Legal Disclaimer
Dear Visitor,
whether you are new or not that new to the tactical knife world, whether a professional or just a regular citizen i would like to remind you that knives are dangerous goods.
Self defense knives are not magic potions, and will not ensure your or your loved ones safety. Same as a survival knife, which will not ensure your survival, it is just a tool to help you trough the day.
If you dedicate yourself to carry a blade for defensive purposes i strongly recommend you to look for professional training and instructions, train regularly, seek professional advice, check your local carry and criminal laws, ensure that your knives are out of reach of children. We only sell knives for adults over the age of 18 years old.
Lastly, if you decide to carry, you have the training, and the law is backing you up i still encourage you to step down if you have the opportunity. Money, valued items, and all the treasures of the universe can be replaced, but human life can not.
Stay Safe
Zoltan
Our steel selection
Lost with steel namings? Check our interactive steel guide and selector to find the best steel for your needs.
What the ratings mean
Toughness
How well the edge and blade resist chipping and breaking under impact, twisting and batoning.
Edge retention
How long the edge keeps cutting before it needs sharpening.
Corrosion resistance
How well the blade resists rust from sweat, blood, humidity and salt water.
Ease of sharpening
How quickly you can bring the edge back on ordinary stones in the field.
Toughness, edge retention and corrosion resistance figures are sourced from metallurgist Larrin Thomas's independently tested ratings at Knife Steel Nerds — "Knife Steels Rated by a Metallurgist" (unnotched Charpy toughness, CATRA edge retention, salt-spray corrosion testing). Ease of sharpening is GZ Custom Blades' own field estimate and isn't part of that dataset.
All steels side by side
Toughness, edge retention and corrosion resistance run 0–10 and are Larrin Thomas's published, independently tested ratings (see source above), not GZ Custom Blades' own numbers. Ease of sharpening is GZ Custom Blades' own field estimate. * CPM MagnaMax, A8 Mod and Titanium Gr5 are not covered in Larrin's published ratings — their toughness/edge/corrosion figures are GZ Custom Blades' own estimates instead. Every steel is a trade-off: gaining in one column costs in another. Edge geometry, heat treatment and how you use the knife matter as much as the steel itself.
