jabba359 wrote:Philo, are you just trying to argue for the sake of arguing?
Seems you are doing the same?
jabba359 wrote:Nobody is saying you can't have your S110V or REX 121 knives. Nobody is saying that there aren't people that need that kind of wear resistance. The term "we" was likely intended to mean if you average out the knife usage of everyone that uses a knife, then these mega high end steels aren't typically needed on a day to day basis for most people. I highly doubt the term "we" was used in the complete and absolute sense of "every single individual user ever on a personal basis."
I'd say you need to go back and reread the thread..it went "We don't need REX 121, don't need S110V and most of us probably don't even need anything better than S35VN but it's fun and interesting to see how different steels act." to "The average user (and probably most people in the world) could get by just fine without S110V, S125V or REX 121. I'm not sure what the rest of the users NEED that kind of steel for but I tend to think people get the super duper premium stuff because they simply want to have it, myself included".
Maybe your right and it wasn't meant the way it came across but when I read those statements it seems to come across one way only..I know people that do need these higher quality steels but they are either unwilling to learn about them or they are to cheap to buy them.
jabba359 wrote:But hey, if you want to take a generic observation and interpret it as a personal attack on your freedom to carry S110V, I suppose that's your right. Nobody's going to stop you from taking it that way, but it doesn't mean we (the collective, average "we", not the single individual person "we") can't see how absurd such absolutist interpretations are.
Where did I say I take it as a "personal attack on your freedom to carry S110V".. "Absurd..yeah that's a good word to describe it if you think that's what I'm trying say. What I'm saying is a knife or steel can't be prejudged..any steel has specific material properties, you can look it up, that can't be changed..but any steel will react differently to different environments and how we use them and what we use them for along with are individual knife sharpening skills.
jabba359 wrote:As for knowing what the average person needs, sales are a good way of seeing what people are buying to fill their knife needs. If you look at the overall trend of mass produced knives, it appears that as a whole (again, not on a single person by person basis), people tend to fulfill their knife needs by purchasing mid to lower end steels. So if the majority is fulfilling their cutting needs with mid to low end steels, and a very small minority needing uber wear resistant steels, then the average quality of steel needed is still going to be dragged down by the sheer number of lower end needs, even if there are those with more demanding cutting tasks and needs.
I've always thought that the majority tend to fulfill their knife needs according to price..they may not know the differences between VG10 and S110V but they certainly understand the price tag.
jabba359 wrote:Now, does this mean other people don't need or deserve to have their S110V and REX 121? Absolutely not. I'm glad you personally can buy them. I'm glad that I can buy them even though I personally don't need anything nearly so wear resistant.
Agreed. Can't forget the coming Maxamet version either.
jabba359 wrote:If we really want to get to the bottom of the want vs need aspect of the average knife user (well, within the confines of this forum), maybe a poll could tell us if the average buyer is buying because they need the additional performance these super high wear resistant knives offer, or if it's for other reasons (collectibility, fun, just for variety's sake, etc).
I don't really consider anyone on this forum to be a "average" buyer or user..most of the people I know that carry and use knives on a daily basis don't even know what a knife forum is/prefer traditional knives and wouldn't know S90V from a bag of donuts.
At some point we will have Maxamet and Rex 121 Mules to use and test..considering how difficult some of these steels are to work with I think that's pretty dang amazing.
