154cm vs D2 for survival Knife

I know I'm not sticking to the knives the OP asked about, but I have to agree that any hard use outdoors/survival knife I'm going to choose will have Infi steel as a first choice, 1095 for a second.
 
I've heard it from the experts before. Always use a carbon steel for a heavy use survival knife. Your backup can be anything you like, but the big knife that's going to chop wood and mash things needs to be tough, easy to sharpen, and not prone to breakage. You just have to keep it from rusting (coated blades help). 1095 is the standard choice as everyone has said, but if you have the money buy a Busse with INFI steel. It's got all the advantages of 1095 with none of the disadvantages like corrosion.

Picking a survival knife can be a lot of fun! I am gentle with new folders and nice customs. But when I got a Tops Tracker it immediately went to chopping and sharpening, same with the Busse. Took down a ton of bamboo. I feel they allow for a lot more experimenting and ultimately more enjoyment and less worry.
 
Personally I don't see why people use plain carbon. Use an Alloy steel. I don't see why people spend so much money on INFI when you could nitrate your steel in a atmosphere furnace. I have decided on making a knife out of CPM M4
 
Don't get me wrong INFI and 1095 are great steels but there is one downside to INFI. It's expensive! Over $1000 for a 5 inch knife (thanks to the all time high of the USD)
 
I have a boker magnum plus voxknives rold camp knife(D2) and have had very minimal rust issues and have done plenty of hacking without it chipping. My friend did manage to chip it on a rock but it was a tiny chip for what he did to it.
 
If you mean camping knife - than Nimravus is a surprising choice, no matter the steel.
If you mean a knife you may just have while in the survival situation - than the steel would not be a concern. In my opinion.
 
I can always get 154cm razor sharp and its very good for rust resistance. It's my pick.
 
ginshun said:
horse a piece. The 154cm will sharpen easier and get sharper, but the D2 will hold an edge better. D2 will rust easier, but its not like a carbon steel by any means.
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Nice short, DEAD ON answer.

I have a Nimravus in 154CM and I have a Benchmade 51 in D2. I prefer 154CM. Easier to sharpen and better RUST resistance. My BM51 has rust on it.

In neither steel is the Nim a "Survival Knife" I mean, it would be better than nothing, but forget any notions of chopping with it. It is a fighting knife that doubles as a light duty blade and it does THAT job incredibly well.
 
For Non Stainless blades:

1095, 5160, INFI, 3V, SR-101

For Stainless Blades:

154CM, S30V, S35VN and ELMAX


The top choices IMO would be INFI and ELMAX.
 
if D2 holds edge better...why so much worrying about "field sharpening"? how long is anybody in here out in the boondocks anyway? If i'm out camping for a weekend with a knife that holds edge like crazy, I don't worry about blunting it. It's not gonna happen; I might use it hard, but I won't deliberately go and smash it repeatedly against rocks!:eek:

Sharpen it before yo go out and play...
 
I'm not an expert but there are more choices than just D2 and 1095.

MMHW uses 5160 and Swamp Rat and Scrap Yard (Busse kin) use SR101 (52100) - these are supposed to be very tough steels and good choices if INFI is out of your price range.
 
If properly heat treated D2 is one of the greatest steels for just about any type of knife in my opinion. This is what crucibile steel says about D2 in their spec sheet.

Airdi 150 (AISI D2) is an air-hardening, high carbon, high
chromium tool steel, heat treatable to HRC 60-62. It
offers excellent abrasion resistance, due to a large volume
of carbides in the microstructure. Airdi 150 (D2) has been
widely used for many years in cold work applications
requiring very high wear resistance. It is machinable in the
annealed condition and, like other air-hardening tool
steels, exhibits minimal distortion on hardening
 
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knifenut1013 said:
What makes everyone think d2 is brittle, do you have proof?
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Both of my 710's (and I have never chipped any other knife), but that is not my main concern with D2.. mostly for me it is the tendency to rust

But really both are excellent steels
 
And like every other thread where the claim has been made there is still no proof. This thread is from 2009 and to date I have yet to see a picture of chipped D2 that didn't happen from gross abuse.
 
just now, I tried to take a picture for you, knifenut, but my camera sucks big time, and its too blurry

There is a chip right where the 710's blade starts to sweep downwards in a recurve, didn't abuse the knife at all (was my first benchmade, and was my most expensive knife at the time.. if anything I babied it) and it just showed up, don't even know where it came from. Three years later, and after removing a fair amount of steel to try to get rid of it, it is still there about 1.5 mm wide and .5 mm deep now.

Also, 2 mm of the tip chipped off, can't remember what I was doing, but I definitely wasn't abusing it. I was able to grind off enough steel to bring back a less acute tip, though and haven't had that problem since.

That, and my other benchmade 710 were the only folding knives I have ever chipped.

The other one wasn't bad, and I was able to get rid of it completely.

I don't really have a stake in this, as I like D2 a lot. But to say that no D2 blade has ever chipped is completely false.
 
Res1cue: Chances are it's a bad HT, send it to BM for a free new blade... they might even hook you up with a M390 blade.

As far as the discussion goes... Steel doesn't matter, it's the HT that counts, I've used the crap outa my D2 blades with NO problem.

Ya know what... let's ask Mr. Dozier just what he thinks about the steel?

I'll paraphrase his answer, "It is the best all around steel"

Gee, thanks Mr. Dozier... Mr. D2

Necro threads are bad enough but when people haven't learned in TWO years, it's scary.

I'll give you the bottom line, I personally would take a well made 440C blade out into the deep wilds of Alaska and not worry about what steel I have. I EDC one 440C blade and it, like every other knife I have, would work just fine for every survival situation that doesn't require me to use it as a prybar, chisel, punch or screwdriver.
 
I'm not saying D2 won't chip but the amount of claims and the constant "its brittle" is not exactly truthful either. I've also learned through experience that a large majority of those claiming "Chips" are confusing them with deformation of metal. It makes a big difference if its a chip or a deformation.


I'm not calling you or anyone else out just asking that proper identification be made.
 
knifenut1013 said:
I'm not saying D2 won't chip but the amount of claims and the constant "its brittle" is not exactly truthful either. I've also learned through experience that a large majority of those claiming "Chips" are confusing them with deformation of metal. It makes a big difference if its a chip or a deformation.


I'm not calling you or anyone else out just asking that proper identification be made.
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That is totally fair. It has a lot to do with HT, edge geometry, usage, etc and not only with the chemical composition of the steel

I've found that there are a WHOLE lot of exaggerations and generalizations with knife related topics.. like "AUS8 sucks" or "VG10 is 1% better than 154CM" etc, and basing a purchase solely on them

It is like saying strawberries rot quicker than oranges, so I should pick orange sherbert over strawberry ice cream
 
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