Cold Steel and VG-1

C

Confederate

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Sep 5, 2005
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After discussing the merits of VG-1 stainless with AUS 8, I take it that the latter is the best steel of the two. I'm also seeing advertisements of Voyagers being made with VG-1 steel though the catalogs maintain they're still being made with AUS 8A steel. Does anyone have a Voyager with VG-1? Is VG-1 a solid step down or is it in the same league with AUS 8? Where is it likely to suffer.

Thanks.
 
VG-1 is a step down.

The place it suffers is edge retention.

I know you did not ask, but I would suggest that instead of buying a bad knife from a bad person that you buy a good knife from a good person for even less money instead.
 
Confederate said:
After discussing the merits of VG-1 stainless with AUS 8, I take it that the latter is the best steel of the two.
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VG-1 would be similar to AUS-10A so if you feel that is better than AUS-8A then so would be VG-1.

-Cliff
 
Well, now, AUS 10A I imagine would be better than AUS 8A (since 6 isn't as good as 8). I did find it somewhat ingenuous of Lynn Thompson to imply that ATS-34 and 154CM were in the running for their upgrades when, in fact, Cold Steel is not in the habit of using either of those steels. In short, his explanation is that they'd tested all the steels and the cheaper steel just happens to be the one that tested out the best.

Yeah, right. Like I'm going to believe that!

I know you did not ask, but I would suggest that instead of buying a bad knife from a bad person that you buy a good knife from a good person for even less money instead.
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Well, I don't reckon I'd call Thompson a bad person, but when it comes to Cold Steel's Voyagers, I don't know of another knife that can compete with them, inch for inch, ounce for ounce. I mean what Spyderco or Benchmade can you get with a 6-inch blade that's a folder? As it is, a Sypderco with a little teardrop-shaped blade barely more than 3 inches long costs somewhere between $75-$100. A 6-inch Voyager or Vaquero can be had on eBay for about $60. And while the blade isn't VG-10, AUS 8A isn't exactly junk. (Look at how Buck 110 fans love their 420HC blades.)

So sure I'd like to see someone compete with Cold Steel and offer large, tough-locking folders, but most knife companies make knives that differ in blade shape, but not size. So it doesn't offer the wide variety that Cold Steel does.

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Confederate, I have to completely agree with you there. I find Cold Steel's Voyager series to work just fine for my needs. I don't agree with a lot of what Lynn Thompson does, as far as running CS is concerned though.
 
I had a voyger out of the box and it was terribley dull. It was one of the worst knives I have ever owned. It would not holld an edge. I like the ready edges and the carbon v master hunters. But their folders suck big time! My money will go with Spyderco or Benchmade. Better company, better product and great customer service
 
My XL Voyager tanto (AUS8), zytel tilite(440A), and Arc Argel(CarbonV) came wickedly sharp, you may have recieved a bad knife, or the worker who sharpened it doesn't know what they are doing.

I'm sure that most all will agree that Spyderco and Benchmade make superior knives, but you don't get as much blade steel for the $$$
 
Confederate said:
In short, his explanation is that they'd tested all the steels and the cheaper steel just happens to be the one that tested out the best.
Click to expand...

It will be best at something, in general you would expect manufacturers to not overly promote their weaknesses and focus on their strengths. VG-1 is also easier to promote as a radical upgrade than AUS-10, because AUS-10 doesn't sound like much of an improment over AUS-8 to most people.

VG-1 basically takes AUS-8 and increases the carbon content so you would expect an increase in maximal hardness and wear resistance and a loss in toughness, ductility, grindability, corrosion resistance and ultimate polish. It like all steels is better in some respects and worse in others.

Of course it depends on how they are hardened, Benchmade for example is running their AUS-8 at 60 HRC which is likely higher than Cold Steel is running their VG-1 so that comparison may not be as straightforward as the compositions would imply, and the latter is always a risk path to walk anyway.

-Cliff
 
Has anyone checked the Rockwell of a number of Cold Steel knives? For all the talk they do on sub-zero quenching and all, one would expect good performance, but everyone seems to be cutting corners these days. Byrd has gone from 440C to an AUS 8A-type steel, for example, but getting back to the Voyagers, I have several plain blades and they're very sharp. But still, I hear stories....
 
I have an AUS-8A voyager. It's a good knife for general use pocket knife, and came at a good price. But it does not hold an edge very well. It is, however, fairly easy to resharpen.

I wouldn't call it a super high quality knife, but I certanly wouldn't call it a junker either. It's FAR superior to any of the Buck knives I've owned.
 
The Voyager series knives are still made with the AUS-8A stainless steel. The Vaquero series is in VG-1 (in the 3-, 4-, and 5-inch variants), but remains AUS-8A in the six-inch Vaquero Grande. Only the Voyager-like Gunsite I and II (with 5- and 4-inch blades, respectively) are equipped with VG-1 blades. My daily carry knives include a 3-inch (medium) Voyager, a 6-inch (X2) Voyager, and a Teflon-coated black Scimitar, all with AUS-8A. All hold a decent edge and resist corrosion well--and a few passes on my Spyderco Sharpmaker make them razor-sharp exactly like they come from the factory. It's been cast as an economical steel in light of S30V, but it still works and serves its purpose.
 
I have a number of CRKT and Cold Steel AUS 8A knives and I'm happy not only with the way they sharpen up, but in how they hold their edges as well. I know they're not el primo steel, but pocket sharpeners can quickly bring out wickedly sharp blades and the blades seem to stay sharp too.

Didn't much care for AUS 6, but I really got bummed out when CRKT and others switched from that to AUS 4, which probably should be CRAP 2; 420j2 should probably be CRAP 1.
 
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