a good steel overall for edc

supergnat said:
Would it be easier to list the steels to avoid?
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What's funny is that that list doesn't really list all of the steels that would/could meet the OPs requirements, but that the list of steels that don't match is far longer. The guy isn't really limiting his options. He could basically point to any decent knife company and choose any of their knives for under 100 bucks and get exactly what he wants. Whether they heat treated or ground an edge properly, that's another question, but all of the steels listed are absolutely capable of what the OP requires.
 
If we're talking folders, then I'd suggest VG-10, which is a good all-around steel. Spyderco uses it in many of their folders (e.g., Enduras and Delicas).
 
Don't over think it. Too many recommendations for exotic, premium-priced steel.

VG-10, AUS8A and 440C are excellent choices for everyday knives and they meet all the OP's criteria.
 
I would start by asking you, what do you cut?

It's really hard to recommend a steel, unless I know the type of work you do with it...

Generally, I would say CPM 154, but maybe 95% of what you do is cut cardboard, I would then recommend something else.
 
Boris74 said:
The one steel that answers that question as worded is AUS8. Some of the others mentioned will do one or the other but not both and if they do they are a pain to sharpen which brings you back to AUS8. Keep it within a couple points of 58HRC though. Any much softer and it's a turd for holding an edge.
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AUS8 chips worse than a British man looking for a side to go with his fish, I know because I've owned 5 AUS8 blades from 3 different companies and all of them were so chippy I coulda made nachos with 'em.

As for the OP: 3V, O1, and 1095 are all very good for not chipping, once you go stainless it's harder to find chip-resistant steels.
 
KingMC said:
AUS8 chips worse than a British man looking for a side to go with his fish, I know because I've owned 5 AUS8 blades from 3 different companies and all of them were so chippy I coulda made nachos with 'em.

As for the OP: 3V, O1, and 1095 are all very good for not chipping, once you go stainless it's harder to find chip-resistant steels.
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Lol

...........
 
For Kershaw the higher end S30V and Elmax stainless steel blade knives.

One of my favorite Kershaws that doesn't get enough press is the Camber. 3" S30V blade, aluminum handle (traction inserts), made in the U.S. for under $80.
 
KingMC said:
AUS8 chips worse than a British man looking for a side to go with his fish, I know because I've owned 5 AUS8 blades from 3 different companies and all of them were so chippy I coulda made nachos with 'em.

As for the OP: 3V, O1, and 1095 are all very good for not chipping, once you go stainless it's harder to find chip-resistant steels.
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The amount of inaccurate info here is staggering...

Most importantly;

Where did you learn that "once you go stainless, it's harder to find chip resistant steels"

This is not true by any stretch of the imagination.
Chipping is a direct result of Geometry and HT issues.

It is true, that S125V will chip easier than O1 if you hammer them into a cinder block, so ya, maybe you are correct....

Some context would really help, the OP is looking for an EDC knife.
 
JR88FAN said:
The amount of inaccurate info here is staggering...

Most importantly;

Where did you learn that "once you go stainless, it's harder to find chip resistant steels"

This is not true by any stretch of the imagination.
Chipping is a direct result of Geometry and HT issues.

It is true, that S125V will chip easier than O1 if you hammer them into a cinder block, so ya, maybe you are correct....

Some context would really help, the OP is looking for an EDC knife.
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So what you're saying is this thread is pointless since it doesn't take into account heat treat or geometry?

I was just answering the question posed by the OP, he was looking for a good EDC steel and I supplied some that have good track records as being tough steels that are hard to chip. As a general rule, stainless steels are more brittle than high-carbon steels, hence why they would chip easier. Sure, you get a ZDP-189 blade that's 0.25in thick and you'll have a hard time chipping it, but that's not the way ZDP is usually made into blades.
 
KingMC said:
So what you're saying is this thread is pointless since it doesn't take into account heat treat or geometry?

I was just answering the question posed by the OP, he was looking for a good EDC steel and I supplied some that have good track records as being tough steels that are hard to chip. As a general rule, stainless steels are more brittle than high-carbon steels, hence why they would chip easier. Sure, you get a ZDP-189 blade that's 0.25in thick and you'll have a hard time chipping it, but that's not the way ZDP is usually made into blades.
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Wow!

