Best steel expected for EDC.

E

Etched1

Joined
Jun 13, 2021
Messages
36
What is the best steel you expect to get for an EDC knife in the range of $20-$50. Talking about smalls here, not some of these 12” folders with Damascus

Folding.
Fixed blade.
 
Depends on your preferences, I suppose. You can get 14c28n in that range, which I like a lot, but D2 will generally offer better edge retention and that's available, too. I think you can even snag Nitro-V for about $50 right now and that's a great EDC steel, IMO.
 
Either a basic low alloy high carbon steel if its a traditional or a 440C (N695), N690, 14C28N or D2. There are many others that fall into that bracket.

Ive bought Knives for over $100 in 1060 because they are traditionals or hand forged & as a result I don't care. Its part of the charm. Something like 420HC or 440A may actually outperform 1060 or 1070, but I still would prefer the latter. I know I'm not the only one.
 
We talk a lot about flavors of steel 'round here, and it's important to some.

Me personally, I'm more interested in blade types and slab materials. Steel choice is down the list as long as it's not "damascus".

If I'm going to opine about the subject to others, I would urge somebody to look for companies that do proper heat treat and quality control. Kershaw comes to mind for one, because I've had good experience with their alphabet soup steel.

I don't have a lot of experience with the "new generation" of china-made folders from Civivi/Vosteed/Miguron-type places. How are they doing with heat treat?
 
In that price range I’d focus more on getting the best blade/edge geometry than blade steel. For a folder look at something like a Rat 2 or see if you can find a deal on a Dragonfly 2. I’ve seen DF 2s in VG-10 on sale for $50-$55 at shops. There are also several SAK options in the range you listed. Also, brands like Opinel almost always get overlooked in these discussions but they are great, inexpensive cutters. D2 is a pretty common steel in your range and it is perfectly fine but from what I’ve read it can be a bit inconsistent depending on brand.
As far as fixed blades, something in 1095 with a good heat treat will do fine. Check out some of Esee‘s small fixed blades.
 
As many others have already said, D2 and 14c28n and 9cr18mov are going to be what I'm looking for in that price range.

I do lean a little more towards 14c though as I really appreciate the extra toughness.
 
The quality and reliability of the heat treat is more critical than the steel among these choices. Like 9cr18mov is . . . unexciting in general, however Civivi has a great reputation for their heat treat of the stuff. And the quality of D2 can vary a lot between knife companies, with Chinese D2 knives often falling short. That's just the steel itself, as noted above the blade and edge geometry will make a big difference in use.
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top