1095 in extreme cold

The ductile to brittle transition happens very abruptly in low carbon steels, but it happens at very low temperatures. As carbon goes up, the transition temperature goes up as well. The transition for high carbon steels is not as abrupt as for low carbon steels, and happens over a range of temperatures, becoming more brittle and less ductile as temperature decreases. I'm not sure how high it goes, but 40-50 degrees F may be right for high carbon steels, which 1095 certainly is.

I think a lot of the worry over cold brittle failure comes from using axes in cold weather. These see much greater impact than knives and a thin felling axe could fail in extreme cold if not used with care. I've never been to worried about knives.
 
Interesting that you bring up axes, because that's the one thing I have had fail due to cold. A Gerber (Fiskars) camp axe, but interestingly, it was the handle that failed (broke in half, in fact), not the head.
 
I have used several 1095 knives in conditions down to -40 degrees or so. I have never had any of them fail period. Normal use or not.

My brother did have a plumb hatchet break into shards (practicaly exploded) when he hit it with another steel instrument while attempting to split some firewood. The hatchet had been left outside overnight in -30 degrees weather. The brittleness caused by the cold and the forces generatedby the steel on steel contact destroyed that hatchet in a dramatic fashion.

Biggest problem I've seen in extreme cold is cold transfer through the handle to the hand. Check out the handles on the Leukko knives from Finland they are designed to not transfer cold. The other problem is to make sure you have a handle which fills the hand allowing firm control in a variety of holds even with gloved or cold hands. If it is really cold it is also a good idea to wear the knife inside the parka only transfering it outside when using the knife.
 
Boy, that's beautiful. You should do a sales pitch for Wetterlings or Gransfors Bruks and their ash handles. But you're right, you know.
 
Just an update. I did some digging and found the ductile/brittle transistion average temperature is above 70 deg. F for steels with the kind of carbon content we're talking about. Thats just the average, the transition starts above 100 deg. F and bottoms out below 70.
 
A few weeks ago I limbed a tree that was clearly frozen I had never cut frozen wood only split it ,I was amazed at the difference .I was using a ontario machete the I have cut shorter and I had a hell of a time with it trying to glance out of a cut not getting a good bite into the wood this was all new to me (it was around 10 or so but the wood was colder from the overnight temps).No blade problems at all just a worn out arm from the extra work frozen wood requires.
 
the 1st marine div. was surrounded in the frozen chosen basin in korean war no ka-bar failures at -30 to -40 degrees .incidently they fought out of there killing 14000 chinese & only losing about 200 marines.one of greatest feats in modern warfare.
 
misterjuiceman said:
should I be worried about carrying stainless steel folders in ~10 degrees fahrenheit weather? say ones made out of S30V, 20CV or CPM154?
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I've used a Benchmade folder with an S30V partially serrated edge in temps down to -70 on the North Slope with no problems at all. (The pivot lube gets really stiff)

I wouldn't use a big chopper at those temps though. Impact and extremely low temperatures don't play well together.
 
The Government said:
I would be interested to know as well.

Other factors will be the size/ shape of the knife in question as well as the heat treat.

If you had a particular knife in mind that may help others chime in.

Nutnfancy -on you tube made a couple videos with the benchmade CSK. In one, he was in cold weather (he measured the temperature) and it chipped really bad. Here is a link, but keep in mind it may have been a bad blade and not all 1095 is made the same (heat treat, geometry, quality controls, etc.).

Here is the right video. Go to about 11 minutes in, where he talks about large VS small survival knives and you will see the Benchmade CSK in 1095 chip badly. Just a data point for you. I love my 1095 blades and the other ones he was using worked fine which were also 1095.

http://www.youtube.com/user/nutnfancy#p/search/2/e-FqugTYsQ8
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That CSK chipped because Benchmade over-hardens their blades for edge retention due their buyer demographics. I had a US made Benchmade Rant fixed blade with a really short and thick 440C blade chip on me from batoning a piece of Ponderosa Pine while out in the bush. I ended up finishing the job with a stainless Mora that had a much thinner blade yet still didn't chip. I think a lot of Benchmade customers are not like us in these forums, in that they don't sharpen their own blades and want edge retention over a slightly softer and tougher blade. Heard too many stories about their knives on these forums (aside from my experience) to think otherwise.

As for 1095 Steel, I've owned a couple of Ontario knives with 1095 that I've used hard in below zero weather here in the Rockies and never had a problem. I think it's a great steel and I'd rather have it over many of the more fancy steels. Just my 2 cents:)
 
walleyeguy7 said:
yes it can, all steel is prone to that. especially ones that are more brittle/less shock resistant. 1095 happens to be the opposite thankfully, itll perform better in cold weather that high carbon steels and stainless steels
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Do you mean "than high carbon steels and stainless steels?"

1095 IS high carbon steel.
 
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