Benchmades s30v steel vs other options

Varekai

Varekai

Joined
Jun 22, 2014
Messages
18
I jumped the gun tube other day on pre ordering the brew benchmade 87 ti balisong. 4.5" s30v blade with titanium handles. My only other current knife is a model 67 balisong. Nice knife, but between the d2 and recurve Tanto blade I have a very hard time sharpening it, been rounding off the recurve. Read up on s30v and it definitely seems to be a better steel then d2. Plus I've had some corrosion on my 67. But now that I'm reading up on s30v, I'm seeing about how much better s35vn and m390 are, so now I'm second guessing my pre order purchase. Think I should find a knife with one of the better steels or stick with the new 87? Again it's my one and only knife, and I use it for everything, I don't have a one knife for different situations, and the wharncliffe blade that comes on the 87 seems very good for all types of use.
 
Also I'd like to add in that while I did a lot of s30v vs XXX searches on Google, most if not all were about 4 to 5 year old threads, and I know opinions change over time.
 
S30V is very good steel imo. As to the "best steel", there is no such thing. Ideally you probably want a good combination of hardness, toughness, wear resistance, corrosion resistance, and edge retention. I wouldn't worry about a knife in S30V vs D2 vs M390 (yes, I know M390 is listed higher then S30V in the below article)

Pretty good article on blade steels imo.

http://bestpocketknifetoday.com/discovering-the-best-knife-steel/

If you have a higher end blade steel, you might need diamond sharpeners. Many of the softer arkansas, water, oil, etc stones won't do the job.
 
I love S30V steel. I wouldn't second guess yourself. It's good. M390, S35... all good. No sleep lost getting one or the other.
 
S30V is a solid, all around good steel. It holds a decent edge and is easy to sharpen.

I'm a big M390 fan though. The knives that I have in M390 hold their edge for a long, long time.
 
In my opinion it depends mostly on what you want to use you knife for. If you want it just for all-around carry (sometimes opening boxes, food prep) get the one you think looks better because almost any steel will be enough for this.
 
Don't let the fact s30v is the blade steel stop you from buying a knife you like.
I have a bunch of knives with it, and for a noob sharpener, I have no trouble getting a nice edge.
Go for the one that grabs your eye.
Good luck!
Joe
 
you should just look at other knives then balisongs if you want higher performance in cutting
 
gazz98 said:
S30V is very good steel imo. As to the "best steel", there is no such thing. Ideally you probably want a good combination of hardness, toughness, wear resistance, corrosion resistance, and edge retention. I wouldn't worry about a knife in S30V vs D2 vs M390 (yes, I know M390 is listed higher then S30V in the below article)


http://bestpocketknifetoday.com/discovering-the-best-knife-steel/

If you have a higher end blade steel, you might need diamond sharpeners. Many of the softer arkansas, water, oil, etc stones won't do the job.
Click to expand...

This is the best reference item I ve seen in this forum in some time.
 
powerslave said:
In my opinion it depends mostly on what you want to use you knife for. If you want it just for all-around carry (sometimes opening boxes, food prep) get the one you think looks better because almost any steel will be enough for this.
Click to expand...

That is exactly what it is, EDC. So that brings in blade shape, wharncliffe seems awesome for a lot of things, but at the same time it seems for slicing such as food prep you would only really be able to use the tip, where as the sheepsfoot of the CFK has that belly that would be better for slicing.

palonej said:
Don't let the fact s30v is the blade steel stop you from buying a knife you like.
I have a bunch of knives with it, and for a noob sharpener, I have no trouble getting a nice edge.
Go for the one that grabs your eye.
Good luck!
Joe
Click to expand...

They both are pretty equal >.<

DeadboxHero said:
you should just look at other knives then balisongs if you want higher performance in cutting
Click to expand...

Curious as to why you say that? Why would a balisong not have high performance cutting?



Really racking my mind over these two. I know each blade shape has it's advantages, and the difference between the two steels is not very much based on the guide gazz posted, actually the biggest benefit seems to be the ease of sharpening on the M390. I'm probably looking at this knife for more of a survival knife. I want them both so bad I'm tempted to just buy both, but just can't afford it.
 
Honestly out of these two I would probably get that Decepticon 3, not because steel I just really don like look of that benchmade (and I think that it is just too expensive).
As blade shapes goes I like modified sheepfold most for my edc tasks, this is my EDC currently

IMG_20161222_074333.jpg


Balisongs (at least the ones I have handled) does not have very wide blades so primary grind is ground at wider angle so they are thicker behind the edge.
 
powerslave said:
Honestly out of these two I would probably get that Decepticon 3, not because steel I just really don like look of that benchmade (and I think that it is just too expensive).
As blade shapes goes I like modified sheepfold most for my edc tasks, this is my EDC currently

IMG_20161222_074333.jpg


Balisongs (at least the ones I have handled) does not have very wide blades so primary grind is ground at wider angle so they are thicker behind the edge.
Click to expand...

Just realized my reply never posted. What knife is that? Beautiful piece

Because I couldn't make up my mind, I went with both. One I'll carry at work and the other on a non work basis. Had to have both lol.
 
"Better" is very subjective

Better AT maybe, but s30v is still a dang good steel when treated properly, and BM does a pretty good job with it.
 
Got my Decepticon 3 in today, all I can say is wow. It's so much more then I expected, the pictures just don't do it justice. As much as I looked forward to carrying this knife, I don't know if I want to get it scratched up carrying it around.




 
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