Cheap Knife vs Expensive Custom

[Timelord]

Yeah, I get fed up with all this crap about custom knife this, special knife that. Like you said, Most are made out of a few specific grades of steel and it does not take a custom master to make a great knife. It is simple low tech stuff. Many of the so called knife makers are only assemblers anyway, of pre cut & shaped parts. Most of these special "NASA" used types of steel are wrong for a practical worldly knife. All this obsession with a steel that gives a sharper than sharp, almost atomic edge is a load of sales crap also. A decent standard knife steel will give a real sharp edge - which is why it is a steel grade designated for knives in the first place. The grades that give an even sharper edge(like you need it) are harder and more brittle and once damaged are more difficult to regrind. These correct grades of steel are intentionally of a specific hardness range and not too hard. Tool steel gives a good edge but was not the choice for large sized knives as it is too brittle if tempered as normal. Ok for short knives but suspect for large knives.
Those pics of the Hudson Bay knives show the typical sized ones known but there are also woodcuts showing even longer knives - more like mid machete length but obviously not as thin as a machete. All these types of knives are of a blade form that is much older than the Canadian Settlers period and date back to the Medieval period. In fact most knife forms can be found at some far removed point in history and far & wide across the planet. There is not much new in a knife.
I know some folks decry carbon steel blades, but they are easier to sharpen and maintenance is not a problem. Anyone who thinks rust is a problem should really learn how to look after a knife and if you think me saying that is uncomfortable, then listen to your ancestors of the last few millenia and see if they found it too problematic.
Also, flint tools were very brittle and often broke. They were used differently to how we would use a full size survival knife.
Knife Tech Knowledge is simples - you want to try real use swords. Now that's a whole new level of understanding! lol.

(A good place to find excellent quality blades is a 2nd hand market or an auto jumble. 2nd hand tool stalls often have old work knives from old timers tool collections. With a steady eye it will be seen that many of these are of excellent durable quality and are designed to last many many years of trade use. Also farm suppliers stock bill hooks. The simple hand held bill hook is a thick, sturdy edged tool that can be used for a variety of tasks as a large knife and for light chopping duties. They are very cheap and can be ground to a different more knife like shape but will still retain plenty of meat in the blade which is no bad thing. The historical pioneer knives were always sturdy affairs and single edged. If you can find an old bill hook or cleaver on a 2nd hand tool store, then these are usually very good quality and will have a soft back & core, with a harder steel edge forge welded in place, just like the historical knives, swords & all manner of edged implements. These sources will enable very cheap purchases of good quality sturdy blades, that can be left "as is" or adapted to suit. A fiver 2nd hand or maybe £15 new from a farm supplier like "Charlies".)

( A billhook is a very underrated tool. It can be used for some knife duties. It still retains a point and it is good for light chopping duties. In fact the curved end of the blade is very similar to some hunters skinning knives while the back outer curve of the point, if sharpened up, is good for cutting leather or all manner of other materials. Some Bill Hooks have another straight edge on the back edge. This is a light axe edge and again combined with the weight and extra leverage of the handle gives a considerable chopping blow. The bill hook was after all a medieval evolution of a multitool for use in wooded areas. The "billhook" can be worn on the belt suspended in a leather sheath and is of a manageable size - more like a large knife to small axe size)

The cheap versus expensive quest is a wander down the lane of misdirecting salesmanship. Some of the expensive stuff is wholly unsuited to the job. Some of it is good. It is the same for the cheap knives. "You get what you pay for" is a misleading proposition and in reality it is the correct materials and the quality of construction that matter. For a simple bit of kit like a knife, this should not be expensive! Any whistles & bells are just extra if you wish to pay for them.