AUS-8 steel - who makes it best?

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PNWJoel

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Sep 7, 2012
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I have a SOG Trident Tanto with AUS-8 steel that I honestly find underwhelming performance wise. It doesn't seem to hold an edge well and also seems to accumulate a lot of dings on the blade from not very hard work.

I have read both good and bad things about AUS-8, and it seems that the likability is pretty heavily dependent on the manufacturer (heat treat etc.). So what is your opinion based on experience of who makes great AUS-8 and who doesn't get it right?

Sorry if this is in the wrong section, but I am asking for reviews so hopefully I got it right.
 
I have to say that the Al Mar Eagle that I have is very good at holding a razor edge. I have had several cold steel in AUS 8 and have found the Al Mar superior. Very different knives, however.
 
The Recon one is sub-zero quenched. Many, including cold steel doesn't use sub-zero quenched on all their products. I have many of unquenched and quenched.the quenched performance is superior. I wonder if SOGs Cryo does the same.
 
What angle are you sharpening with and what kind of finish are you leaving and/or procedure are you using? I've found Benchmade's AUS-8 to be excellent, specifically in the now discontinued Ambush series. I ask about the angle/finish because this can have a greater effect than steel choice. I have also found Kershaw's AUS-6 or 8, whatever is in the Vapor series, to be nearly as good as Benchmade's, but it must be sharpened properly and have no burr left.
 
Cold steel
Moki
Al Mar

In my opinion the Japanese made Aus 8 knives of the past were even better than the tiwanese models with the steels. I have some old voyagers that were magnificent in their edges, and edge holding for Aus 8, plus easy sharpening.

I've had enough cheap knives in Aus 8 to know the difference in how excellent it can get.

Spyderco made a kitchen knife in Aus 8 (w), which is aus 8 with some added tungsten. It had amazing edges but not really any superiority in wear resistance,'

As a note they make a VG10 (W) version too but it's even rarer than Aus 8(w). I've never seen it used in cutlery. Perhaps it's not a stock item and you need a whole heat to get it. That would discourage most cutlery manufacturers.

Joe
 
Cold steel, Sog and Al Mar don't make knives, they use contractors. Spyderco's japanese knives are made by different contractors. Who knows who really made the AUS8 blades in these companies knives? Moki does make their own knives. What about Kershaw, are their AUS knives made in a plant owned by them?
 
Boker VOX Elegance B.O.B.---AUS-8. Great knife. Holds a great edge.

Cold Steel RECON 1---AUS-8. Great knife. Holds a great edge.

I always touch mine up on a butchers steel or ceramic stick after each use anyways. One swipe on each side does it.
 
Of the ones I've owned which include Cold Steel, SOG, Spyderco, and Meyerco, my Cold Steels have had the best edge holding abilities.
 
brownshoe said:
Cold steel, Sog and Al Mar don't make knives, they use contractors. Spyderco's japanese knives are made by different contractors. Who knows who really made the AUS8 blades in these companies knives? Moki does make their own knives. What about Kershaw, are their AUS knives made in a plant owned by them?
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That's good information, but I'm more interested in what brand to try, not so much who actually makes them. The title of my post may be a little misleading there. Thanks for your input though.

me2 said:
What angle are you sharpening with and what kind of finish are you leaving and/or procedure are you using? I've found Benchmade's AUS-8 to be excellent, specifically in the now discontinued Ambush series. I ask about the angle/finish because this can have a greater effect than steel choice. I have also found Kershaw's AUS-6 or 8, whatever is in the Vapor series, to be nearly as good as Benchmade's, but it must be sharpened properly and have no burr left.
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Full disclosure: I am not good at sharpening. It would be about a 44 degree inclusive angle finished with a 1000 grit arkansas stone. I do plan on getting an edge pro to help me get better edges while I practice using stones. And the Vapor was AUS-6 and I believe the Vapor III is now 8Cr13MoV.

