Abuse? I'm afraid you do not know the meaning...

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Kale_dune

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Mar 10, 2016
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Hi! First post so forgive me, or slap me in the right direction, but i seem to be at a loss; months of research and reading, have come to this: Whats the best blade steel for just sheer outright abuse and destruction in a fixed blade? and survive it? i grew up with a knife in my hand so its second nature to reach for it to pry, scrape, twist, press or hammer whatever it is in front of me. i currently have two Manix 2s both s30v and they're pretty much a god like steel in the field, but i would never pry or put any torsion on them (I know better!) and as per cutting these thing do my work, but i need a fixed blade and my cts bd1 ronin 2 isnt anywhere NEAR hard enough. (look at it and you'll ding the blade) So i now present to the crowd with my conundrum, what steel for a fixed blade to be beat to death is the best? or should i just get a pry bar and sharpen one side...
 
Welcome! You may want to look at Busse and their INFI steel. They have their own sub-forum and exchange here. Other than that maybe 3V, M4, Cruwear, or other tool steels.Then there's the spring steels and other low alloy steels that should stand up to a lot. Lots of options, lol.
 
S7 is the best cutlery steel I know of, but not a lot of knives use it. For something more commonly available look at 5160. INFI and 3V are great if you want a healthy side of edge retention with your toughness, but 5160 is fairly inexpensive, relatively widely available and and stupidly, aggressively tough. 80crv2 is another that seems very, very tough and is slowly becoming easier to find.

One key thing to remember though, a 1/4" thick knife with very obtuse grinds is still gonna outtough a 3/16" thick knife with thinner geometry almost no matter what steel is used in each.
 
Sounds like you and I have a similar background with knives. I don't find that to be common here.

I like a knife I can use for about anything, keeps a decent edge, and not take too much damage when I pry, scrape, cut metals and other destructive materials, and beat on it. It takes a rare combination of strength, toughness, and edge retention to achieve this.

My middle ground for the above is high speed tool steels. Problem with them, availability is extremely limited to non exsistant.

You gotta remember though, any steel can be made crummy. I think this is the case with my 1 specimen of 3V. I am not impressed with its performance based on what I've read. It takes damage way too easy for my all around use. I also have a few production high speed steel blades that I don't think were heat treated up to snuff, but they're not as terrible as the 3V.

For reasonable cost, I'd try an Esse in 1095. I hear their warranty covers destruction. Becker might also be an option.
A step up from 1095 might be 52100, W2, O1, and A2, but all those seem to be less common and more expensive.

You could go with a Busse for $$$$$.

If interested, keep an eye on this guy, Bluntcut. I have a few of his knives and am more impressed with them than expected. He focuses on very tough users, from end to end and everything in between. He works with 52100, W2 and many others, and can make what you want for a very reasonable price.
 
Sounds like you want Busse INFI or a custom in S7.

Also 52100 or 5160 in lower hardness but at a small sacrifice of some edge retention to gain some toughness.
 
All I've ever heard is Busse's INFI, just to echo some other. Seems like the stuff is just indestructible and then some.
 
Check out Dpx gear knives. All their fixed blade have a pry bar on the pommel end. My hest is in niolox steel and it holds up really well to some tough chores and is easily sharpened as well. They also use sleipner steel which holds up too.
 
Kale_dune said:
Hi! First post so forgive me, or slap me in the right direction, but i seem to be at a loss; months of research and reading, have come to this: Whats the best blade steel for just sheer outright abuse and destruction in a fixed blade? and survive it? i grew up with a knife in my hand so its second nature to reach for it to pry, scrape, twist, press or hammer whatever it is in front of me. i currently have two Manix 2s both s30v and they're pretty much a god like steel in the field, but i would never pry or put any torsion on them (I know better!) and as per cutting these thing do my work, but i need a fixed blade and my cts bd1 ronin 2 isnt anywhere NEAR hard enough. (look at it and you'll ding the blade) So i now present to the crowd with my conundrum, what steel for a fixed blade to be beat to death is the best? or should i just get a pry bar and sharpen one side...
Click to expand...

That is quite the conundrum.

Your S30v blade is designed for pure cutting performance.

The ronin blade sounds like its up to the task for the prying and scraping but it's not at the same cutting performance as the S30v.


The is America! We want both!!

Well there will always be a compremise.

CPM 3v is closing that gap.

It's has a great blend of toughness and abrasion resistance

With the only drawbacks being cost and corrison resistance.

It's still not as abrasivion resistant as S30v

But it should hold an edge longer with all that abuse.




Check out some Bark River or Survive! Knives.

The Busse INFI is held in high regard but it won't have the wear resistance of 3v and is more exclusive with an even higher cost.
But the toughness is very impressive form the vids and photos I've seen.
 
S5 is the toughest steel that can be used in a knife. Problem is no one uses it anymore. So S7 and INFI are the toughest with 3V right there as well.
 
I have 52100, S7, and A2 on hand (hint hint).


[video=youtube;UGqEbqVaeo0]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UGqEbqVaeo0[/video]
 
WadeWilson said:
All I've ever heard is Busse's INFI, just to echo some other. Seems like the stuff is just indestructible and then some.
Click to expand...

Busse's SR77 is a mod of S7 with a proprietary heat treat. It is understood as a tougher alternative to INFI, but takes a less keen edge.
But Busse also has SR101 which is essentially the opposite of that. It is/was originally a mod of 52100 which is bit less tough than INFI, but can take a keener edge and hold it a bit longer but at the sacrifice of some toughness.

If production models were the only choice and absolute toughness wasn't my aim, I would look at INFI. If toughness above all else was the goal, I would look for SR77 from Busse.
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That being said, if it was My coin, I would look for a custom knife in 52100, 5160 or S7.
The deciding factor would rely on keen edge stability and maintenance vs outright toughness.
 
NJBillK said:
Sounds like you want Busse INFI or a custom in S7.

Also 52100 or 5160 in lower hardness but at a small sacrifice of some edge retention to gain some toughness.
Click to expand...

Like the 5160 used in the Ontario Ranger RDs. Bomb proof knives, IMO.
 
NJBillK said:
Busse's SR77 is a mod of S7 with a proprietary heat treat. It is understood as a tougher alternative to INFI, but takes a less keen edge.
But Busse also has SR101 which is essentially the opposite of that. It is/was originally a mod of 52100 which is bit less tough than INFI, but can take a keener edge and hold it a bit longer but at the sacrifice of some toughness.

If production models were the only choice and absolute toughness wasn't my aim, I would look at INFI. If toughness above all else was the goal, I would look for SR77 from Busse.
------
That being said, if it was My coin, I would look for a custom knife in 52100, 5160 or S7.
The deciding factor would rely on keen edge stability and maintenance vs outright toughness.
Click to expand...

Well I learned something.
 
Absolutely toughest steel is H13, followed by S7, then 5160, then 3V/A8 mod/INFI, you gain edge retention as the toughness goes down and vice versa (in general).
 
Just for a point of reference, S7 is often used in jackhammer bits, iirc...
 
The Ronin2 is more of a self defense knife. CTS-BD1 was chosen because it gets insanely sharp and should you need to jab a badguy with it, it will do a whole lot of damage. It's not ideal for edge retention, it is sharp enough to do the job it was designed for. I'd say get yourself a custom.
 
If you want to see tough steels demonstrated, look at youtube. Search Busse destruction test. Watch all the hours of destruction testing. INSANE abuse.

He tests all sorts of knives. All sorts of steels and manufacturers. You will be surprised at some of the knives and steels performance, and shocked and which ones shatter very very early on.
 
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