Spyderco Forums

Placebos aren't like believing in unicorns. They are an amazing phonenomenon and very real. They are influencing our daily impressions and not necessarily a bad thing.

Second nobody is saying a product with a performance variance (ie anything made on this planet by man or robot) is equivalent to another product of a lesser reputation in a specific area. The most reliable diesel engine, cell phone, or computer on average will still outperform its competition. While you can't guarantee anything you can stack probability in your favor.

Lastly while empirical data is important not everyone is geared to gather it or even realize the differences without careful post analysis. Many of my knives are still near factory sharp, how would I know which of the 10 or so VG10 blades is of a lower performance bin (to abuse a flashlight term) without hogging a ton of steel and materials?

There is what you know such as the average characteristics of a blade steel which is much more than edge retention. There is what you believe based on general averages and the results you have seen with informal use. Lastly there is the grey you have to accept. If you don't accept the grey hand of fate you will go insane.

My main point is don't fear the unknown if someone says it exists. Deal with what you can tell and buy products you believe in. If it feels great in hand and cuts like a demon for hours assume its of good stock. If its not holding up to the other 5 folders you have in M390 start tweaking variables, trade it in for another, or sharpen it more often. This company makes some good ones.

Note: not a rant or flame, just my thoughts brought about by good discussion!

Hey Blerv, I think I have a reasonably good grasp of the implications presented. I gather that the possibility of any blade steel performing anywhere within the "performance bin" exists. I just don't agree that the range of the "performance bin" is all that large. I also consider that there might be anomalies that will be outside the "performance bin"

Please don't interpret my actions as distrust for spyderco, au contraire. I do trust Sal and crew to provide us ELU's with the best price for performance and materials.

As for my recent spate of posts, I was just being my usual self and trying to poke fun at Cliff. I guess it backfired again. :o

Oh I know you Chuck. Just reiterating some stuff to feel better. Its hard to read sincere questions from sarcasm at times. Just making sure people know there is a quantifiable difference between products with the slippery slope lately.

Spyderco and Cliff can defend themselves nicely if they feel attacked. I sure wouldn't help much. :)

Hehehe, it doesn't take long for the both of us to come to a consensus. I'd like to think that I can sometimes be as reasonable as you Blerv.

I'd never made the connection between the placebo effect (also known as observer bias), the inevitable variability of any manufactured good, and the astounding variety of opinion that you will find among knife users. While I'm having fun with it, I am also quite sincere in my appreciation of the conversation!

Fancier wrote:I'd never made the connection between the placebo effect (also known as observer bias), the inevitable variability of any manufactured good, and the astounding variety of opinion that you will find among knife users. While I'm having fun with it, I am also quite sincere in my appreciation of the conversation!

Glad to help with that connection :) .

It was almost midnight and I was reading this post in bed. It was probably taken out of context compared to the cacophony that was occurring in the other thread.

Slicing an apple leaves a noticeable stain on my M390 Millie blade. I thought that this metal did not stain easily. Soapy water will not remove these faint stains off the blade. Comments welcome :)

KardinalSyn wrote:Slicing an apple leaves a noticeable stain on my M390 Millie blade. I thought that this metal did not stain easily. Soapy water will not remove these faint stains off the blade. Comments welcome :)

thats weird O_o

From Bohler:

As a custom knifemaker should I use M390 in every knife?

Yes, if edge holding is your top priority and you want every knife to be at least 60 Rc
hard. If toughness in a stainless is your number one priority then use Uddeholm ELMAX
tempered to 58-59 Rc. If corrosion resistance is most important, Uddeholm VANAX is
the choice.

I haven't had a chance to try it yet, but knifeworks has an exclusive contego with blue-black g10 and m390 in the works for early january. Just a heads up