How's Rike's Damascus? Anybody know the actual composition?
How good is the edge retention and corrosion resistance?
If those two attributes are at least on par with S35VN, I think I found my perfect "fear-friendly" knife.
TheOmegaCarrotEasy, it's a form of stainless steel. It isn't Damascus, or "damasteel", it's just pattern welded and etched. Calling pattern welding Damascus is a humpty-duptyism popular with Americans.
SDanteWhile I don't disagree that modern day "damascus" is a misnomer, i think at this point anyone who knows enough to know there's a difference already knows this, and everyone else has only ever known "damascus" to be pattern welded steel anyway.
That said, "Damasteel" is actually a brand name, and this is Damasteel, as @nextcityplanner said.
P. S.
@TheOmegaCarrot
If you're considering this one again during this current drop, no, this isn't going to be on par with S35VN.
Per the datasheet for Damasteel's Rose pattern :
Damasteel’s stainless Damascus patterned steel is a powder based steel with the two alloys RWL34™ and PMC27™. They are both variations of the martensitic stainless steel 420 type with a minimum of 13 percent chromium content.
RWL34 is equivalent to 154CM, which is still a good steel, but many consider it a step below s30v/s35vn for edge retention.
I think the bigger issue is the question of how the RWL34 and PMC27 work together....and that depends entirely on the heat treat process used by the manufacturer (which, i don't know if we have that info)
According to the datasheet, if they harden it with the goal of keeping the two steels to a similar Hardness, the whole thing ends up a bit soft, at 58 and 56 hrc, respectively.
If they push for a higher Hardness, the difference between the two steels can be up to 8 hrc off.
Since this is a solid piece, not cladding over a core, that could leave you with an edge that's chippy in some spots, and soft in others. So, hopefully they went for just a little on the softer side overall.
I wouldn't want this for a big, hard use blade, but it works fine for something small like this, that doesn't see any serious abuse.
It also sharpens easily and polishes very well