Best steel in an EDC all purpose folder?

Capt. Carl said:
Really any steel from a good knife company would work great.
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I agree.
I'm no expert.
But if it is a EDC then you can sharpen it when you get home.

Now if the knife it was for camping you might want something that stays sharp and rust free longer. Yes you can carry a small sharpening stone but you really only want to do that when you must.
 
I have the Benchmade Gaucho in M4 and I am very impressed with it, I can't wait to get in my 710 made out of it. Then I can try out the steel on a more usable blade shape.
 
I have a BM Gaucho in CPM M4 and a Spyderco Military in S90V.

I'll never again buy a lesser steel. These two are the bomb baby! :p:p
 
More or less all steels that are well produced and ground competently but I would personally leave out D2. I see no point to it. Hard to sharpen, easy to chip,impossible to polish,gets spotty not patina.Tool steels or stainless do it all better in my experience.
 
For fine edge retention, Kershaw's 13C26 and 14C28N Sandvik steels outperform both VG-10 and 154CM, and should be significantly tougher as well.
 
I like (in no particular order of preference)
154CM / ATS-34 / 14-4CrMo
VG10
AUS10
N690
440C

That is to say I like stainless steels with about 1% Carbon.
 
outlaw918692000 said:
Also I will add to the mix D-2. Contrary to popular belief it doesn't corrode any easier than 154cm in my experience.
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Outlaw, 2 months ago I would have agreed with you 100%. However...went to the ocean for a week on vacation. Went swimming for a couple of hours, came home, changed and went to rinse my spydie para (cpm d2) like I always do. Wham it was an UGLY site after only a couple of hours. I didn't think rust could "grow" that fast. My next blade will be the same in s30v. Keep the peace, Smitty
 
DunnzoBrah said:
Wouldnt any properly, well heat treated SS work well as an EDC steel?
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Depends on what your daily activities are.
--Some folks maybe open a couple of letters with their pocket knife.
--Other folks do a bunch of cutting every day with their pocket knife.
--And some folks just like to know that, no matter the job, their pocket knife will handle it.

I've been in the middle of a project that I got into using my EDC and had my knife go dull. So I tend to be in category 3. Because I do not know exactly what I'll be doing on any given day with my knife.
 
The ones that have really stood out for me are:

N690Co
440C
BG-42
CPM154
SG2
ZDP189

...and many more. It seems that I like a large variety. :D
 
I noticed not that many of you mentioned ZDP in your lists. Is that because not many you have tried it, or it really isn't worth the extra expense?

The reason I ask is that I'm thinking about trying one out. My usual favorites are:

VG-10
154CM
S30V
440c


Lev
 
154CM has been surpassed for me lately, but it's great steel, especially from Benchmade.

I would go with VG-10 (just about anything out of Seki), and give CPM-D2 composite blade (from Kershaw) a VERY serious consideration. The D2 from Kershaw is a REAL trooper.
 
ZDP 189 is the only one for which I can perceive that it really cuts much better than the rest. The rest perform similarly, in practice: S30V, aus8, vg10, 154cm, even 440c. I am convinced that in theory s30V is better. I have never used s90V.

It would be interesting to have a blind 'taste test' for blade steels. I bet most users could not tell the difference if you didn't tell them.

According to a good article by Dan Farr that I've cited before, carbon steels like 5160, M4, and CPM 3V are advantageous only on bigger knives, where more energy can be generated, hence more toughness can come into play.
 
If you want good performance with easy sharpening, I would go with VG-10, 154CM, and the like. If you have a good diamond hone, go for the high alloy stuff. They don't stay razor sharp much longer than usual steel types, but they do keep that utility edge for a very, very long time.
 
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