Unintentional comedy

I quickly realized that I need to complete the presentation of the Camillus HT-7 in one way or another. At first, I intended to place the addition in a footnote to that text, but it turned out to be too much to deal with. That's how it can be when you're dealing with budget knives. Especially those with marketing departments whose employees appear to be very ignorant in relation to what they write about.

I will try to present the ingredients of this murky soup without too much irony. But that task is difficult and can become overwhelming for me. Hang in there and we'll go!

In the dark, all cats are grey, at least this one from Camillus called HT-7

It is the case that there are some details or rather information regarding this knife that are highly uncertain. Or details and details, that apply to all specifications actually! Namely, the materials are not what they appear to be or they are exactly that. Both options are ridiculous.

I quoted the website which states the blade steel as 420 which is crap steel, to be honest. So anything else would be a blessing. But it looks like it could be right after an ocular inspection, but it can be hard to tell. It mostly says that the knife is poorly sharpened. If you then search for the knife and end up on the giant sites Walmart and Amazon, they state the same material for the reason that they copied the information from Camillus directly. The screenshots are because I don't feel like supporting any of those companies by linking to them.

According to this text, the HT-7 has 420 steel in the blade. Click for better resolution

Even Amazon is getting on the bandwagon when it comes to (dis)information

Although Amazon is to be believed, the situation is even worse. Look at the picture, let your eyes wander down, and read what they listed as HRC. YES, it says 50! They can't possibly be true, then we're down in the basement digging. A really soft Victorinox is around 55-56 for comparison and the only knives that are kept around 50 are throwing knives! Unfortunately, that information is taken from Camillus's own product page. I just hope it's because they don't know what Rockwell is and has nothing to do with the characteristics of the knife.

Yes, Camillus themselves specify the hardness to HRC50!

Another US site "Woodcraft.com" doesn't reveal the steel type at all, they just say "cutlery grade steel" whatever the hell that is. It is just as vague on eBay, where "stainless steel" is what several sellers specify. Except in the very preamble from a seller, where it says AUS8. If true, it's a big step up from 420 anyway. The same information about AUS8 can also be found at several American retailers such as Discount Cutlery and Atlantic Knife.

Here information is mixed and it says "stainless steel" in the information, which AUS8 certainly is. However, the latter is usually specified throughout as it is significantly better than "no name" material

Then the attempt continues to make us consumers completely confused when it is written on some package that the steel would be D2. Certainly significantly better than 420 as well, but belonging to a completely different category as it is a tool steel and thus not nearly as resistant to rust. On the contrary actually.

But the confusion doesn't stop there. It is not only the material in the knife blade that is difficult to identify. The same can be said about the piece to be held. Amazon claims that it is "Acrylonitrile Butadiene Styrene" popularly abbreviated ABS that has been used. So pure plastic. Camillus themselves go a bit further on their website and write that it is some form of a composite material consisting of ABS and rubber. I can say that it is not true at all! Maybe it applies to a completely different model, what do I know? 

The artistic liberties taken by the writers seem to know no bounds given what they claim about the properties of "titanium bonded steel". For the initiated, reading those claims makes the corners of the mouth twitch. So maybe that goes for the handle material as ell?

From what I can tell the handle material is polished Micarta or similar. It could be G10 but the pattern speaks for Micarta as it has clear layers. Incidentally, that conclusion is supported by Knifecenter, which states the same on its website.

I will see if contact with the Camillus dealer in Europe can bring some clarity on the subject. Some kind of review follows, but the journey did not start completely convincingly.

/ J - scratching his head

* All links with information apply to 20221014 09.48