The Vargo Knives Sobata-398 features an impressive build that boasts a brand new blade material mostly found of high performance racing brake pads; Sintered Titanium Ceramic Silver Alloy. This is a rare material that pairs the superior edge retention of ceramic, with the lightweight, flexibility, and corrosion resistance of Titanium. In testing, this titanium alloy is boasting 5x better edge retention than traditional hardened steel (HRC 63). That is a bold statement, but considering the Sintered Ti ceramic silver alloy only has a hardness of (HRC 40) it is quite impressive. The blade may feel different during cutting tasks, because of how the sintering process was done. In short, small pieces of ultra hard ceramic are blended together with Titanium at the microscopic level, while still maintaining the desirable attributes of each material. Because of this the edge will have a "toothy" bite, and cutting characteristics. Think of it like micro-serrations. The edge may feel "dull" out of the box, but don't let that fool you on its raw cutting performance. The Sobata 398 features a sturdy Ti frame lock, and ultra smooth flipper design. Features: Sintered Ti Ceramic Silver Alloy offers superb resistance against wear and corrosion. Ball-bearing pivot creates smooth, precise flipping action. Titanium pocket clip and frame lock design make this a real EDC contenter.