While our 2021 knife relaunch wasn’t exactly an Apple event, it got more attention and publicity than we could’ve asked for. We shipped more knives in a day than any Black Friday. This has been the result of much love and effort from both sides - the team at Tekto and our users. You said, we heard. And then we took your opinion and used them to redesign and reforge the automatic knives that you love the most. Quality and functionality were at the core of the upgrades. Over the years, we have used the 440C as the standard steel for our blades. 440C stainless steel has been the yardstick for quality knife blades for years. It’s been used by reputable brands like Benchmade and Böker. Even expert knife smiths prefer 440C for certain blade types. However, the time has moved, it’s 2021, and users want to blade more robust, wear resistant, and one that can hold its edge even after weeks of brutal use.
Full Steel Ahead
Finding new steel to replace an already established workhorse was always going to be tricky. This is partly because we wanted to keep our low prices low. It is one of the reasons why our customers keep coming back to us - to get quality American knives at a reasonable price. The search began. We needed a blade material that would be the guardian for survival.
It had to be strong but easy to work with, wear-resistant as well as corrosion-resistant and one that will hold sharpness for years. We tried everything from A2, A3 to Japanese carbon steel - "Steel Kougu".
The only one that met all demands was D2 - a high carbon, high chromium die steel with a legend claiming “D2 knives hold an edge forever,”. It’s only a legend but in our tests, it did come close. We put sample blades through the most brutal torture test, and they held their edge.
This was a big win. We also found out that the same steel was being used by legendary swordsmith and knifemaker Jimmy Lile, and Bob Dozier.
Impossible Be Damned
The market is swamped by knives that swear by max durability. However, after regular use for a few months, they are gone, the blades no longer hold the razor-sharp edge they came with. This is understandable for budget knives. Wear-resistance steel comes at a cost.
D2 knife edges can retain sharpness for years, albeit with some care. Since the steel is highly corrosion-resistant, this workhorse won’t catch rust easily. It needs long exposure to moisture to eventually rust. You still need to wipe and dry your blade at the end of the day. And it’s not just D2’s mind-blowing edge retention capability. This steel is considered the King of wear resistance. This is because of an ideal mix of chromium, manganese, carbon, and vanadium. Ultimately it’s this quality that put D2in the world of top knife smiths. This does come at a price. No, we’re not putting the prices up. Just that it will take more muscle work to sharpen these blades. So, we decided to do it for you - no charge, it’s free, for life. In a few years or whenever the edge finally starts to show signs of numbness, send it over to us. We’ll sharpen it like new and send it back to you.
