Congratulations!👍😅 Totally understand how it feels😊 just bought a 23 year old Spyderco Caly 3 with laminated ZDP 189, LNIB, never expected to find that either.
I'm glad to see you so happy. I bought an Al Mar Eagle in 1989, beautiful knife. No pocket clip, no thumb studs. Never saw a lot of use but IKWYM about how it looks. ZDP 189 is my friend's favorite steel. My favorite - K-390.
Congrats Pete! So happy to see you acquire a grail. Even more happy that it was through the community surrounding the channel you created. Also just tickled that you navigated through the bumps in the road recently, and with an assist from Mrs Pete (who seems amazing BTW), got things back on track. You keep making videos friend and I'm sure more rewards will await.
So glad you got your dream knife. 🔪 I also share your preference for clean elegant lines (what many call boring): drop point or spear point. Basically, this means a knife that resembles the classic western chef’s knife.
The reason you dont see zpd as much anymore is because people have moved to using k390, 10v like steels a lot of the time when they would have used zdp before. Since its a better choice overall. You get similar wear resistance but because zdp189 only has chromium carbide. It has to have over a 30 percent carbide volume (which is insane) to get that wear resistance. Meanwhile 10v and k390 have a much lower carbide volume but perform similarly because its all vanadium carbide. And since lower carbide volume = better toughness. It makes 10v and k390 a better choice for properties. Not saying they shouldnt use zdp. Just wanted to give some explanation.
You are a very lucky boy! I have a Rockstead in ZDP189 that I use regularly and I have found it to be a little chippy. My other Rockstead isn’t their other Steel and it is much more robust. There are a few videos on the long-term use of these on my TH-cam channel, if you’re interested!
so happy for you pete!! honestly i have been doing an in depth search every week or two for the last few months to try and find one for you too so i’m glad i wasn’t the only one lol
My daughter screamed like a little girl tonight, when she found out Matty Healy got engaged. I don’t know what it says about me, but I screamed like a little girl, when I found out Pete got this Al Mar. Thanks for sharing, Pete. 🎉
Got my Endura in ZDP189 right next to me now. Bought it years ago and hardly used it apart from trimming a few pencils here at my desk. Might start carrying a bit more now.
Hey Pete, I think it would be an awesome video one in witch we see you sharpen a convex edge, since it is the outlier in all of the grinds. Since there is a lot of mysticism around sharpening convex knives I think seeing you do it could help a lot of people who are struggling (me included) deciding if buying a convex blade is worth it considering that one day you will have to sharpen it. Thank as always for all the videos and the different pov on the knife world.(again sorry for wonky English but it s not my mother language).
Some of my best steel experiences has been with ZDP-189 on Spyderco delica and endura, i used it at work did whole buch of testing with it, because the rumor was it's so brittle... i stabbed it through icb-containers i cut a ton of man-made materials like rubber mats and nylon straps and i started out with a mirror polished razor sharp edge and ended up with a knife that cut like it was serrated, it was one of those weird things where just like vanadium steels start to bite little more as the edge wears down, but the ZDP just started to bite more and more it was like it was getting a better edge as it wore..... i know steel experiences are kinda subjective because so many variables goes into it, but damn i was impressed... also ive worn the delica 4 zdp-189 while wet in the ocean for hours and it didn't rust at all...
Amazing, thanks for sharing not just your good fortune but also the restoration! This is very helpful for someone like me who is also into tracking down and restoring oldies but goldies.
I had a really bad experience with their customer service on my totally unused old guard. They had my knife for literally months and when it eventually returned it seemed completely unchanged, serious side-to-side wobble which cannot be dialed out because slightly more pivot tension results in the blade becoming completely stuck. Most disappointing knife I have ever bought and I don't feel comfortable selling it with the issues it has.
What a knife! Jeff has been putting out awesome Cutlery Shoppe exclusives for so long! Zdp-189 is one of my favorites and really is a unique and special steel. It’s able to reach such high hardness yet can still be sharpened on any stones since it doesn’t have any vanadium etc. carbides. K390 is certainly a more than worthy replacement for Spyderco’s premium Seki city knives but it was a shame to zdp-189 go. I’ve heard Sal or Eric say that it’s much harder to obtain now for companies that aren’t Japan based or something along those lines.
