knifes from Taiwan (?)

[Spoon]

taiwain knives are just as good, not worth spending a ton on a dive knife unless you like showing off

 

[MikeFerrara]

My local dive shop sells only knives from Italy & Germany because they say the taiwanese & chinese ones just dont have the same quality. Ive seen both kinds and the price differences are substantial.

Are the European blades worth the difference, or should I go with the Asian ones?

I would ask the shop how they define quality. The specific characteristics you look for in a knife depend on it's intended use. some need to be very sharp, some need to be tough for chopping or prying ect and in some cases it's stain resistance. Handle and sheath construction will of course also effect durability and utility.

I make knives and I test cutting ability, how well the blade holds an edge and toughness. By toughness I mean it's resistance to breaking. Generally speaking a tougher steel is softer steel. And yes the toughness test I sometimes do is a destructive test so once it's done the blade is gone. Those attributes are controlled by the steel used and the way the blade is heat treated (hardened and tempored). Blade geometry will also have a huge effect on hoew the knife cuts. There again, there are tradeoffs between cutting ability and strength.

I don't work with "stainless" so I can't say much about the advantages of the different alloys.

For dive knives I use whatever is cheap and looks like it'll work (like little kitchen knives) but I'm not using them for prying.