best knife steel...CONFUSED!

Spyderco's president, Sal, ranked a few of them in edge holding in this thread.

Here's a quote:

Of the steels that you mentioned and the testing that we have done, in edge retention (best first); 420V, (S30V), 440V, VG-10, M-2. You didn't mention S30V, but it does rank in that realm. We've only tested a few M2 pieces (knives, not Spyderco made mules), so they may not be indicitive of the material, but this was in our testing.
Click to expand...

The heat treatment of the blade is probably as important as the type of steel.

Really, "Best" is subjective. Any steel is a balance of different factors, like edge retention, difficulty in sharpening, brittleness, stain resistance, and so on.

420HC might be ideal for one user, and garbage to another.

The best way to find out what you're looking for is to decide which factors are the most important to you.

Really, most modern steels are pretty darned good, and you should probably decide based more on edge geometry, manufacturer, cost, etc.

Good luck!

-- Rob
 
larrytwohig,

all of the steels mentioned make a great blade if properly heat-treated.
If you want good corrosion resistance, you should pick VG-10; for best resharpenability one of the tool steels should be the best choice. CPM 440 V offers slightly better edge-holding (according to Sal and others).

The differences aren´t that great, provided you take care of your blades properly in regards to corrosion prevention.
 
The very best is a new super alloy called unobtainium. :D

Unfortunately, like so many things in life, there is no one ideal answer. You have to decide what characteristics are important to you and select an alloy appropriately.

Keep in mind that heat treatment has more to do with how well a knife will perform than the alloy. The very best alloy will not perform well if not properly heat-treated. And there are all sorts of variations in heat-treating methods. So, ATS-34 from one maker may perform quite differently from ATS-34 from another maker.

So, the answer to your question is that there is no answer to your question. Sorry.
 
"Unfortunately, like so many things in life, there is no one ideal answer."Quote Gollnick.

How true. the choice of steel is no more complicated than this........

for mild use pocket, kitchen, and hunting knife
the answer is .....good ol' 1096 carbon steel

for stainles uses then for every day it's Aus-8 or
440A

for heavy field use then it's good ol'440C by a long ways.

As far as the latest wonder steels go...well...
Ya don't hafta spend so much to get a good knife:barf: :rolleyes: :barf:
 
As Mr. Tightwad points out, cost is a valid parameter to consider when selecting an alloy. Why pay extra for the latest super steel when inexpensive 440C will do just fine for the job?
 
There's no so called best steel per se, you need to specify your criteria.
Do you want the best in edge retention?
Do you want the best corrosion resistance?
Do you want the toughest? (mind you tough and strength is different)
or do you want something that has a great balance?
If it's balance, I'd probably say VG-10. It've yet to let me down.
And reading from the posts above, the above assessment by me is regardless of price.
 
Originally posted by Gollnick
The very best is a new super alloy called unobtainium.
Click to expand...

"Unobtanium" is some awesome stuff! It must be.., we spend a hellish amount of time talking about it.. :)


"Hunters seek what they [WANT].., Seekers hunt what they [NEED]"
 
I notice you're in NYC...
If you're ever in the neighborhood of Chinatown, go to Iceberg Army Navy Store on Broadway just north of Canal and chat with this chinese kid Aaron. He's an avid knife collector and will talk your ear off about knives.
 
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