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Tacktical Knives July 2002 Issue How TigerSharp Blades Make Field Sharpening Obsolete The old bugaboo, edge-holding, has haunted knife users for generations, more generations than we can hope to remember. There was probably an argument going on thousands of years ago when those who swore by flint blades argued that the new-fangled copper ones wouldn’t hold and edge. The argument probably went something like this, “Sure, flint blades are brittle, but it’s no big deal to chip out another.” The fellow on the other side would say, “My copper blade won’t break; when it gets dull I just straighten and thin the edge a little bit goes back to cutting.” Down through the ages there has been a constant search for the happy medium, a very hard blade that will hold an edge forever, but one that is not brittle and will not break and one that resharpens easy. And since we have outgrown stone and copper, a blade that will not rust. All kinds of trade-offs have been made – different, materials, different combinations of materials, coatings, formulations and combinations of these. It goes without saying that a very hard piece of steel will hold an edge longer than a soft one. I know, hardness isn’t everything, but we have to admit that it’s the predominate factor in edge holding. A hard steel blade will hold an edge longer than a soft steel blade, end of argument. And, as a corollary to that, a hard steel, by definition, is difficult to sharpen. Along comes TigerSharp. The TigerSharp hunting knife is, at first glance, a rather ordinary looking drop-point hunter, but under the surface, ordinary it is not. The TigerSharp system harks back to the idea of the laminated blade, a blade with soft steel surrounding a hard core of a different, much harder steel. This is not a new idea; it’s been around for a long, long time, most notably in Japanese blades that sometimes have several different types of steel in each blade. TigerSharp’s blades, however, most resemble those of Scandinavia, which feature an envelope of a single type of relatively soft steel surround a core of a single type of very hard steel. TigerSharp’s innovation is a system that allow that very hard, very sharp blade to be removed and replaced when it becomes dull. This is definitely not a new idea. Replaceable blade or interchangeable blade knives have been around for a long time, but TigerSharp’s replaceable blade is nothing like any of the others. All other replaceable blade knives require that the whole blade be replaced. This is not necessarily bad since a different style or shaped blade usually replaces the one that is dull. But it’s not necessarily good, either. Suppose that the knife user doesn’t want a different-style blade? He wants to continue using the blade he has and he wants it sharp. This is the TigerSharp innovation, The core blade, for lack of a better description, is all that is replaced in a TigerSharp hunter. When the cutting edge is replaced you have just exactly the same style blade you started with. The classic drop-point hunter. And it’s about as easy as can be imagined. TigerSharp also makes folders with the same blade changing system and they have a removable strip along the back of the handle. The handle itself is made of tough ABC high-impact thermoplastic. The removable strip slides in grooves along the length of the handle. Serrations at the point on the back of the handle where the thumb naturally rests aid in sliding the strip backward. This exposes the top of the heel of the blade. The hard-core steel that provides the cutting edge is held tightly, sandwiched between the two layers of steel on either side that make the blade of the knife. When the strip along the back of the handle is slid backward and the heel of the blade is exposed, the core steel is “unlocked” from its nest between the layers. The core is then removed by placing the back, or top, of the point against a hard surface and pressing downward. This unlocks the cutting edge as it is pressed further and allows the core blade to be removed backwards and upwards from the spin of the knife. A fresh, sharp, cutting edge core blade can be installed simply by inserting it between the steel layers of the blade, pushing it forward, then pressing the bottom of the point against a hard surface and sliding the strip in the handle forward, locking it in place. This can be done much quicker than it takes to explain how it’s done. The outside layers of steel in the blade are made from 440A hardened to 56 Rc and extended as a full tang completely through the length of the handle. The steel in the cutting edge is K7, a special formulation of high carbon, high chromium, molybdenum/vanadium stain resistant steel hardened to 61 Rc. The tolerance between the layers of steel in only .001 inch and effectively prevents a buildup of undesirable elements: hair, flesh, etc., within the blade slot. TigerSharp’s hunting knife blade doesn’t HAVE to be replaced when it gets dull. It can be resharpened in place, but it goes without saying that one has to be equipped if he’s going to resharpen a blade that’s 61 Rc. How does it work? Very well, indeed. Although the blade is a bit thick for a kitchen knife, that was where it was tested, cutting meat, vegetables, slicing bread, spreading butter. The edge turned out to be very durable and has not needed replacing. Each TigerSharp hunter comes with a durable nylon sheath with an inner protective sleeve. Furnished with each knife is an extra replaceable blade that fits in a Velcro-secured pocket on the outside of the sheath, handy should it be needed. Best of all, the TigerSharp hunter retails for $69.99 with a two-pack of extra blades for $9.99. The TigerSharp system has won awards for innovative design and a 98% approval rating from the North American Hunting Club.
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