Yes, Rockstead has some tricks with its heat treatment though, Spyderco has some nice offerings with this steel also. I love this blade steel with four Rockstead knives and seven from Spyderco. Just stop and go.
@@Billfish57i doubt there is much they can do to improve it that much in eather toughness or corrosion resistance. Its toughness is limited by having 30% carbide and its corrosion resistance is limited by not having enough chrome in solution.
I love the designs of Monterey Bay Knives (I tend to love everything by Ray Laconico), but the ZDP makes me pause... wouldn't Magnacut be a better, modern choice?
The knife i will never find again is the kershaw storm II. Still one the knives with best hand feel i have ever owned. Its non assisted blur that is half as thick
Maxace Peregrine comes in zdp189. Might be worth having a look at? Thanks for the video. Really enjoyed hearing you talk about what you love about this knife in particular. 👍
congrats pete, these moki made al mars were something else👍 still have my sere 2000, also a fantastic knife which i can't recommend enough👌 btw: al mar now offers some of their models as a taiwan version in s35vn.
I look forward to you getting the sage 5 in Rex 121;can’t wait to see the testing on that one! I have some zidp189 but it’s on a Delica,so not as rare as your Al mar,but cool video and greetings from Canada 😃
Good on ya Pete. It couldn't have happened to a nicer guy. Now if you wouldn't mind putting in a quick prayer with the lost knife gods for me to find my Caly 3.5 in ZDP, I'd much appreciate it. 😉
Congrats on a beautiful acquisition. I'm curious that since the CPM S110V achieved 650 cuts how did the ZDP do 900? Can you retest CPM S110V and CPM S125V. I have the impression that You are now getting much higher results because You have better equipment and sharpening skills. Please make a video with the best stainless - who will be on top?
I have 1 ZDP189 Knife, the Spyderco stretch 2 with the brown scales. Prefer it to the San Mai Cally by Spyderco because they did not do a good job with the cladding on that one. And like Pete says, The only attainable other choice is a Rockstead, But those aren't attainably priced for me, lol. Love having something in ZDP 189 though, it's just nice to have something in that steel for the collection. It is very hard steel, mine hasn't chipped or patina'd but I keep it clean and polished. Happy to see this knife with this steel. I'd quite like one, but not in Orange.
Had a dragonfly 2 in zdp189 but idk where the hell it went... 😢 i think maybe my couch ate it. All i know is i miss that lil knife. One of my all time favorites
You should check out Monterrey Bay Knives for some awesome knives in XDP-189 with an HRC 67-68. The Rosalinda in particular is awesome. But all of Ray's knives are great.
I will forever morn the Al Mar Falcon Talon ultralight that I lost. Though the reason I lost it was the awful pocket clip causing it to slip out of my pocket, I loved the knife. The post 2018? production Al-Mar knives are just not the same knives in any way. That being said, the Nemesis MPR-1 is also an Al Mar design and is fairly close to the form factor of the old Falcon and improves on it in a couple ways, titanium handle, VG-10 steel instead of AUS-8- Though the handle is maybe too busy if you like the style of the old Eagle/Falcon/Hawk.
I have a few knives from Moki, which I believe is the company that manufactured a lot of these knives for Al Mar. Some of the knives that Moki still makes are similar to the Al Mar knives. Not the same of course, but I like to think they have the same spirit of craftsmanship and quality. If there are people out there who wish they could have knives like these but don't want to spend too much money check out the Moki Kronos. Comes in a small and a large with VG10 blade. It's not zdp189 but it's probably better than Aus8
I've always really wanted a Blakiston fish owl. I don't mind Aus8 at all for these sort of knives. The ease of sharpening is a very welcome feature for me.
