Konjo

Konjo is a Japanese term that, in the American vernacular, would roughly translate as "Guts". It suggests courage under adversity, intestinal fortitude, and a dogged tenacity in the face of physical hardship, pain or even danger. This is an admirable quality in anyone, and it makes an admirable name for these new Japanese styled knives.

Inspired by custom knife maker Bud Nealy's work in the late 1980's, these knives are available in two different blade styles: with either a reinforced Tanto point style (first popularized by Cold Steel), or with a "long sword point" that's particularly well suited for slashing. Both are precision ground out of VG-1 San Mai III steel and vacuum heat-treated and sub zero quenched for maximum strength, toughness, and edge retention. They are ground to a thin edge before being honed to razor sharpness, and they have an attractive mirror polish and come with a traditional ridge shaped Mun (spine of the blade) and double fullers.

Here are some additional features:

Tapered Tang: Both knives include a perforated tapered tang. This feature, though costly, dramatically improves the knife's balance and reduces its overall weight without sacrificing strength where it's most needed.

Bolster: Bolsters serve to strengthen the handle and prevent it from cracking or splitting under stress. The Konjo's are equipped with highly polished nickel silver bolsters designed to emulate the Habaki (blade collar) on a Japanese sword.

Handle: The grip scales are made of highly polished black linen micarta. These have been hand fitted and permanently attached to the tang by epoxy and custom "star" bolts.

Sheath: The Konjos come complete with a sturdy, rich looking sheath that includes a distinctive, decorative inlay of black sam (ray skin).

Konjo I

Blade steel	VG-1 San Mai III
Rc hardness	56-58
Blade length	5"
Length overall	9 1/4"
Blade thickness	4mm
Weight	6.6 oz
Made in	Japan

More about San Mai III steel:
San Mai means "three layers". It's the term given to the traditional laminated blades used by the Japanese for swords and daggers. Laminated construction is important because it allows different grades of steel to be combined in a single blade. A simple way to think of this type of construction is to imagine a sandwich: The meat center is hard, high carbon steel and the pieces of bread on either side are the lower-carbon, tough side panels. The edge of the blade should be hard to maximize edge holding ability, but if the entire blade was hard it could be damaged during the rigors of battle. For ultimate toughness the body of the blade must be able to withstand impact and lateral stresses. Toughness is generally associated with "softness" and "flexibility" in steel, so that, surprisingly, if a blade is made "tough" the edge won't be hard enough to offer superior edge holding. San Mai III provides a blade with hard (higher carbon) steel in the middle for a keen, long lasting edge and tougher (lower-carbon) steel along the sides for flexibility.