Damascus Steel Hunting Knives

There is something to say about owning a trusty knife that you can depend on day after day. Our mission at Cold Steel Outdoors is to bring you this "knife", which can be passed on from generation to generation. A world-class knife with superior craftsmanship and forging that will compete with any knife on the market. One who will hold a razor blade and take care of any task of a real hunter or outdoorsmen. Our Damascus steel knives are all in addition to being a unique and artisan work of art. Each blade is forged and handcrafted for hours and hours until the desired masterpiece of each blade is born.

As far back as history can document, beautiful Handmade Damascus Steel Hunting Knife

and swords have been made with carbon steel, forged by hand by blacksmiths whose art has defined whole cultures. Once you hold and balance one of our Damascus steel blades in your hand, you will realize the quality and history that is now part of your heritage. Carbon steel knives, when properly maintained, improve with use. Regular sharpening and a simple application of oil are enough.

A brief history of Damascus steel

The traditional Handmade Damascus Steel Hunting Knife and swords of Damascus have dominated armaments since the Iron Age until the Viking Age. It is said that Alexander the Great had a sword of Damascus, and even Aristotle commented on the high quality of the Damascus steel blade. Its origins date back to 500 A.D. In India, it was commonly called Wootz or Ukka Steel. He then found his way to Damascus Syria which was the center of trade in this region for war equipment such as knives, swords, and armor. Damascus Steel was the name the Crusaders gave to the steel they saw slicing through their own lower-quality swords, cutting the sword in two at a time without losing its edge.

The steel that was forged by the blacksmiths of ancient Damascus was a secret so well kept that it can not be perfectly reproduced even today. The process was lost to blacksmiths in the Middle East around 1750 AD, perhaps because ore sources containing minute quantities of tungsten and/or vanadium needed for its production were exhausted.

The modern process

Modern Damascus Steel or Pattern Welded Steel is a highly sought-after blade, not only for its quality and beauty but also because of the mystery and history that surrounds it continually, intriguing others to own a small piece. The process has been going on for thousands of years, but even with a little modern technology, the forge that goes into one of our knives is still an art form that is a process of countless hours of work that has taken several years.

Model welding takes several layers of metal, folding them together and connecting them through the forge welding. Our Damascus steel blades are made from 1095 carbon steel and a nickel bearing steel called 15N20. Nickel in steel resists etching, giving the blade the brighter layers you see in a particular model. Getting the exact carbon content in the steel mix is where art meets science. If you get too much carbon, you get a pile of cast iron, and if it's too little you get a pile of wrought iron. The perfect combination of these two types of steel gives you an incredibly strong and flexible blade that will hold a razor blade at an HRC of 56-58.

Model welding steel is like using building blocks. Different steels are stacked in a pattern in a block or billet and welded together. The billet is placed under extreme heat and is hammered into a piece of steel. This piece is thinned drastically. The blacksmith bends the steel again and again, then repeats the process several times. Most Damascus models have been stacked or twisted to give each blade its unique pattern. Depending on the design of the blade, there will be between 250 layers and more than 500 layers. This folding and handling of the steel are what makes it strong as well as the beautiful pattern on the finished blade. This whole process gives you a sharper blade than other common steels. Finally, after sharpening the knife blade of Damascus, they are placed in the oven until it reaches 1500 degrees. It is then removed and soaked in oil. The blade should then be soaked that it is heated to 425 degrees for about two hours. After cooling, it is sanded with fine sandpaper and sharpened. The engraving in the blade is made using a mixture of acid and water to gnaw the softer metal revealing the Damascus motif. The end result of our knives is an amazing knife that is razor with an HRC of 56-58.