Good heat treatment with modest steel will beat crappy heat treatment with super steel most times.
Look at the production knives that use Paul Bos' heat treatment processes, such as Buck. While you can't expect a Buck 110 made of 420HC to outperform a well made custom knife, the heat treatment they use (consistently) with a modest steel plus excellent geometry makes for a solid cutting tool.
Good heat treatment is why some knives made from AUS 8A in factories in Seki, Japan (like old Spyderco Enduras) grossly outperform knives made of the exact same steel with lesser heat treatments (like the old Camillus ill-fated EDC knife).
Yeah, I'm preaching to the choir here, but it's worth agreeing with you guys to reiterate a very important point: it's all in the heat treatment.
Look at the production knives that use Paul Bos' heat treatment processes, such as Buck. While you can't expect a Buck 110 made of 420HC to outperform a well made custom knife, the heat treatment they use (consistently) with a modest steel plus excellent geometry makes for a solid cutting tool.
Good heat treatment is why some knives made from AUS 8A in factories in Seki, Japan (like old Spyderco Enduras) grossly outperform knives made of the exact same steel with lesser heat treatments (like the old Camillus ill-fated EDC knife).
Yeah, I'm preaching to the choir here, but it's worth agreeing with you guys to reiterate a very important point: it's all in the heat treatment.
