Best Knife Edge Holding

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WCUsuperman8

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Mar 19, 2014
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I seen a post similar to this but it was a few years old. I'm currently in the market for a new knife. I'm looking for a knife that keeps a sharp edge over use, using it for everyday use. As far as knife blade quality I've researched S30V is top-notch. As far as knife overall quality and durability, I'm still not sure. So far my pics have been Benchmade Volli and Axis and Spyderco Manix2 and Para-Military2. I'm open to any other recommendations as well.
 
Depends what you want to cut. Ankersons thread tests one type of cutting.

Buy a knife based on the design and leave the steel choice as a secondary consideration.
 
So I have to say its a bit of both in my opinion, steel (heat treat matters too) and knife design.

The best steel and edge holding doesn't matter if the knife design is not right for what you want/need. Because the wrong knife won't get carried or used.

That said a great design can only be improved by selecting the right steel for the job. Pure slicing with out twisting prying or impact, will be best suited to a different steel than a job that has twisting and prying, like woodworking. So for the first one something like 10V at Rc64 is good while the other might be better with 3V at Rc 60 or 61.

We really need to know what you plan to do with it. For me a small personal EDC can be maximum hardness for fine slicing and pure abrasive retention. While a larger camp knife needs toughness and less edge holding against abrasion since its more likely to lose an edge due to breakage/chipping etc...
 
WCUsuperman8 said:
I seen a post similar to this but it was a few years old. I'm currently in the market for a new knife. I'm looking for a knife that keeps a sharp edge over use, using it for everyday use. As far as knife blade quality I've researched S30V is top-notch. As far as knife overall quality and durability, I'm still not sure. So far my pics have been Benchmade Volli and Axis and Spyderco Manix2 and Para-Military2. I'm open to any other recommendations as well.
Click to expand...

What kind of use will the knife see as in what materials do you usually cut with it and how often?

This S30V Military has been my main EDC for almost 5 years now, still in one piece as you can see.

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My Spyderco Endura in ZDP-189 holds an edge forever.... but can't let it get dull, or I may not be able to bring it back. And that's the trade-off we all make - the better the edge retention, the harder it is to sharpen.
 
The second the I saw the title of this thread, I remembered the idea of the "Holy Trinity" of elements I myself learned from the forums by experienced knife-makers. These three actually determine how a knife performs. Like the previous posters \, I'll echo three considerations to aid in answering you:

1. What is the knife going to be used for? (intended use and likely materials it will cut most of the time)

2. Blade geometry and grind (stock thickness, the kind of grind, angle of the bevels)

3. Steel type coupled with proper heat treatment (the toughness vs. hardness trade-off and determining the edge-holding of the blade)

All three basically should work together in order to give you functional tool for YOUR intended use.
 
My ZT300 with S30V is really good but my Benchmade 755 mpr M390 is awesome as far as holding an edge
 
There are better steels, in terms of edge-holding, but note that it will generally take you much longer to sharpen the blade once it dulls. You might find that you need a diamond hone to do a good job efficiently.
When you shoot for the top, you look for the top categories in Ankerson's chart, remembering that we're talking rope and cardboard here... the link:
http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/s...based-on-Edge-Retention-cutting-5-8-quot-rope

Category 1

CPM-S90V (Military and Para 2) (60)
CTS-20CP (Para 2) (60)
M390 (Mule) (60.5)
CTS - 204P (Para 2)

Category 2

M390 (60)
CPM M4 (62.5)
CPM-S90V (59) (Manix 2 with 30 Degree Micro Bevel)
CPM-S60V
VANAX 75 (Kershaw Tilt)

Category 3

Vanax 35 (59.5)


Category 4

ZDP-189 (65)
CPM-154 (62)
ELMAX (60)
CTS-XHP (Military) (60+)
Super Blue (61.5)
CPM 3V (Big Chris)


Category 5

S30V (60)
VG-1
CPM - D2 (62)
N690
ATS-34 (59)
CPM-S35VN (59)
N680
ELMAX (58.5) Mule
D2 - Dozier K2

...and note that there are more categories that follow with steels that you may not want.
But the BEST part here,...is that Jim Ankerson, who tested and authored this link...carries a Millie in S30v. No, it is NOT the greatest in edge-holding (category 5), but achieves a good balance of edge-holding, toughness, easy-sharpening, and stainless properties. I suspect that this is called BALANCE.
 
Thanks for the feedback everyone. I really appreciate it. It seems like you can't go wrong with Spyderco from reading what everyone has posted so far. But I'm still open to any other options.

My main purpose for this knife would be for everyday use no matter where I'm at. Cutting open boxes and scraping plastic at work, whittling wood and cleaning game when I'm out camping, etc. I read a thread about a guy that wanted a knife that would be good for scraping aluminum. I wouldn't be going that far, haha. I'm looking for a EDC folding knife that I can have confidence in that will be reliable and durable no matter where I'm at.
 
Best knife I have used is... None. They are all even with S30V being in the back of the pack. I obsessively strop my knives, so if they get dull I am doing something wrong. S30V is in the back for me because it loses the razor edge almost instantly, then keeps the working edge for a good time. I hate working edges, I want my knives to all he razor sharp as long as possible.

I have had one knife that was a clear outlier, though. The 560 CBCF with S110V was just insane. I could almost hear it laughing as I tried to sharpen the edge on it. I am pretty sure Satan himself made S110V to create a pox on sharpeners everywhere. Or it was one of those things made, not because it is needed, but because it can be done, like the world's largest skateboard. World's most difficult steel.
 
Here are my S110V Video. :)

[video=youtube;iY5g93EJcuU]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iY5g93EJcuU&list=UUD_n6Vfcqptslco-gt6WL5g[/video]
 
I personally look at edge retention as something cool to discuss, but in a different way in terms of actual usage.

I personally tend to avoid steels with the most extreme of edge-holding abilities. I find them to often be very difficult to sharpen, take too long to sharpen, priced too expensively, and often lacking the balanced properties that makes it ideal for all of the conditions an EDC will likely see. Cool steels for sure...but not my cup of EDC tea. So to me, steels like VG-10, CPM-154, S30V, BG-42, S35VN, ELMAX, CTS-XHP, 1095, 52100, etc. are what I go for. Good edge retention (and far better than most other steels), prices that are usually significantly less than knives made in super-exotic steels, plenty of toughness and corrosion resistance, compositions/carbide distributions that allow them to take a wickedly sharp edge (and hold it for a decent while), and reasonable ease of upkeep.

In terms of real-world gain of good, common, and affordable premium [mostly] stainless steels versus many of the exotic steels, I can't say I often see justification given how much more one may have to pay for a super-exotic steel, potential difficulty in upkeep, and how that steel may not have the balanced properties that makes it ideal for certain types of daily usage.

CPM-154 isn't awesome because it does any one thing so much better than everything else...in fact, CPM-154 does absolutely nothing on a scale of extreme impressiveness like, say, CPM-110v. But it's still awesome because it is that jack of all trades which gives users very good performance across the board, and that to me is what makes it such a great candidate for an EDC knife. As an EDC may see all sorts of various usage in which different applications will require different performance characteristics in steels, I think the balanced all-around steels yield the best performance for folding knives.

I generally personally carry something in CPM-154, S35VN, S30V, or ELMAX. And as cool as the limited editions Spyderco Para 2's are, the standard CPM-S30V PM2 is still just an absolutely fabulous, affordable knife, in great steel with great edge geometry, anyway you look at it!
 
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