Am I the only one that prefers Nitro-V steel to D2?

[M.FREEZE]

Bob Dozier does D2 the best.

Dr. D2

 

[Mick Boardman]

I have had nothing but good experiences with D2 ( several years cleaning deer with knife from Duck,he works D2 quite well), the nitro v I have not used it enough to judge it. AEB-L would be my choice of the three. While I bought a nitro v knife just yesterday, I prefer D2 and AEB-L . Just received a D2 blade in the mail today. It quickly sharpened to my satisfaction.

 

[knarfeng]

And to answer the OP's question, normally I'll take D2 over Nitro V or steels without carbides. (D2 has a lot of chromium carbide and some Vanadium Carbide. If I did a lot of chopping, I might feel otherwise.

 

[M.FREEZE]

One of my sharpest knives is a Charles May Skip Jack in D2. Upon purchase, it was “sticky sharp”, but as I’ve used it, it’s lost the “stickiness” but has maintained its working edge for a long long time.

 

[Seedy Lot]

If all I was doing was slicing softer material I would like D2 but with a harder task, making wood shavings, the edge stability is lacking for me and this is 61-62 Rc with cryo.

CPM D2 is a different beast and at same hardness has much better edge stability.

The AEB-L class steels have excellent edge stability but are lacking with how long the edge lasts in situations where D2 shines.

All a balancing act. I would take Nitro V any day over ingot D2.

 

[jlauffer]

D2 turns me off for some reason. Part of it is that I prefer stainless (unless it's Delta 3V), but a bigger part is all the Chinese BS where it might not be what it's supposed to be. So I just avoid it altogether.

 

[Quiet]

I'd rather D2 than those others......Especially if its a Dozier!!!!!

Can personally confirm.

Also, there shouldn't be talk going on about AEB-L without David Mary 's input, as he's used it extensively and literally everyone who has one of the knives he's made in it seems to be happy. I can say that enjoy my own AEB-L knife made by him, that's for sure.

 

[Crag the Brewer]

If all I was doing was slicing softer material I would like D2 but with a harder task, making wood shavings, the edge stability is lacking for me and this is 61-62 Rc with cryo.

CPM D2 is a different beast and at same hardness has much better edge stability.

The AEB-L class steels have excellent edge stability but are lacking with how long the edge lasts in situations where D2 shines.

All a balancing act. I would take Nitro V any day over ingot D2.

If You were making them I would take one of Each....haha

 

[Blues]

Carothers and Volunteer have a good number of knives in AEB-L in the wild as well.

 

[David Mary]

Also, there shouldn't be talk going on about AEB-L without David Mary 's input, as he's used it extensively and literally everyone who has one of the knives he's made in it seems to be happy. I can say that enjoy my own AEB-L knife made by him, that's for sure.

Thanks for the shout out and good vibes.

AEB-L. I'd consider it a staple in my shop, and it's a steel I would be more than satisfied with on my own carry knives, big knives, and kitchen knives (other than that I like a patina) forever.

 

[AntDog]

The common statement about D2 back in the day was that it “takes a shit edge and holds it forever”. It was kinda true back then for most D2, but not for anything Bob Dozier laid hands on. His D2 was straight wizardry.

The “D2” stuff I see these days is predominantly Chinese, and is probably old mushed up Coors cans. RMJ’s Nitro-V is awesome, and AEBL has been as well in my experience.

 

[Steely_Gunz]

D2 that can be verified as high quality is a great all around steel for a hard use knife that is going to be ridden hard and put away wet (but not too wet ). Cold Steel does a pretty good job with it in their Leatherneck line of bowies.

I have one knife in Nitro V and it's a Kizer. As near as I can tell, it's fine. However it was both misground at the and is an example of a knife sporting an Axis lock after the Axis patent lapsed and is a bit awkward to open without it sort of grabbing at a sort of half stop and catching my thumb. Takes a great edge...peels the pad of my thumb with ease

As it stands, I'll stick with D2. From a reputable maker, it's a solid Everymans kind of steel.

 

[Murdamook.3]

I have one of the first Demko AD20S models. It’s in American ingot D2. Not sure the hardness. It’s more than I’d like to pay for D2, but I really wanted a full sized Demko and that was the closest I was going to get at the time. Anyhow, I have beat the tar out of the knife. Tip is still as pointy as ever, it sharpens easily, and holds an edge well. I was worried about rust potential but it hasn’t rusted yet. I’ll opt for another steel over D2 typically, but I’ve had solid experience with the steel.

 

[JJ_Colt45]

I'm not condeming D2 completely because I'm sure some makers surely do a good heat treat on it, but personally other than Bob Dozier's D2 I've never had a knife in D2 that was worth a damn and it has kind of soured me on it.

For my personal preference and uses I would take AEB-L and Nitro-V over D2 all day long and over lots of the popular steels commonly used now, but I value balanced steels with good edge stability, and a bit more toughness over the extreme edge holding steels that I've had lots of chipping with. Both are pretty well balanced and sharpen very easily and take great aggresive edges.

They may not be the sexy new kid in town, but they are solid performers. I will say for background that Cruwear and Nathan's D3V are by far my favorite steels and AEB-L and Nitro-V fall in behind those. I like Magnacut quite a bit so far but I haven't used it enough yet to put it with my favorites.

 

[jfk1110]

Can personally confirm.

Also, there shouldn't be talk going on about AEB-L without David Mary 's input, as he's used it extensively and literally everyone who has one of the knives he's made in it seems to be happy. I can say that enjoy my own AEB-L knife made by him, that's for sure.

.......AEB-L just doesn't sharpen up as well as D2 for me anyway!!!!! Only have one left in it...but its staying!!!.....The OD green canvas scales mame.it.impossible to get rid of!!!

 

[Skywalker31]

The common statement about D2 back in the day was that it “takes a shit edge and holds it forever”.

This has been my impression of it since I first bought a Benchmade 710D2. Same with an 806D2. Can be irritating to put a fine edge on and won't hold it long.

PSF-27 is spray form D2, not full PM, and that's been slightly better in my experience. Have not tried CPM-D2. CTS-XHP, which sometimes gets described as a PM D2-440C hybrid, has been fine for me and not that distinguishable from S30V though I know some folks have issues with it still not being that stainless.

At this point I won't buy anything else in D2. The one time in recent years I've broken that rule, for a Maserin Plow D2 sodbuster, I've been reminded why. Even for a beater good 8Cr13MoV (Spyderco's) is faster to repair and takes a finer edge more easily.

My Benchmade 710s have been upgraded to M390 versions, my 806D2 has been reground to try and get a little more performance out of it, and I've been quite happy with S30V as the usual "base model" steel for a while.

You can see it on this chart from Larrin - for high alloy tool steels, the old toughness vs edge retention line drawn between A2-M2-D2 has been fully surpassed by the ZTuff-3V-CPM CruWear-CPM M4-10V-15V capability.

 

[The True North]

This is the kind of thread you see when you go back to the forum pages from 2002.

 

[Blues]

This is the kind of thread you see when you go back to the forum pages from 2002.

Some of us are very, very well aware...

 

[Crag the Brewer]

Some of us are very, very well aware...

I was gonna say the Good Ole Days....but I like Today, too.....

 

[JWright214]

I have exactly one knife in D2 but it has never been used. But, I have had a bunch in Nitro-V and a few in AEB-L. I like those two steels a lot. Bradford Guardian’s in AEB-L are slicing machines. I’ve had Nitro-V that was excellent from Tactical Pterodactyl, Knives by Nuge, and Deep Cuts Cutlery.