Anyone use aus8a for woods knife?

I have a few folders made of aus8 and no complaints about edge retention or durability with their blades. If the heat treat was done well, you should have no problems.
 
rifon2 said:
AUS8 is very good for certain applications because it's a relatively tough stainless, and it takes an extremely sharp edge,
However, that extremely sharp edge becomes dull with use very quickly.

To me, a "woods" knife implies some hard use.
Therefore, if I have a choice, there are many blade steels I'll take to the woods before I'll take AUS8.
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my RAT Ontario 1 folder is aus 8 and i can confirm this. i can get it paper shredding sharp but it does dull quicker at times only when used harshly (chopping, cutting hard objects, etc)


i do love my folder though. dont go less than aus 8
 
I have a AUS-8 Beretta Loveless Drop Point that I've abused in the back-county on many occasions and it's still hair-poppin' sharp. It's made by one of the better Seki knifemakers....Moki. I think I paid a whole $35 for it brand new.

- regards
 
I have an Ontario RAT-1 and it holds an edge very well for woodwork. It stays just sharp enough to do its job.
 
ive always thought AUS8 would make a great back up blade in survival kits. it is super easy to field sharpen and resists rust well. to me that seems more reasonable than a super sweet custom knife in the PSK that is much more difficult to sharpen after use if we are REALLY talking a survival situation.

happens to be one of my favorite EDC steels too.
 
AUS-8 takes a sick edge but unfortunately it doesn't stay that way long-I went through about 4 SEAL Pups before I said "screw it" and went high carbon.
 
never had a problem, if you found a knife you like, dont worry about it, its a more than suitable steel, steel snobs might say other wise, for what its worth, most of the guys at the SAR depot work with a kershaw Echo's, never seem'em fail. :thumbup:
 
I for one, love aus-8a.
Chop, baton, carve, slice,all day, & still shaving sharp! Its tough, sharpens easy, & holds a great edge.GOD Bless Bro!
tst14.jpg
 
Once again I'm reminded preformance is so much dependent on heat treat and blade grind.

- regards
 
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remmmm said:
In my experience, AUS8 is easy to sharpen and takes a edge fairly well, but doesn't hold it's edge as well as other higher end stainless. If you are comfortable hand sharpening and carry a small stone on you, than it should do O.K.
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same thought here
easy to resharp and fairly hold an edge
 
remmmm said:
In my experience, AUS8 is easy to sharpen and takes a edge fairly well, but doesn't hold it's edge as well as other higher end stainless. If you are comfortable hand sharpening and carry a small stone on you, than it should do O.K.
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Same experience here. I think it's a good working steel. I really enjoy sharpening my knives, so no problems here.
 
I have a seal pup in AUS6 and it does ok. I used to use a SOG seal team elite in AUS8 and it was great. I have currently switched to 1095 as my main bush steel but so far I like AUS8 better.
 
I use to use a Cold Steel Voyager at work. It was a tough knife as far as taking use that would have broken the point off of other knives or would have broken their blades in two (its blade was tougher than its handle at the pivot point) but it did not hold an edge very long and it took a long time to get sharp on a set of crock sticks. My SAKs hold an edge at least a little longer and are much faster to get sharp on the ceramic sticks, but the blades are not nearly as tough.
 
PayetteRucker said:
AUS-8 takes a sick edge but unfortunately it doesn't stay that way long-I went through about 4 SEAL Pups before I said "screw it" and went high carbon.
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SEAL Pups? Or SEAL Pup Elites?
The SEAL Pup that I have is AUS-6. The Elite is AUS-8. At least in my case.

I haven't used AUS-6 much (any?), so I wouldn't stake much on it.

But I'm GREAT with all the AUS-8 that I have, most of which is from SOG.
 
rockspyder said:
SEAL Pups? Or SEAL Pup Elites?
The SEAL Pup that I have is AUS-6. The Elite is AUS-8. At least in my case.

I haven't used AUS-6 much (any?), so I wouldn't stake much on it.

But I'm GREAT with all the AUS-8 that I have, most of which is from SOG.
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naw these are all 3, 4 years old, back when they were made in Seki Japan and have AUS8 engraved right in the blade. I'd say I got my money's worth out of all of them, so I'm sure not complaining about the Seal Pups. I simply love the design, although I went through 2 tridents and a Flash 2 in about two weeks after the actions got gummed up with dust and wouldn't open anymore... so much for those 70 dollar blades...
 
Rog.

Thanks for the reply. I'm quite fond of the SEAL Pup (and Elite) patterns. Both of which I have. I've used the Elite more, though.
 
chuck buck said:
ive always thought AUS8 would make a great back up blade in survival kits. it is super easy to field sharpen and resists rust well. to me that seems more reasonable than a super sweet custom knife in the PSK that is much more difficult to sharpen after use if we are REALLY talking a survival situation. 0
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I think if you want to buy a knife to put in a survival kit as a back up blade then something cheap, but strong & reliable would be ideal. I would buy a 2nd RAT-1 folder for that - AUS8 stainless and good strong construction!

For chopping I use fixed blades and my choppers are 1095 CroVan or 1085 or 5160 - I don't think that AUS8 would match 1095 CroVan for chopping performance.

I do take sharpening equipment with me when I go camping so I can do some sharpening at night - due to this edge retention isn't as vital to me as long as the knife keeps an edge reasonably OK.
 
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