Camp Knife - 3V of O1?

ncrockclimb

ncrockclimb

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I know what you are going to say: "BOTH!" However, if you could only have one, which would it be and why.

I am really attracted to the toughness and edge retention of 3V, but O1 is easy to sharpen and pretty tough... Let me know what you think.
 
3V for me, and the honest answer is because I like playing with new steels, and because Peters is on top of their game when it comes to heat treating. You get all the benefits of Andy's design with the added benefit of a professional HT facility.
 
Our shop has a pretty legit heat treat facility. Or so I'd like to think
We do it every week
 
No experience with 01 but personally making some camp knives out of 3V and beating the shit out of them I would dough 01 would get better. The newer heat treat on 3V that people are doing makes it very corrosion resistant. Something very nice for outdoor work. The toughness is pretty crazy and the edge holding is there for a week of hard use easy and sharpening is nowhere as bad as people say.
Peters did a great HT on my 3V.
 
Vance, Fiddleback Forge does a great job on 01, A2, and CPM 154. I did not intend to imply otherwise.

Peters has a cool facility for alot of specialty steels and that is a part of the hobby that I enjoy

[video]https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=OvC4M_JrJlw[/video]
 
I went with 3v for the Camp, and cpm 154 for the Bush Finger and Hiking Buddy. :thumbup:;)

 
3V, but neither are stainless so salt water use requires cleaning after use. Fresh water isn't a problem for either of them, but O1 will stain and rust faster if left wet and dirty
 
Even stainless will oxidize if allowed; obviously carbon steels more so and quicker.

I prefer carbon steels for camp tasks and have thoroughly enjoyed 1095 over the years. My experience with CRK's A2 has been most favorable and I suspect that O1 would certainly satisfy as well. My preference for the carbon steels afield is not only ease of sharpening, but the closely related benefit of being easier to deal with a chip or a roll that can come from playing with knives in the woods.

All that said, very nice trio of blades pictured above!
 
3v takes getting use to. Depending on what you use to sharpen it can take a very long time.

Diamond coarse stones, naniwa waterstones for 1000+ grit and strops is the way I go with 3v and it still takes time if there are chips in the edge.
 
All the fuss about 'hard to sharpen '! All the newer 'powder steels ' are easy to sharpen with diamond sharpeners !!! Mine are all EZE-LAP which makes various shaped with various grit size sharpeners !
Try it you'll like it !
 
CPM 3V is my preferred steel of the two mentioned for almost any task or application. I do not find it terribly hard to sharpen, and I have done field touch ups without issue. O1 steel is easier to sharpen than 3V, but it does not hold an edge nearly as long nor can it be sharpened to the same level of acuteness as 3V without the edge rolling on certain tasks. I own a bunch of knifes in O1, and it is a capable steel if you take care of it and don't sharpen too acutely. But you can use 3V and thump on it a long time before you have to sharpen it.
 
I agree. I hammered my threw a hood of a car (I know how dare I)just to see if it wold be sharp after and it was
 
I have SEVERAL blades in 3V and it's by far my favorite of all steels when it comes to outdoor use. I can seriously get 5-6 field dressed hogs out of an edge before having to touch it up. The toughness, edge retention are EXCELLENT and for me, it's easy to sharpen. I wish Andy would do the Custom Bushfinger & Hunter in it. Actually, I wish he did all of his knives in it.
 
3V is definitely the way to go for a knife that is going to see impact use, if you are willing to, e.g., invest in diamond stones and/or good waterstones, to sharpen your knives.

O1 is sort of a default easy steel to grind and heat treat, forgiving steel, and it's reasonably tough. But as is just a general truth, any steel that is "easy" to sharpen by definition must be easier to dull also, with slicing / abrasive cutting. CPM 3V is a much higher performance steel in all regards (toughness, abrasive wear resistance/edge holding, better resistance to corrosion).

For a camp knife, anything short of a big chopper or machete, 3V is such a good default choice in today's world.

Personally, I wouldn't pay big bucks for a Camp Knife in O1 nowadays, when 3V is around. And there are other steels that are rising in contention, all with various pros/cons ... CPM Cruwear, CPM 4V, Vanadis 4.

And I do eat my own cooking... just acquired this finely made custom shop Camp Knife in 3V:
Fiddleback Forge Custom Shop Camp Maroon Linen w Black Canvas Micarta by rdangerer, on Flickr
 
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HogWylder said:
... 3V ... I wish Andy would do the Custom Bushfinger & Hunter in it. Actually, I wish he did all of his knives in it.
Click to expand...

That's kind of where I'm at too, HogWylder. Would like to see the entire Fiddleback line available in 3V, and spalted (if that process works on 3V).
 
I have one of each,the custom is convex ground and production is flat ground.I find the custom is a better chopper without sticking in the wood like the production model.
 
Rob_Angerer said:
3V is definitely the way to go for a knife that is going to see impact use, if you are willing to, e.g., invest in diamond stones and/or good waterstones, to sharpen your knives.

O1 is sort of a default easy steel to grind and heat treat, forgiving steel, and it's reasonably tough. But as is just a general truth, any steel that is "easy" to sharpen by definition must be easier to dull also, with slicing / abrasive cutting. CPM 3V is a much higher performance steel in all regards (toughness, abrasive wear resistance/edge holding, better resistance to corrosion).

For a camp knife, anything short of a big chopper or machete, 3V is such a good default choice in today's world.

Personally, I wouldn't pay big bucks for a Camp Knife in O1 nowadays, when 3V is around. And there are other steels that are rising in contention, all with various pros/cons ... CPM Cruwear, CPM 4V, Vanadis 4.

And I do eat my own cooking... just acquired this finely made custom shop Camp Knife in 3V:
Fiddleback Forge Custom Shop Camp Maroon Linen w Black Canvas Micarta by rdangerer, on Flickr
Click to expand...
That is a beautiful knife!
 
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