The quality of steel in tools, in particular blades, is a sore point with me.

Saddlers seem to spend an inordinate amout of time at house clearing auctions, and the like, looking for old tools (pre-WWI) because the steel is just so much better.

I even travel to a tool-maker in France to buy saddlery tools because his blades take and hold a sharp edge. Japanese tools at the moment are the best; British are rubbish, as are German. I get my round knives from the Amish in Ohio.

I wonder why this is?

Oh, and my sgian dhubh is an old one bought in the '50s - it takes a reasonable edge. I also keep a small sgian-pḥcaid (pocket knife) with me; folding, locking, stainless steel blade.