CPM S30V: A Great Steel

[Handwrecker]

S30V is possibly my favorite stainless. Super tough and corrosion resistant, takes a killer edge, and simply seems to cut forever. It seems Benchmade catches a lot of flack for their heat treat of it, but I've been blown away by Spyderco's version.

I've chopped up fish and hit the edge on rock with my Military, and even stabbed a Sage through 1/4" thick polymer. Never seemed to stop cutting and hardly any damage to the edge. When it does need to be sharpened, it seems to be pretty easy. I also believe that the type of stone/system your using to sharpen has an impact in how difficult it is to sharpen. Maybe not the absolute best in any one category, but damn good in them all.

 

[goldie]

i have the large & small rukus knives, the edges seem to be razor sharp,they are among the sharpest s30v blades i have next to the buck vantage pro....

 

[Cynic2701]

S30V is probably my favorite stainless steel blade alloy.

Excellent all around attributes, and I - personally - find it to be better than 154cm or VG-10.

Which isn't to say that 154cm or VG-10 aren't great blade steels--I still like them both. Just that, if I was offered a knife that would have all the same characteristics except for the blade steel, out of these three I would choose S30V.

I guess all I'm say is that don't let the blade steel be the "be all end all" deciding factor on whether or not a knife is a "good" knife.

 

[Joshua J.]

Yup. I have to echo the common sentiment of S30V as the new 440C. It may not be the best at any one thing, but is a fantastic all around steel. Everyone should count themselves lucky that it is so readily available.

 

[singularity35]

It would be odd if the heat treat were different. ???

Alloy_____________________Rockwell
Spyderco Native III VG10______59.2
Spyderco Military S30V________58.3
Benchmade 710 D2___________61.6
Buck Vantage Pro S30V________59.7


I do not know if the 58 hardness on the Military was standard for Spyderco, standard for the Spyderco Military, or just a fluke. But it was what was measured on a properly calibrated Rockwell machine.

Some tests on the black blade millie hardness.