I am saying your post is pointless because of those reasons.

Lets just generalize and call it fact. It's not as simple as you make it sound, and I am not going to turn this into another steel debate....we have had too many of those lately.

The OP specified nothing, 'general EDC' means exactly what?

I bet it means very different things to myself and the OP.....

My original post in this thread asked for some clarification.
 
JR88FAN said:
Wow!

I am saying your post is pointless because of those reasons.

Lets just generalize and call it fact. It's not as simple as you make it sound, and I am not going to turn this into another steel debate....we have had too many of those lately.

The OP specified nothing, 'general EDC' means exactly what?

I bet it means very different things to myself and the OP.....

My original post in this thread asked for some clarification.
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You're right, I was a bit all over the place, the only real reason I replied to this thread in the first place is because I saw Boris recommending Aus-8 and felt that was such a bad suggestion (due to personal experience) that I had to at least retort to that with some choice similes. After that, I was just kinda trying to make my post relevant to the OP, which I seemed to have not done a very good job doing. Never meant to start a flame war about steel, thought I was giving good advice.
 
KingMC said:
You're right, I was a bit all over the place, the only real reason I replied to this thread in the first place is because I saw Boris recommending Aus-8 and felt that was such a bad suggestion (due to personal experience) that I had to at least retort to that with some choice similes. After that, I was just kinda trying to make my post relevant to the OP, which I seemed to have not done a very good job doing. Never meant to start a flame war about steel, thought I was giving good advice.
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Thank you for giving your personal experience. Can you elaborate on who made the blades that performed poorly and how you sharpened them? What kind of stuff you cut? Without both sides offering different experiences, then we'd never figure the game out. More people offering real experience makes the knife game more enjoyable, but only if it's backed by some kind of substantiation. I don't doubt your experience but obviously some do. There are far too many unsubstantiated claims floating around that screw with people's opinions.
 
bodog said:
Thank you for giving your personal experience. Can you elaborate on who made the blades that performed poorly and how you sharpened them? What kind of stuff you cut? Without both sides offering different experiences, then we'd never figure the game out. More people offering real experience makes the knife game more enjoyable, but only if it's backed by some kind of substantiation. I don't doubt your experience but obviously some do. There are far too many unsubstantiated claims floating around that screw with people's opinions.
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Ok, so looking back it was only 2 companies but 6 total knives: I had 5 SOGs (Seal Pup, Flash II, Trident, Aegis, Aegis Mini) and 1 Cold Steel (Recon 1 Tanto). Bear with me, I didn't have the good shopping habits I have now when I first got into knives, so SOG was the best as far as I was concerned. I used them mainly for EDC at a warehouse job, cutting up boxes/tape/paper/shrink-wrap/straps, basically whatever you'd find in a general warehouse. Cutting up boxes was where most of the chips seemed to come from, guess lateral rotation caused most of them but I know that only the Aegis Mini lasted more than a year before I got chips in the blade somewhere. I had factory edges for most of the time, or else my brother would sharpen them for me as he had a diamondstone sharpener and I was terrible at free-hand. The Seal pup was my outdoors knife, and only a couple trips in with simple wood prep work (no batoning though) and I had chips in the edge and a missing tip.

If there's one thing I remember from using all those knives, it's that the steel was annoying as it didn't stay sharp for as long as I wanted it to, and it also has the chips in it that caught on things and made it rougher to cut stuff like the shrink-wrap.
 
When it comes to EDC, my steel needs are pretty darn humble. I just want to get through the day without having to resharpen; a week is good, and anything beyond is great. In this regard, I think stropping has been much more of a revelation to me than steel type. Far easier to maintain an edge than to sharpen a dull knife, imo.

The only blade steel I avoid in absolute terms is 420J2, which I found required resharpening after almost every use. It's tough, it's very corrosion resistant, but it just couldn't hold an edge worth a damn. Every other knife I've used with similar properties only noted their steel as 'stainless' or 'surgical.' Go figure.

