Best blade steel for bushcraft knives?

a2 certainly is a great steel for outdoors. takes a good edge & its tuff. until recently i would have opted for the more forgiving carbon alloys since a rock or hard knot could only ding instead of chipping a blade.tests ive'd seen on the forum & cutting i've done on my brothers ranch with 3v has made me more favor the busses or ferhmans. the busses in just about any of his alloys & ferhmans 3v are about as tuff as any thing out there. either one will allow an individual to jump off in the worst boonie environment with absolute confidence in their blades.
 
Steel type will depend a great deal on a number of factors. Will you be expecting to work in a wet, or even worse, a wet and salty environment ?
Will you be making long trips out into the wilderness or just day trips ? Will you be carrying a hone to re-touch the edge or will you need the knife to keep it's edge for longer in which case it will be harder to sharpen when it does need it.
What grind are you looking for ? The typical 'Bushcraft' knife here in the UK is a zero Scandi grind, or a Scandi grind with a very small micro-bevel. A knife of 3V or 30V with a Scandi grind is a real PITA to sharpen when it needs it because of the relatively large surface area that steel has to be removed from along the bevel to do the job. The high wear resistance of the steel makes this a chore to do.
Carbon steels might not hold an ege quite like 3V or 30V but they'll be a lot easier to maintain in the field if the edge needs touching up on a long trip.
'Posh' steels are great if you want them sharp enough to work with all day then take them home to the workshop to re-sharpen ready for the next trip. I've sharpened zero ground Scandi's in S3V, S30V and S90V for folks and it's not a job I'd want to do in the field, whereas with a simple hone you can touch up the edge on a carbon blade without any real hassle wherever you are.
 
Longstrider said:
Steel type will depend a great deal on a number of factors. Will you be expecting to work in a wet, or even worse, a wet and salty environment ?
Will you be making long trips out into the wilderness or just day trips ? Will you be carrying a hone to re-touch the edge or will you need the knife to keep it's edge for longer in which case it will be harder to sharpen when it does need it.
What grind are you looking for ? The typical 'Bushcraft' knife here in the UK is a zero Scandi grind, or a Scandi grind with a very small micro-bevel. A knife of 3V or 30V with a Scandi grind is a real PITA to sharpen when it needs it because of the relatively large surface area that steel has to be removed from along the bevel to do the job. The high wear resistance of the steel makes this a chore to do.
Carbon steels might not hold an ege quite like 3V or 30V but they'll be a lot easier to maintain in the field if the edge needs touching up on a long trip.
'Posh' steels are great if you want them sharp enough to work with all day then take them home to the workshop to re-sharpen ready for the next trip. I've sharpened zero ground Scandi's in S3V, S30V and S90V for folks and it's not a job I'd want to do in the field, whereas with a simple hone you can touch up the edge on a carbon blade without any real hassle wherever you are.
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Great post! Very clearly stated.
Combine that with the Steel FAQ and you can decide from there what you want to look at.

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