe
----- Original Message -----
From: Randall Jackson
To: 'Canranger'
Sent: Wednesday, July 27, 2005 8:18 AM
Subject: RE: Knives, what else.

Abe:
A friendly dispute has arisen regarding Mora blade composition. I have a post to Ragnar, but his is often slow getting back.

The questions are: (1) are Moras made of 1095, or the Swedish steel Kolstal? (2) What is the difference?

Randall C. Jackson

*************************************
As for the significance of the links, the second is a link to the web page of Göran Enocksson, a blade maker. Back up to www.gen-smide.se to see the whole thing. My scandinvavian language skills are not as good as my German, but the thrust of it is that they make jakt (hunting) knives of Kolstal, fiske (fishing) knives of a steel called AEB-L, and hantverk (craft) knives of a stainless steel, SS2258 made by Kolstal. There is reference to another steel, Sleipner, which, like Kolstal, is the name of the manufacturer. I looked at the web sites of Kolstal and Sleipner, and they ain't tellin' what is in their steel.

I say poo on the hard steels. They don?t stay sharp that much longer and they are a pain in the butt to sharpen. Give me carbon steel or Buck 420 stainless steel. <img src="/images/graemlins/tongue.gif" alt="" />

*blinks* What are you using to sharpen it? I've never seen a 1095 Ka-bar that didn't want to take an edge.

I use a diamond pocket rod to touch up in the field, and a stone Lansky (ok, I'm lazy) at home. If I have the time and inclination, I sometimes get out the big Arkansas stone and some oil, but that is only if they got used hard. I do have one that I sharpened with Japanese water stones when I did my sharp sword up, but hair spliting is a quirk in my inventory. I have one that I keep fairly dull for throwing, but the rest are all arm shaving sharp.

Becuase my wholesale buddy can't get D2 through his distributor?

I think I need to call him. If I can get a D2 Ka-bar for lhat kind of price difference, and he's been holding out.....

I agree it's weird. I started out like I would any new knife that didn't come sharp: big arkansas, same as you. Then, went to DMT plates.

I think it's a combination of two things: (1) the primary bevel on the shorty is soooooo short and steep that any secondary bevel is well over 25*, and (2) I think I just got a bad temper (the knife, not mine, thought after all the time I've put into the damn thing . . .). Hey, it happens.

I came to the latter conclusion after convexed the thing, which took forever because of the steep primary bevel. It's just a combination of bad geometry (fairly thick stock, fairly narrow blade, bad angle on the grind line) and a steel that has a corse grain structure. After convexing, the 'grind' is now almost back to the blood groove, and I may well have cut through the temper.