I'm happy for you Cedric, that knife design looks so nice and similar to my all time favorite, the Benchmade 710 that I have in four different steels, D2, Damascus, M390 and last month got one in Magnacut, and I love them all. I also am a huge fan of ZDP-189 in my Rocksteads and Spyderco's. It always feels good to get what you really like. No idea why, but I've loved knives my whole life. I've been talking about selling a few from my collection, no one needs over a hundred expensive knives, but I just can't sell off a child and recently I went a different direction, after about a 6 year drought buying anything, I just bought over a dozen new ones and I couldn't be happier about it. I mean look at all the new blade steels out recently, what else could I do? Enjoy that beautiful orange pocket scalpel.
I do miss me some Al Mar designs. Most of the estate/company stuff now shifted to China just doesn't feel the same, and of course I grow ever weary of D2. I picked up some Gerber Silver Knights (2.5" & 3" blades) recently that got me back into his design language. They were really great knives and some of the ultimate (without breaking the bank) gentleman's knives. I wonder if Gerber gave up on them when they went separate ways from the G.Sakai factory or if Al Mar got the design rights back from them. Either way, I'd love to see a reproduction of them with some modernized steels.
G'day Pete, congrats, aint much better to put a smile on your dial, ..... than getting a "grail job" ; ) Good work with the flattening/re-sharpening, unfortunate to take all that steel, but it's the only way to manually guarantee a perfect result to my knowledge. Its a pokey pokey little fella, .... I wonder what Uncle Randy would have to say about that ; ) Anyway, since its not a grail knife anymore, ... what is next on the list mate ? Cheers Duke.
Congratulations!👍😅 Totally understand how it feels😊 just bought a 23 year old Spyderco Caly 3 with laminated ZDP 189, LNIB, never expected to find that either.
That’s a terrific find, congrats 👍🏻
to be fair you can still get the caly 3.5 in zdp
Caly 3 is absolutely my favorite small Spyderco - glad you got one! I feel very fortunate to have grabbed the Hap40 version with green G10.
How cool....congrats......if u ever want to give it away.....
I'm glad to see you so happy. I bought an Al Mar Eagle in 1989, beautiful knife. No pocket clip, no thumb studs. Never saw a lot of use but IKWYM about how it looks. ZDP 189 is my friend's favorite steel. My favorite - K-390.
Congrats Pete! So happy to see you acquire a grail. Even more happy that it was through the community surrounding the channel you created. Also just tickled that you navigated through the bumps in the road recently, and with an assist from Mrs Pete (who seems amazing BTW), got things back on track. You keep making videos friend and I'm sure more rewards will await.
Congrats! Always a good day when you finally get a knife you've been chasing for a while
So glad you got your dream knife. 🔪 I also share your preference for clean elegant lines (what many call boring): drop point or spear point. Basically, this means a knife that resembles the classic western chef’s knife.
The reason you dont see zpd as much anymore is because people have moved to using k390, 10v like steels a lot of the time when they would have used zdp before.
Since its a better choice overall. You get similar wear resistance but because zdp189 only has chromium carbide. It has to have over a 30 percent carbide volume (which is insane) to get that wear resistance.
Meanwhile 10v and k390 have a much lower carbide volume but perform similarly because its all vanadium carbide.
And since lower carbide volume = better toughness. It makes 10v and k390 a better choice for properties.
Not saying they shouldnt use zdp. Just wanted to give some explanation.
Looking forward to seeing you baton with it!
Re: ZDP, Monterey Bay Knives goes to some length to bring out great knives in that steel. Sanford’s got you covered.
You are a very lucky boy! I have a Rockstead in ZDP189 that I use regularly and I have found it to be a little chippy. My other Rockstead isn’t their other Steel and it is much more robust. There are a few videos on the long-term use of these on my TH-cam channel, if you’re interested!
Got a Spyderco Dragonfly in ZDP-189 and its my absolutely favourite small folder, it gets insanely sharp and it keeps sharp for forever.
My grail was the spydiechef, then I got a backup! And now I'm just collecting at this point. 🎉🎉🎉 congratulations Pete!
so happy for you pete!! honestly i have been doing an in depth search every week or two for the last few months to try and find one for you too so i’m glad i wasn’t the only one lol
My daughter screamed like a little girl tonight, when she found out Matty Healy got engaged. I don’t know what it says about me, but I screamed like a little girl, when I found out Pete got this Al Mar.
