Best steel for skinning/edge retention

R

Richmtnkennels

Joined
Nov 20, 2013
Messages
34
If this has been discussed to death, please direct me to that thread. I'm new here, do please humor me. What steel type does the best for skinning on holding an edge?
 
See that little box with the magnifying glass next to it in the forum title bar? Type in it "steel comparison chart" and hit enter.

Then realize that for 90% of us pretty much any modern steel will be fine for opening our packages and other paltry daily cutting needs. As long as you aren't buying Frost Cutlery or some other crap like that the blade steel will most likely be fine.
 
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The guy asked about skinning, not opening packages.

Hey Richmtnkennels, first welcome to the forum. Second, there is a "Hunting & Fishing" sub-forum here at Bladeforums, you might find more hunters, and a good answer to your specific question there. To find that sub-forum look under the right corner of my post, there is "Quick Navigation" box with "General Knife Discussion" in it. Click on that to bring up a scroll-down menu. Scroll down until you see "Hunting & Fishing", and click on that.

Good luck in your search.
 
Thanks guys. Killgar, there is a TON of reading on here for a new guy. I have always been a knife lover, but unil lately just case, lower end spydercos etc....my cousin makes his living making knives. Allan Dale Davis out of Conway Ark. He spent several days teaching me the basics. But reading even a tiny part of what's on here, showed me that I know next to nothing. Trying to learn about sharpening. Just bought a couple AG Russell knives to start back into collecting.
 
It depends on what you plan on cutting. Edge retention is going to vary depending on what you are cutting and a myriad of other factors. Do you want a steel you can quickly touch up or one that will stay sharp but will require more effort to make it sharp again? Do you want stainless or not?
 
If you want edge holding I would say S90v or M390. My favorite steel for a hunting knife would be ELMAX as it holds a sharp edge rather well while at the same time being quite easy to sharpen. I personally like stainless steels for skinning.
 
For someone who doesn't have a lot of experirnce with various steels, I'll always recommend getting a basic stainless. After
getting some experience, the user can decide which direction he wants to.go, after having refined his tastes a bit
 
singularity35 said:
For someone who doesn't have a lot of experirnce with various steels, I'll always recommend getting a basic stainless. After
getting some experience, the user can decide which direction he wants to.go, after having refined his tastes a bit
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Sound advice right there. What are you using now? What are it's shortcomings you want to find a better steel to overcome?
 
me2 said:
Sound advice right there. What are you using now? What are it's shortcomings you want to find a better steel to overcome?
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Im finding that for most of my uses, the high carbide volume steels work for me. I do also likeosy steels because I'm.a steel.whore at heart. :)
 
I skinned 2 deer with an esee izula and it stayed very sharp throughout. I love that little knife!
 
I have a cold steel voyager, my regular carrying knife is a 3 1/2" case saddlehorn. I probably need to start out with a good sharpening system first. It seems that the spyderco sharp maker is a popular choice for a novice. I have an AG Russell lockback Barlow on the way. I need to learn to correctly fix or set a good edge first I think. What do y'all think?
 
I'm not sure if the failing is the knife or my sharpening. I have a carbide smiths sharpener that u pull the blade thru. Not liking it much.
 
shortstack said:
I've heard D2 is one of the best for edge retention if heat treated correctly.
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DFB100W-5 Wombat - Heavy duty bush knife $176.00
12.5cm D2 tool steel, 4.5mm thick blade, brass bolster, wooden handle, 25cm overall
5" handle, 5" blade
DFB100-4.jpg

http://www.deweyknives.com.au/index.html
 
High carbon steel with pro heat treat would impressed you beyond any stainless could.
 
Richmtnkennels said:
I'm not sure if the failing is the knife or my sharpening. I have a carbide smiths sharpener that u pull the blade thru. Not liking it much.
Click to expand...

First order of business is throwing out that POS pull through "sharpener", have to speak frankly about that.
 
Large blocky carbides and fairly low grit polishes rule flesh and muscle slicing and thick, muddy, dirt caked fur jobs. Steels like Ingot ( not powder) D2, Cruwear/vascowear, D3,etc. with the right heat treat ( Dozier takes his D2 to an art for skinning and caping type jobs). The Ingot Cruwear Spyderco mules are even better for flesh and muscle IMO.

Realize these steels won't outlast CPM M4, K390, 10V, S90V, S110V on ropes or jobs where pure carbide volume ( especially vanadium) rules the day. Also, be aware taking a D2 dozier, or cruwear ( insert knife maker here) knife and polishing it extremely high will lower it's initial performance on this material. Leave the super high polished edges to push cuts and tissue paper tricks. The biting edges will always do best on skin and flesh & meat. Thicker skin with fur is no exception. Leave the high polished knives home.
 
Richmtnkennels said:
I have a cold steel voyager, my regular carrying knife is a 3 1/2" case saddlehorn. I probably need to start out with a good sharpening system first. It seems that the spyderco sharp maker is a popular choice for a novice. I have an AG Russell lockback Barlow on the way. I need to learn to correctly fix or set a good edge first I think. What do y'all think?
Click to expand...

While steel type is often the first place people start looking, IMO, you're definitely on to something here. Try a coarse stone, like a Norton Coarse India or Coarse Crystalon, either of which should work fine. Better steel won't be of much help if you can't sharpen it. If you don't have a good stone, you'll probably want one sooner or later anyway. For a hunting knife cutting dirty hide and such, it's hard to beat a good, sharp, yet coarse edge. I've been trying out a Dozier lately, and it takes a very sharp edge and the edge is half the thickness of other hunting blades costing much more. An excellent hunting knife by my estimation.
 
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