Budget Pocketknife Blade Steel Round-Up 2024

donnord donnord Thank you so much!! It was a ton of research, but I find this work to be extremely rewarding. I learn so much in my efforts to be as accurate as possible.
 
Yes thanks! Enjoyed it and it’s easy to read the charts. Would love to see your ratings on the higher end steels if you ever do that.
 
adluginb adluginb Thank you! I started with budget steels because they have the largest marketshare. But I am a fan of MagnaCut and am eager to see what comes of the next Larrin Thomas venture, CPM Proto (not yet officially named). I imagine that a premium steel review should be added to my schedule! Thanks for writing!
 
Last edited:
Hi Knife Karen: Nice job of collating/organizing all the numbers. BUT - here's my criticism - I think you went WAY overboard on their interpretation. For example, in your "junk steel section", you write "Almost all the knife blade steels with toughness ratings in the Junk category are terrible; most are as brittle as potato chips." C'mon. Many decent blades have been made with 440A, 7CR, 1095, etc. These steels sometimes last through decades of regular use. I used a Shrade knife in 440A for about 15 years and it held up fine with regular stroppings/sharpenings. It wasn't the best knife (I like M390, Magnacut and S90V now) but it wasn't junk and it never crumbled (I had a few small chips in the blade occasionally).

And you exaggerate the same way when you write about the "junk steel" edge retention. "All these blades have between very low to utterly crappy edge retention ratings." Take a look at Pete from Cedric & Ada on Youtube testing a 1095 blade made by Esee. He gets ~75 cuts through abrasive sisal rope before the blade dulls enough to snag printer paper. The thing is, the knife would still be sharp enough to cut even at that point, and a quick stropping session would renew the blade enough for another harsh cutting session. That's not crappy edge retention. And 1095's toughness is just fine also. There are lots of knife makers who still go with that steel.

The thing is - I think you degrade your credibility by describing the deficiencies this way. Many good to great knives have been made using these "junk steels". Why not just tell the story and relate these numbers to REAL WORLD performance? What does an edge retention score of 5 mean in terms of cutting? How does that relate to a 2.5? The numbers are very interesting, and I want to trust your evaluations also.
 
LarryG said:
Hi Knife Karen: Nice job of collating/organizing all the numbers. BUT - here's my criticism - I think you went WAY overboard on their interpretation. For example, in your "junk steel section", you write "Almost all the knife blade steels with toughness ratings in the Junk category are terrible; most are as brittle as potato chips." C'mon. Many decent blades have been made with 440A, 7CR, 1095, etc. These steels sometimes last through decades of regular use. I used a Shrade knife in 440A for about 15 years and it held up fine with regular stroppings/sharpenings. It wasn't the best knife (I like M390, Magnacut and S90V now) but it wasn't junk and it never crumbled (I had a few small chips in the blade occasionally).

And you exaggerate the same way when you write about the "junk steel" edge retention. "All these blades have between very low to utterly crappy edge retention ratings." Take a look at Pete from Cedric & Ada on Youtube testing a 1095 blade made by Esee. He gets ~75 cuts through abrasive sisal rope before the blade dulls enough to snag printer paper. The thing is, the knife would still be sharp enough to cut even at that point, and a quick stropping session would renew the blade enough for another harsh cutting session. That's not crappy edge retention. And 1095's toughness is just fine also. There are lots of knife makers who still go with that steel.

The thing is - I think you degrade your credibility by describing the deficiencies this way. Many good to great knives have been made using these "junk steels". Why not just tell the story and relate these numbers to REAL WORLD performance? What does an edge retention score of 5 mean in terms of cutting? How does that relate to a 2.5? The numbers are very interesting, and I want to trust your evaluations also.
Click to expand...
Hi LarryG! I really appreciate your feedback. My content is filled with tongue-in-cheek, snarky humor in addition to having a lot of technically detailed information. I understand your perspective and I do hear you. My perspective is that old technologies were fantastic when they were first created. People relied on them to do the work they needed to get done. Heck, humans used obsidian blades for millennia. But obsidian , despite being incredibly sharp, was terribly brittle. It was replaced when the development of metal forging was invented. What was great in the past, in the context of today, is often now substandard, if not obsolete.