Thanks for sharing, Pete. 🎉
Got my Endura in ZDP189 right next to me now. Bought it years ago and hardly used it apart from trimming a few pencils here at my desk. Might start carrying a bit more now.
Congratulations on the grail. Bought a K390 wharncliffe Endura based on your review. Love it.
Hey Pete, I think it would be an awesome video one in witch we see you sharpen a convex edge, since it is the outlier in all of the grinds. Since there is a lot of mysticism around sharpening convex knives I think seeing you do it could help a lot of people who are struggling (me included) deciding if buying a convex blade is worth it considering that one day you will have to sharpen it. Thank as always for all the videos and the different pov on the knife world.(again sorry for wonky English but it s not my mother language).
Some of my best steel experiences has been with ZDP-189 on Spyderco delica and endura, i used it at work did whole buch of testing with it, because the rumor was it's so brittle... i stabbed it through icb-containers i cut a ton of man-made materials like rubber mats and nylon straps and i started out with a mirror polished razor sharp edge and ended up with a knife that cut like it was serrated, it was one of those weird things where just like vanadium steels start to bite little more as the edge wears down, but the ZDP just started to bite more and more it was like it was getting a better edge as it wore..... i know steel experiences are kinda subjective because so many variables goes into it, but damn i was impressed... also ive worn the delica 4 zdp-189 while wet in the ocean for hours and it didn't rust at all...
A beautiful moment. Thank you for sharing Pete. 🙏
I’ve been cutting paper till my knife can no longer cut through rope. Look like it’s gonna be a while. I’ll keep you posted.
I died a little bit inside watching you flatten that blade😢. Nice to know how to get a wave out of a blade though. Love your content!!!
Amazing, thanks for sharing not just your good fortune but also the restoration! This is very helpful for someone like me who is also into tracking down and restoring oldies but goldies.
Monterey Bay Knives still produces knives in laminated zdp-189 , like the Slayback model
Awesome that you got your grail! FYI, Monterey Bay Knives is one company using a lot of ZDP-189.
I had a really bad experience with their customer service on my totally unused old guard. They had my knife for literally months and when it eventually returned it seemed completely unchanged, serious side-to-side wobble which cannot be dialed out because slightly more pivot tension results in the blade becoming completely stuck. Most disappointing knife I have ever bought and I don't feel comfortable selling it with the issues it has.
Congratulations. Beautiful knife. Just saw it yesterday when I was looking through the exclusives online at cutlery shoppe.
I like backlocks as long as they are designed correctly. I like the look of this model but for my uses I'd prefer a different style blade grind.
Hey Pete, great to see you get a grail knife that you gave up on. I can see why you love it. Enjoy and I hope you get through winter well. 😊
Congrats on the grail.
ZDP isn't my favorite steel, but my (probably) favorite knife is in ZDP so i do really like it.
I'm truly happy for you Pete, you deserve it.
Take Care!
reminds me of one of my favorite blades, the old cold steel's broken skull in cts-xhp
Congrats on the Grail knife.
Pretty awesome. 900 cuts is impressive! I'm a huge fan of old Al mar knives myself. Congrats!
Great video. Glad you were able to find one.
Happy you got it!
Marking clamp outline is a great tip!
nice to see this knife made it
Love the al Mar eagle also carried it 6 years till it went missing
I don't like the geometry of that Al Mar blade but before the "modern" K390 steel I realized how good was the ZDP-189 and still is.
What a knife! Jeff has been putting out awesome Cutlery Shoppe exclusives for so long! Zdp-189 is one of my favorites and really is a unique and special steel. It’s able to reach such high hardness yet can still be sharpened on any stones since it doesn’t have any vanadium etc. carbides.
K390 is certainly a more than worthy replacement for Spyderco’s premium Seki city knives but it was a shame to zdp-189 go. I’ve heard Sal or Eric say that it’s much harder to obtain now for companies that aren’t Japan based or something along those lines.
Very nice knife. I must get my head around the steels that are out there these days.
Lovely knife! I’ve got a cutlery shoppe exclusive pm2 with the warrencliff blade n love it.
Whatever makes Pete happy, he should have! Good job, Justin!
Isnt that the steel that Rockstead uses?
