Best stainless steel?

T

TropicHeat

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Jul 22, 2012
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I need a good stainless knife for survival type stuff not a big one though 4-6" blade. I live in south florida and this knife will be exposed to salt water and such often and the hot humid environment takes a toll on steel the reason I want stainless. What's the best hard use stainless?
 
I would go for M390/204P or if you want a little more stainless and ease of sharpening at the sacrifice of less edge holding go for something like N680, both are more stainless that good stainless steels 154cm, VG10, S30V.

If you're not going for a custom, you could look into benchmade for the N680 or Survive! Knives EDC-4 in M390. An Fallkniven F1 would also probably do well (laminated VG10 with 420J2 which is what many dive knives (cheaper, the 420 not the VG10) are made out of on the outside)

H1 and X15TN are both more stain resistant at the sacrifice of even more edge holding compared to N680 (except H1 in Serrated Edge) but not really available any more in a fixed blade between 4-6" except maybe the Spyderco Warrior which is more of a fighting knife.
 
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CPM S30V, i have a spyderco manix that i identically left out in the rain while working in NJ, got rained by salty water all night and came back the next day completely spotless, didn't even have any pit marks.. washers were completely shot though
 
M390 and elmax for sure.
I've left both steels in not-so-friendly conditions and haven't seen a spot.
But then again i haven't seen a spot on any of my SS knives, (vg10/cpm154/S30v/s35v/elmax/M390/zip-189/etc.
D2 or INFI would not be ideal, although they are fairly stainless.
M390 is definitely my favorite of the bunch.
I second the Survive Knives suggestion.
 
Or you could just choose a knife in 440 or even carbon steel and protect the blade with nice cheap epoxy paint. 440 doesn't get the props from the FOTM crowd, but it is still used in extremely high end customs - including the knives Jay Fisher makes for USAF parajumper rescuemen - for its excellent all-round mixture of properties. You can pick up a decent 6 inch 440 MTech on Amazon for $15.
 
Or you could just choose a knife in 440 or even carbon steel and protect the blade with nice cheap epoxy paint. 440 doesn't get the props from the FOTM crowd, but it is still used in extremely high end customs - including the knives Jay Fisher makes for USAF parajumper rescuemen - for its excellent all-round mixture of properties. You can pick up a decent 6 inch 440 MTech on Amazon for $15.
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The $15 knives from Mtech aren't going to be using the same steel as a knifemaker in the US who uses real 440C has in his products. China calls several different steels 440, even 440C. The more or less unconcerned import companies that have their label put on these cheap imports don't check, don't care or don't even know what steel is in the knives they sell. It takes a company who cares enough to have a blade tested to make sure you are getting what you want or are told you are buying.

China can make great knives with high quality steel made in modern, state of the art foundrys that make alloys for submarines, and air/spacecraft. They can also produce knives for .25cents each to sell in the us at an MSRP of $8.99 using who knows what steel." Lets call it 440C". "Yeah. That's something people have heard and is a good steel, right?"

IMO, the 8C, and 9C steels I've tried that came from good companies that demanded good QC have performed very well. Spyderco's 8C has been consistent in it's performance. That is a sign of good QC. I find it doesn't have great wear resistance, but it takes a very nice edge and is easy to sharpen.

I like it better than real american sourced and made 440C. I have never really cared for 440C.
 
The Mastiff said:
The $15 knives from Mtech aren't going to be using the same steel as a knifemaker in the US who uses real 440C has in his products. China calls several different steels 440, even 440C.
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The Mtech version of 440 and 420, whatever is, tests very well. The 151 "Trail clone" and the "Rescue Team" especially have shown performance that be credittable for knives costing several times more. So who cares?

The more or less unconcerned import companies that have their label put on these cheap imports don't check, don't care or don't even know what steel is in the knives they sell. It takes a company who cares enough to have a blade tested to make sure you are getting what you want or are told you are buying.
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People get screwed all the time buying expensive US made knives; neither price or national origin does assures quality. The MTechs are cheap, people who buy them them use the hell out of them and they survive well, and epoxy paint will provide a lot of additional protection from corrosion. If someone is really going to use a knife hard around water, this is one option worth considering.

Another reasonably priced option, although at the bottom of size range and a slicer rather than a prybar, would be a Mora 200. A Gerber LMF or ASEK (again preferably with epoxy paint on the blade) are also worth considering.
 
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Many of the responses here are...well....not taking the requested properties into account..

The original posts asks for a steel that can take 'hard use' now, though that is up for discussion on its own let's just assume it will get knocked around a lot.

Steel has properties. Stain Resistant, toughness, strength and wear resistance.

M390, S90V are stainless, high wear resistant, but lack in other aspects.

154CM and N690 is somewhere in the middle but not what one would call exceptionally though.

I would recommend 12C27 from Sandvik by a good maker, even 14C28N, you can read up on them on Sandvik's website, but not in many production knives IMO.

Heck, even a Victorinox Butchers knife will serve you well. I have seen them being used for all manner of use for years by farmers.
 
Forgot to add.

If you are talking folders. H1 from Spyderco and Nitrobe 77.

If you want cheap and dependable, buy Victorinox Soldier in the folder range.
 
TropicHeat said:
I need a good stainless knife for survival type stuff not a big one though 4-6" blade. I live in south florida and this knife will be exposed to salt water and such often and the hot humid environment takes a toll on steel the reason I want stainless. What's the best hard use stainless?
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So is it going to be a 4" , 5" or a 6" blade?

Define hard use..
 
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