-Brett
 
KingMC said:
Ok, so looking back it was only 2 companies but 6 total knives: I had 5 SOGs (Seal Pup, Flash II, Trident, Aegis, Aegis Mini) and 1 Cold Steel (Recon 1 Tanto). Bear with me, I didn't have the good shopping habits I have now when I first got into knives, so SOG was the best as far as I was concerned. I used them mainly for EDC at a warehouse job, cutting up boxes/tape/paper/shrink-wrap/straps, basically whatever you'd find in a general warehouse. Cutting up boxes was where most of the chips seemed to come from, guess lateral rotation caused most of them but I know that only the Aegis Mini lasted more than a year before I got chips in the blade somewhere. I had factory edges for most of the time, or else my brother would sharpen them for me as he had a diamondstone sharpener and I was terrible at free-hand. The Seal pup was my outdoors knife, and only a couple trips in with simple wood prep work (no batoning though) and I had chips in the edge and a missing tip.

If there's one thing I remember from using all those knives, it's that the steel was annoying as it didn't stay sharp for as long as I wanted it to, and it also has the chips in it that caught on things and made it rougher to cut stuff like the shrink-wrap.
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Are you removing the factory edges now? Maybe the steel was the problem or maybe it was just shoddy workmanship from the factory. Without knowing for sure it's hard to say it was the steel. I just got into it with some guys about S110V, they came at me pretty hard for saying the same stuff you're saying about AUS8. I have to admit that I was probably disliking the steel when I should have been disliking mass production knives with steels that shouldn't be mass produced or from companies that should not be mass producing. Your experience with AUS8 may be valid or it may just be saying stay away from SOG and Cold Steel until they get their stuff straightened out with that particular steel (Yes, they've had quite awhile by now). Anyway, thanks for sharing your experiences and views in order to help someone. I still have my suspicions with S110V type steels as you do with AUS8. What's great is that there are plenty of other steels to choose from. Your poor experiences with the steel/knife companies are not isolated.
 
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KingMC said:
Ok, so looking back it was only 2 companies but 6 total knives: I had 5 SOGs (Seal Pup, Flash II, Trident, Aegis, Aegis Mini) and 1 Cold Steel (Recon 1 Tanto). Bear with me, I didn't have the good shopping habits I have now when I first got into knives, so SOG was the best as far as I was concerned. I used them mainly for EDC at a warehouse job, cutting up boxes/tape/paper/shrink-wrap/straps, basically whatever you'd find in a general warehouse. Cutting up boxes was where most of the chips seemed to come from, guess lateral rotation caused most of them but I know that only the Aegis Mini lasted more than a year before I got chips in the blade somewhere. I had factory edges for most of the time, or else my brother would sharpen them for me as he had a diamondstone sharpener and I was terrible at free-hand. The Seal pup was my outdoors knife, and only a couple trips in with simple wood prep work (no batoning though) and I had chips in the edge and a missing tip.

If there's one thing I remember from using all those knives, it's that the steel was annoying as it didn't stay sharp for as long as I wanted it to, and it also has the chips in it that caught on things and made it rougher to cut stuff like the shrink-wrap.
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I know you won't believe this, but in no way am I trying to be rude, or to discount your opinion.

If that is your experience with knives and steels, then you need to try A LOT more before you can form the kind of opinion that you presented here.

I am not just talking about what you are presenting as fact to others in this thread, but also giving your own experience some more time to grow.
 
JR88FAN said:
I know you won't believe this, but in no way am I trying to be rude, or to discount your opinion.

If that is your experience with knives and steels, then you need to try A LOT more before you can form the kind of opinion that you presented here.

I am not just talking about what you are presenting as fact to others in this thread, but also giving your own experience some more time to grow.
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I believe you, don't worry. Lots of exclamation points can throw off an otherwise reasonable argument, and I do tend to overreact when I get worked up.

I currently own and use knives with 3V, ZDP-189, S35vn, 154CM, M390, N690, and 1095CV. In the past I've owned and used knives with Elmax, S30V, D2, VG-10, and AUS-8. The only one of those I wouldn't purchase again is AUS-8, its the only one to chip on me (including accidentally dropping my ZDP delica point-first onto concrete) and it consistently chipped too. I can't say that any manufacturers have been screwing it up, as I know many here like SOG and CS, just that the steel left a poor taste in my mouth that I've moved on from.
 
Real quick....my experience with Cold Steel AUS8 has been good.

IMO they are the Buck 420-HC of AUS8.
 
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