Yes, Rockstead has some tricks with its heat treatment though, Spyderco has some nice offerings with this steel also. I love this blade steel with four Rockstead knives and seven from Spyderco. Just stop and go.
@@Billfish57i doubt there is much they can do to improve it that much in eather toughness or corrosion resistance. Its toughness is limited by having 30% carbide and its corrosion resistance is limited by not having enough chrome in solution.
Great to see you happy!
Love me some Al Mars! Got to meet him at Ft. Bragg in 1992 at a trade show. I was totally "celebrity struck". 🙂
I love the designs of Monterey Bay Knives (I tend to love everything by Ray Laconico), but the ZDP makes me pause... wouldn't Magnacut be a better, modern choice?
The knife i will never find again is the kershaw storm II. Still one the knives with best hand feel i have ever owned. Its non assisted blur that is half as thick
WOW! He actually looked happy!
Congrats! Spyderco Caly 3.5 in ZDP-189 is one to checkout. One of my favorite Spydies!
Wow very nice spec never saw these, if i had i would have bought back in the day.
I have the Delica in zdp189 with British Racing Green scales. It's a good little knife.
Congrats on the grail pickup! Always hoped you would score one.
Love your channel Pete - glad you got your heavy duty Eagle! Nice work to those in the community who made it happen 👍
Maxace Peregrine comes in zdp189. Might be worth having a look at?
Thanks for the video. Really enjoyed hearing you talk about what you love about this knife in particular. 👍
Good job on the re-profile 👍
Congrats on the grail knife. Idk if I like these knives enough to ever buy one but they aren't bad looking.
Cheers! Lovely gift. Very special indeed.
congrats pete, these moki made al mars were something else👍 still have my sere 2000, also a fantastic knife which i can't recommend enough👌
btw: al mar now offers some of their models as a taiwan version in s35vn.
I look forward to you getting the sage 5 in Rex 121;can’t wait to see the testing on that one!
I have some zidp189 but it’s on a Delica,so not as rare as your Al mar,but cool video and greetings from Canada 😃
Great vid! And congrats Pete.
I'm so happy for you, Pete. 900 cuts - wow!!!
Have two of the variants of the ZT 0450 in ZDP189.
Good on ya Pete. It couldn't have happened to a nicer guy. Now if you wouldn't mind putting in a quick prayer with the lost knife gods for me to find my Caly 3.5 in ZDP, I'd much appreciate it. 😉
Love the eagle, I have an original I bought in the 80s
Absolutely love your videos man! Always informative and entertaining!!!
Congrats Pete - looks great!
Congrats on awesome knife!!
Happy for you! On to the next! THanks for sharing!
Congrats on a beautiful acquisition. I'm curious that since the CPM S110V achieved 650 cuts how did the ZDP do 900? Can you retest CPM S110V and CPM S125V. I have the impression that You are now getting much higher results because You have better equipment and sharpening skills. Please make a video with the best stainless - who will be on top?
Is the 189 bit laminated?
I have 1 ZDP189 Knife, the Spyderco stretch 2 with the brown scales. Prefer it to the San Mai Cally by Spyderco because they did not do a good job with the cladding on that one. And like Pete says, The only attainable other choice is a Rockstead, But those aren't attainably priced for me, lol. Love having something in ZDP 189 though, it's just nice to have something in that steel for the collection. It is very hard steel, mine hasn't chipped or patina'd but I keep it clean and polished. Happy to see this knife with this steel. I'd quite like one, but not in Orange.
my only issue with ZDP-189 - need diamonds to sharpen it and it takes so long to dual I forget how to sharpen it again lol
Great knife!😁 got a spyderco ladybug in zdp-189, bit of an effort to sharpen if completely dull, but takes and holds wicked edge
Beautiful blade. The benchmade fact is my first and likely last knife from the brand haha.
Awesome, man. I’m glad you finally got one for yourself 🤙🏼
Had a dragonfly 2 in zdp189 but idk where the hell it went... 😢 i think maybe my couch ate it. All i know is i miss that lil knife. One of my all time favorites
lol, I love the editing towards the end
You should check out Monterrey Bay Knives for some awesome knives in XDP-189 with an HRC 67-68. The Rosalinda in particular is awesome. But all of Ray's knives are great.