As for everybody else's posts, I getting the general impression that Cold Steel, especially the cryo quenched, AUS-8 is top notch. I have been looking at Al Mars lately so I may get one of those to try out. And the Ontario Rat folder is a great price so I'll try that out too. I'll have to get an edge pro first so I can compare evenly; I'll post if i get around to doing a thorough test, but that may not be for a while. Thanks everybody for your input and feel free to add more.
 
me2 said:
What angle are you sharpening with and what kind of finish are you leaving and/or procedure are you using? I've found Benchmade's AUS-8 to be excellent, specifically in the now discontinued Ambush series. I ask about the angle/finish because this can have a greater effect than steel choice. I have also found Kershaw's AUS-6 or 8, whatever is in the Vapor series, to be nearly as good as Benchmade's, but it must be sharpened properly and have no burr left.
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+1 on the Benchmade aus8, The ambush's blade was a little thick behind the edge, so I thinned it out to ~0.010, it was at least 0.025 to start with. But both ways, it was as good as aus8 can get. I think they list HRC as 58/60. I cant measure rockwell, but mine felt very hard (ie 60). I've had Cold Steel (Penelton Hunter) ground fairly thin and held an edge, Sog (Twitch II) this is good aus8, but ground a bit thick, CRKT (M-21) blade was ground thick but it didn't seem to be bad steel(had this knife long ago).

To be honest, I am in favor of good 8cr13/14mov (ie Spyderco). Maybe not as good at corrosion resistence, but edgr holding is as good and way easier to find now.
 
The Mastiff said:
Cold steel
Moki
Al Mar

In my opinion the Japanese made Aus 8 knives of the past were even better than the tiwanese models with the steels. I have some old voyagers that were magnificent in their edges, and edge holding for Aus 8, plus easy sharpening.

I've had enough cheap knives in Aus 8 to know the difference in how excellent it can get.

Spyderco made a kitchen knife in Aus 8 (w), which is aus 8 with some added tungsten. It had amazing edges but not really any superiority in wear resistance,'

As a note they make a VG10 (W) version too but it's even rarer than Aus 8(w). I've never seen it used in cutlery. Perhaps it's not a stock item and you need a whole heat to get it. That would discourage most cutlery manufacturers.

Joe
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Yes, but the recent Cold Steel catalogs (2011/2012) state that they are still using Japanese AUS-8A and having the final manufacturing done in Taiwan.
 
I've found Cold Steel to produce AUS-8 that features an excellent heat treat and is pretty respectable as far as edge retention goes. This is based off of a newly produced voyager.
 
I don't know who does it best, as with others here I've also heard that whomever builds the knives for Cold Steel does great job but I've had great luck with a few SOG fixed blades that I've used A LOT when camping...the Super Bowie and two Tech Bowie's (one coated and one non-coated) and a Seal Pup Elite (non-coated-plan edge).

I've not heard that many great things about SOG's knives yet these have held up great for me and I've used them like one would a cheap knife and they all hold their edge very, very well and appear to be MUCH tougher than I had expected. I'm most impressed with the Super Bowie and it's ability to be an all around camp knife and it chops MUCH better than I was expecting. This thing eats up oak and keeps its edge while doing so. The Super Bowie is a very underrated fixed blade.

The SOG Seal Pup Elite has been my go to beater small fixed blade for the past year or so and for a knife that I bought on a whim from a popular online mega-store for next to nothing I'm so glad that I gave one a shot. It may be the most useful small fixed blade I've ever purchased. It's cheap so you're not afraid to use it for anything and it has held up perfectly regardless of what I've throw at it.

Didn't mean to turn this into a mini review...the OP's question just got me thinking and made me realize just how much I use these AUS-8 blades.
 
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Ankerson said:
Cold steel does it better than anyone else.
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^ this. I've got a Cold Steel Ti-Lite (Aus 8A) that I've used as a work blade since February, and yesterday was my first time doing any sort of sharpening. It had two small nicks in the blade that easily worked out with a little coaxing, but otherwise a bit of wet stone work and it's coming around quite nicely. Still needs a bit of work, but not too shabby imho in edge retention...
 
Ya I have a dog flash 1 and its been great...so far but the cold steel company is down the street from my house and the owner of cold steel is an asshole yo his employees and an asshole in general. I have met him many times make you not want to buy his knives. But I'm sure someday ill get one.
 
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