Best steel for edge retention

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yepimonfire

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Nov 7, 2013
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I'm not asking about toughness or ease of sharpenability, from a pure standpoint of what stays sharp the longest, what takes the cake?
 
yepimonfire said:
I'm not asking about toughness or ease of sharpenability, from a pure standpoint of what stays sharp the longest, what takes the cake?
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interesting topic:thumbup:
theres so many different steel types these days i don't know all,
but of the top of my head i remember zdp & v10.
i'm sure others will inform us as for absolute no limit customs and more types.
 
That question isn't as simple as it might seem. It depends on what you are cutting, how the edge was sharpened, and how you are cutting. It also depends on how the steel was heat treated, and many more things. Enjoy the show.
 
To my knowledge all of the following rank as top tier contenders for edge retention. You likely wouldn't be able to tell the difference in practical use.

-S110V
-S90V
-CTS-204P
-Duratech 20CV
-M390
-CPM-M4 (not stainless)

Keep in mind that as another member stated, heat treat has a great deal to do with edge retention. So while one knife may have a slightly inferior steel if the heat treat is better, the steel could perform better. Both Strider and Microtech have exceptional heat treats. Microtech especially because they heat treat their knives for one purpose, edge retention.

Here are some videos showcasing Microtechs and their edge retention.

Socom Elite in S35VN (everyone says this steel has horrible edge retention, ya right): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-qvR1auYUgQ

Socom Elite Duratech 20CV: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I-8lue9aJSI

Socom Delta in ATS-34 (This video is in Russian): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wa2z9ibw03s Skip to 14:40 to get a good idea of how sharp that knife still is after cutting all that rope.
 
CPM 15V if you can find it. There are some great reviews on CPM 10V. You can look at some of those reviews, and you will be completely blown away by the edge retention. The Spyderco Farid k2 uses this steel, and I can't think of any others off the top of my head right now.
 
SliCed said:
CPM 15V if you can find it. There are some great reviews on CPM 10V. You can look at some of those reviews, and you will be completely blown away by the edge retention. The Spyderco Farid k2 uses this steel, and I can't think of any others off the top of my head right now.
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I agree 100%
 
There are some materials that have extremely high edge retention on certain materials, but I wouldn't necessarily want it for a knife. REX 121 comes to mind.

So a question like this needs to be specific. Otherwise you're kinda asking what's the best sports team without specifying which sport, best at which aspect of the game, etc.
 
This is why I and many others believe s90v is best.

[video=youtube;ZFM9x5EVous]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZFM9x5EVous[/video]
 
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knives_in_nature said:
This is why I and many others believe s90v is best.
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I've actually been curious as to why S90V never got as popular as it should have. It seems that M390 and the like have taken over as the steel du jour, and I've enjoyed the knives I've had in it (currently just one in 20CV), but it seems the only advantage it offers over S90V is corrosion resistance which I didn't think was an issue with S90V anyway. Perhaps ease of sharpening? But you're not going to be sharpening M390 with natural stones anyway, so... I don't know. I've yet to try S90V out myself, but there haven't been a lot of recent production models to try it out in.
 
yepimonfire said:
I'm not asking about toughness or ease of sharpenability, from a pure standpoint of what stays sharp the longest, what takes the cake?
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What kind of sharpness? Like a razor sharpness or a low quality saw tooth type sharpness? A sharpness that tackles wood and plastic or a sharpness that handles rope and cardboard? Different steels work differently in different environments and with different cutting mediums and with different sharpening grits and even sharpening stones.

I'll stick with what's generally available and often talked about so you can find reviews on your own.

Soft but highly abrasive materials like carpet, rope, and cardboard?
S110V, K390, 10V, K294, Vanadis 4E, 4V, ZDP189 S90V, M390, 20CV, 204P, etc.

Hard but not super abrasive materials like wood, rubber, plastic, etc.
M4, 4V, PD1, Cruwear, 3V, etc

Chopping type duties
3V and a host of carbon steels, etc.

Razor edge on soft materials
AEB-L, 13C27, Hitachi white and blue steels, 52100, etc.

Obviously it's not all inclusive but you can look at the different classes and decide what you want and then choose which class of steel you want and then decide from there. Many quality steels out there for a variety of uses.
 
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