If Pete got 75 cuts from 1095, but also gets 700+ from MagnaCut, it’s clear that in today’s world, 1095 blades are junk. There are budget considerations to be taken into account, but even for a $40 knife, these junk steels can be easily overlooked for better performing steels. That was the point of my long winded and snarky set of posts. One day we might see blades that have the toughness of Z-Tuff and the edge retention of Sandrin. When that happens, we’ll laugh at how we thought MagnaCut was so good! Thanks for sharing your thoughts on this, LarryG!
 
Holy Hannah!! I think I fell into a rabbit hole. When I began my online knife journey in the late 90’s, D2 was considered “premium” knife steel that custom makers used (Dozier).
Yesterday, on a whim, I bought one of those Walmart D2 cross lock folders for $9.97 plus tax.
😳. And its pretty damn nice.😳
 
Barry H said:
Holy Hannah!! I think I fell into a rabbit hole. When I began my online knife journey in the late 90’s, D2 was considered “premium” knife steel that custom makers used (Dozier).
Yesterday, on a whim, I bought one of those Walmart D2 cross lock folders for $9.97 plus tax.
😳. And its pretty damn nice.😳
Click to expand...
D2 was a premium steel in its time! The same goes for 400 series steel, which was better than the 300 series predecessors. A long time ago, obsidian flakes were the best cutting instruments we had. Technical progress drives forward and newer options appear, leaving older standards in the dust. I hope you love the new knife, Barry! New Knife Day is always a good day! Thank you for commenting!
 
SharperApex said:
[...]

If Pete got 75 cuts from 1095, but also gets 700+ from MagnaCut, it’s clear that in today’s world, 1095 blades are junk.

[...]
Click to expand...

I understand what you're saying but I wouldn't call it junk. It still works as well as it ever did, we just have found things that work better, for that particular task. I love trying out high alloy steels, but Dozier and his D2 are still some of my favorite knives.
 
sodak said:
I understand what you're saying but I wouldn't call it junk. It still works as well as it ever did, we just have found things that work better, for that particular task. I love trying out high alloy steels, but Dozier and his D2 are still some of my favorite knives.
Click to expand...
Hi, S sodak ! Thanks for writing again!

"Junk" is a relative group ranking classification as compared to other blade steels in the reviews. I ranked all the major (products carried by major online knife retailers) blade steels sold in the budget territory (<$100), and I then sorted those rankings in to 3 performance categories: Decent, Mediocre and Junk. I did so based on an objective assessment of the 3 blade steel performance characteristics: toughness (resistance to chipping, cracking & breaking), edge retention (resistance to wear and abrasion), and corrosion resistance (resistance to rust, oxidation, and damage from chemical exposure). This data was primarily sourced from by Dr. Larrin Thomas, a professional steel metallurgist, as well as others in the knife community. The rankings fell out where they did as per the data. I didn't start out calling those steels junk. Instead, as the data was accumulated, the rankings placed those steels where they are, in the lowest performance category, relative to the other steels reviewed.

I promise you that your love of Dozier knives made in D2 is wonderful! There's no condescension or judgment cast your way in my articles (I have a weird sense of humor, and it's abundantly used in my content). I agree that it's great to love a product based on how they have served you. My point in writing these articles was to help a shopper looking for a brand-new knife when they didn't know what they should buy. It's just one data point in the decision-making process. Knife design, handle materials, color, blade shape and finish, ergonomics, and brand/product loyalty are equally important.

I have a question for you. Given all the data gathered in the articles, how would you objectively rank the blade steels you like? How would you make those ranking decisions? I am genuinely interested in knowing! I am far from perfect (a profound understatement!), and I am interested in learning from your knowledge and experience. Let me know, sodak! Thank you!
 
Understood, no insult was taken. I appreciate all the work that you've done, I know it can at times be a thankless job, and it takes a lot of time.

Let me think about your question for a bit so I can write a good ranking, rather than fire off the top of my head.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top