20CV vs S90V

Knives&Lint said:
I like the 20CV Hinderer I have quite a bit, but when it comes to the only knives I have by the same company made in both steels (Spyderco) I strongly prefer their S90V. It's not something I can really quantify, just a feeling when I'm using it that has left me impressed with the steel. It's almost similar to the way I feel about Spyderco's K390, but in a stainless; I just know I like using it. Whereas when I'm using Spyderco's 20CV I always get the feeling like it wants to chip if pushed too hard. Other's mileage may vary, and I offer no expertise here, just a layman's experience using both steels.
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This has been my experience as well.
Between these two choices, I would go with S90V.
 
Personally, I strongly dislike s90v because of how badly it chips. I dislike sharpening it, too. It's not that it's really hard to sharpen, I just don't like doing it.

I tend to use my knives a lot and in hard use scenarios, but I'm not an idiot. I don't pry with my knife's blade edge or do anything abusive. In my experience, when S90V chips, it chips badly. So I prefer other steels.
 
20CV S90v, it doesn't matter.
1055, or 1075?
S90v is an aggressive cutter, but field sharpening is a pain, 20CV will give you everything you'll possibly need a knife to do. Do you need more "aggressive cuts"? What is that?
20CV will perform to realistic expectations
And you won't ever say " if only I had knife in S90v, I would have done <it>"
 
Isn’t S90V just 420V? I think I remember reading that somewhere.
 
I will put in a vote for 20CV. It takes a bit more work to sharpen but I can get a finer edge with excellent retention.
 
carnifex knifeworks said:
Personally, I strongly dislike s90v because of how badly it chips. I dislike sharpening it, too. It's not that it's really hard to sharpen, I just don't like doing it.

I tend to use my knives a lot and in hard use scenarios, but I'm not an idiot. I don't pry with my knife's blade edge or do anything abusive. In my experience, when S90V chips, it chips badly. So I prefer other steels.
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I'm always intrigued whenever I hear this, as I've hear from so many people about s90v being chippy..

Hell, my BM Mini Freek and Spyderco Native s90v cut for days and have busted more zip ties than I can count, chopped food directly on granite counters, and have hit tile floor and concrete more than once, and never picked up the first chip. Maybe I got lucky with the heat treat, idk.

Still though. Its interesting to hear others real world expreiences.
 
Corton93 said:
I'm always intrigued whenever I hear this, as I've hear from so many people about s90v being chippy..

Hell, my BM Mini Freek and Spyderco Native s90v cut for days and have busted more zip ties than I can count, chopped food directly on granite counters, and have hit tile floor and concrete more than once, and never picked up the first chip. Maybe I got lucky with the heat treat, idk.

Still though. Its interesting to hear others real world expreiences.
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Im in the same boat, have a 535-3 and 940-1 and have never had issues with chipping, havent had any issues sharpening it either on the work sharp precision adjust or the field sharpener as the diamonds can sharpen even the hardest of steels
 
That is like asking whether the left Twix or right Twix is better. They’re both enjoyed best in combination with each other. So, get both knives and enjoy them together!
 
If I had to choose, I would take S90V, that being said my all-time favorite knife to use is a TRM Neutron 2 in 20CV. There is something about what they do is 20CV that just works so well. I have used 20CV from other companies and had good luck with it, but it's just not as good as the 20CV from TRM. I don't think you can go wrong with either steel, both are great, and each have their pros and cons.
 
I think the difference between these two steels, which to be clear basically boils down to trading some corrosion resistance for additional "edge retention," does not actually matter much for most uses and users. Much more the actual quality of the knives themselves and how they are designed will be relevant; the ergonomics, how the steel is treated, how the blade is grinded, etc. all of that will matter more in terms of what you're trying to do.

As for the steels, both of these are lower toughness stainless steels that require advanced abrasives for maintenance, so imo if you're going to go that route then S90V is the better choice. S90V is an excellent steel. My main gripe with most of the light use production stuff is they don't run it hard enough for my taste. These steels are usually run at about the same hardness, they are in the same ballpark of each other in toughness, but S90V will have so much more abrasion resistance that it would be noticeable. If you're going to use a steel that requires this maintenance profile it makes more sense to go with S90V unless you need the additional corrosion resistance of the 20cv, in which case you could try S110V instead. If we're talking about high edge retention stainless steels, S90V is one of if not the best in this category overall. It would be cool if someone made some k390 laminated with aebl while we wait around for higher edge retention variants of the excellent magnacut to drop.
 
As I mentioned before, 20CV has been a mixed bag. I only have one knife in S90V, my ZT 0095BLKS90. I've been pretty impressed by the steel, and combined with ergos that fit my hand perfectly, it's one of the knives I'm not afraid to use hard. It has not chipped, rolled, yet maintains it's edge a good long time. Not quite as long as my Spyderco GB1's M4.

My Cheburkov Strizh has shown me what M390/20CV/204p can really be with a good heat treatment. Excellent edge retention without chipping or rolling.

Getting into higher end knives has opened my eyes to just how much heat treatment affects the performance of a knife. Edge geometry as well. Based on the performance of both Cheburkov and Biryukov, I have to wonder what difference I would see in some of their other steel selections compared to the production knives I currently have in those same steels.
 
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