Eickhorn Solingen - Eickhorn-Solingen uses high carbon steel for most military knives (bayonets and combat knives). This steel is superior in performance to most other steels due to its chemistry and also because of the close controls that we maintain at every stage of the manufacturing process. These controls begin at the steel mill where Eickhorn-Solingen specifies the desired microstructure of the steel. Once melted, each steel shipment is microscopically checked for structural quality, cleanliness and chemical content. The final step is a precise heat treatment sequence that was developed by Eickhorn-Solingen specifically for this custom steel. This heat treatment process is one of our most highly guarded trade secrets. It was arrived at over several years by using an exhaustive series of practical and metallurgical tests and observations. Overall, we believe that attention to detail in every phase of the manufacturing process is the primary reason for the superiority of our blades.