Carbon or stainless...

Which steel do you prefer on your traditional folders?

  • Carbon

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • Stainless

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • No preference

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Total voters
    0
I like my traditionals in Carbon, and my modern in Stainless. I usually carry one of each, at any given time.
 
I have many knives in many steels and I like them all for one or another reason. The non-stainless (all steel has carbon) blades exude more character; the stainless blades, if good, are more practical. I have a dogleg jack in ATS 34 which has become my bosom buddy. Beautiful old CASE in CV rots in my pocket in about 4 hours. This will all become moot in a few years; 1095 is rapidly becoming a "thing of the past," the past of lovely old cutlery.
 
I voted carbon, though I have plenty of both. I just prefer the way carbon sharpens up, especially W2.
 
A am a big carbon steel fan. I have some stainless, but carbon steel for custom and production folders is my favorite. If you can remember to oil the joint, surely you can remember to protect the steel.

- Joe
 
I voted carbon because that's what the majority of my knives are. It's only a slight preference though at this point. As long as it's a quality steel, I'm fine with it.
 
i voted carbon...
but the truth is, I am not sure
It seems like it sharpens up easier than stainless ...but i am not a hard enough user to be sure

i wonder if i have turned into a carbon steel snob :eek::D
 
I vote carbon as the patina that develops over time speaks to me as an incredible and humbling metaphor; as your blade ages and develops character, you yourself mature alongside it.

Carbon blades pit and rust just like we humans age and deteriorate ourselves. In order to retain vitality we must oil our knives, sharpen them and care for them like we do our mortal bodies. Each spot, each streak, each pit, each varying shade of color is something you picked up along your journey-it's history. I love carbon not only for its edge retention and ease of sharpening, but for the metaphors I take from it.

That is why I vote for carbon.

(Sorry my friends, I'm one of those writer types :p:D)
 
It looks like carbon is the runaway favorite here by a large margin. I don't know exactly what I expected, although I don't think I expected this large of a difference.

For me, I don't think I have a preference. I think carbon steel can be both sharper and can hold its edge longer if properly profiled and heat treated, but stainless has the advantage of less required maintenance to avoid rust issues. I don't mind patinas at all, but I don't crave them either.

Thanks much for all the responses so far folks. It just goes to show how little I really do know about traditional pocket knives and what good folks like yourselves like and don't like in a traditional folder.
 
One of the guys I work with gave me a lock back stainless to sharpen for him . It was pathetically blunt.
I took to it with the lansky and a couple of man hours later it is ready to give back. No way a carbon steel blade would take that long to sharpen.
Is there a quick way to get stainless steel blades sharp? If not I vote carbon tho i'm not a big fan of patina either.
cheers -good thread.
 
I was carbon all the way, untll one day S&M's ATS34 and Queen's D2 came to me in a dream and gave an account of their purpose in the world

Now I marginally favour stainless sometimes, overall, a bit - in the end it is a taste thing - literally :)
 
I voted Carbon as a preference, but I have some really nice ones with Stainless. For day to day carry I usually have a carbon blade on me. When Kayaking I have a stainless Sodbuster Jr. in my pocket, in case I get wet while fishing. And I usually do. Living in Florida can keep a person damp a lot of the time and Stainless seems more appropriate.
Good thing I can find good knives in BOTH !
 
I like Carbon for the old school look and the sentimental value, growing up with it.

Stainless is more care free and the stainless of today is much better than the stainless of the past.

Owning and carrying both is a win, win to me.

Also when working in rain or snow and using your knife with your lunch out in the field, blade clean up isn't always right by or near and is usually many hours away.
 
Stainless for me, though I've some nice carbon blades as well. We've all seen cheap and nasty stainless knives in the past and I've had some
pretty poor carbon bladed knives too. I think a good stainless gets as sharp as a good carbon blade, as far as I can tell anyway.
 
For EDC knives, I hugely prefer carbon. Don't mind some pitting on restored knives anymore than the scars on my knees. Whoever said, stainless doesn't tell a story nailed it. Also, I don't have (or want) many EDC knives so it's real, real easy to monitor and maintain the blades. I worry more about my wife changing the oil in her minivan.

There are some knives that I prefer to be stainless. Knives that get stashed away and left for certain uses and that don't get used often, well, I prefer stainless for those. I'm talking here about the knife in the bottom of the tackle box, the one stashed in my glove box of my car.
 
To me it depends on useage. If it's more likely to be used with foodstuffs, particularly acidic fruits, I prefer stainless. Otherwise, no preference really, except mirror polish is easier to keep that way if stainless.
 
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