Thank you for all your excellent reviews. May I make a suggestion for a video. Which is better for food prep. Polished or toothy edge?
Congratulations on getting a grail piece! 😁🗡️
Happy for you Pete!
MBK does most of their knives in Laminated ZDP-189 at a pretty good HRC. You should check them out!
I will forever morn the Al Mar Falcon Talon ultralight that I lost. Though the reason I lost it was the awful pocket clip causing it to slip out of my pocket, I loved the knife. The post 2018? production Al-Mar knives are just not the same knives in any way.
That being said, the Nemesis MPR-1 is also an Al Mar design and is fairly close to the form factor of the old Falcon and improves on it in a couple ways, titanium handle, VG-10 steel instead of AUS-8- Though the handle is maybe too busy if you like the style of the old Eagle/Falcon/Hawk.
The Caly 3.5 from Spyderco is still available in a ZDP sammich.
Not my kind of knife but im happy for you! Feels awesome getting a grail you've wanted for long time.
man that thing is sweet. even better its in orange too
So disappointed, I was expecting a knife made from the actual Holy Grail. You're lucky the screaming cat keeps me around.
Incredibly jealous, what else can I say really. That’s amazing
I have a few knives from Moki, which I believe is the company that manufactured a lot of these knives for Al Mar. Some of the knives that Moki still makes are similar to the Al Mar knives. Not the same of course, but I like to think they have the same spirit of craftsmanship and quality.
If there are people out there who wish they could have knives like these but don't want to spend too much money check out the Moki Kronos. Comes in a small and a large with VG10 blade. It's not zdp189 but it's probably better than Aus8
I've always really wanted a Blakiston fish owl. I don't mind Aus8 at all for these sort of knives. The ease of sharpening is a very welcome feature for me.
@@antoinedoinell I have a blackiston fish owl. The larger one I think the reference number is 110m. It's a gorgeous knife. I hope you find one
I'm happy for you Cedric, that knife design looks so nice and similar to my all time favorite, the Benchmade 710 that I have in four different steels, D2, Damascus, M390 and last month got one in Magnacut, and I love them all. I also am a huge fan of ZDP-189 in my Rocksteads and Spyderco's. It always feels good to get what you really like. No idea why, but I've loved knives my whole life. I've been talking about selling a few from my collection, no one needs over a hundred expensive knives, but I just can't sell off a child and recently I went a different direction, after about a 6 year drought buying anything, I just bought over a dozen new ones and I couldn't be happier about it. I mean look at all the new blade steels out recently, what else could I do? Enjoy that beautiful orange pocket scalpel.
I do miss me some Al Mar designs. Most of the estate/company stuff now shifted to China just doesn't feel the same, and of course I grow ever weary of D2.
I picked up some Gerber Silver Knights (2.5" & 3" blades) recently that got me back into his design language. They were really great knives and some of the ultimate (without breaking the bank) gentleman's knives. I wonder if Gerber gave up on them when they went separate ways from the G.Sakai factory or if Al Mar got the design rights back from them. Either way, I'd love to see a reproduction of them with some modernized steels.
Unrelated to this video but I Would love to see PM60 steel testing on the kunwu Chad knife..
Ooh, old school!
Yes!!
Daaaaamn! Lucky you I`m still hunting the Ultralight Eagle in AUS-8. Lucky you Pete!
congrats man!
👍 that happy feeling 🎂
😮 color me extremely jealous!
Yes! Congrats dude!!! You love to see it
Damn son! That’s a great grail. Nutnfancy kids growing up haha.
G'day Pete, congrats, aint much better to put a smile on your dial, ..... than getting a "grail job" ; )
Good work with the flattening/re-sharpening, unfortunate to take all that steel, but it's the only way to manually guarantee a perfect result to my knowledge.
Its a pokey pokey little fella, .... I wonder what Uncle Randy would have to say about that ; )
Anyway, since its not a grail knife anymore, ... what is next on the list mate ? Cheers Duke.
900!! holy cow! for the time it must have been space age!