CTS-XHP vs S90V Millie

MaxFactor

MaxFactor

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Title pretty much says it all.

Corrosion resistance is important to me as it'll be spending time near the coast and I know the salty ocean air can be harsh on blade steels.

What do you guys think?
 
XHP will be easier to profile, S90V will hold an edge longer though. Both are pretty stainless, XHP has been described as a Stainless version of D2 and the S in S90V stands for stainless if I'm not mistaken.

Of the two though, I'd carry the S90V. No real reason why, although it might be easier to spot since it's got a black or blue handle over the brown of the XHP. Brown might blend in with sand more easily if you drop it.

EDIT: Editing to say I'd love to have this predicament, deciding between an XHP Millie and an S90V one haha
 
I had almost all the sprint /DE Military’s Lost the D2 / FG G10 to a manufacturing defect on a trip back to Spyderco But they gave me a CRUWEAR / Gray G10 as a replacement, lucky timing on that one:


BG-42 /CF
D2 / FG G10
S90V / CF
M4 / Ti & G10
CTS-XHP / Brown G10
M390 / CF
S90V / Blue G10
CRUWEAR / Gray G10



S90V / CF: Does not like to have a polished edge. Likes to be sharpened on the Medium rods or bench stone. Using fine or UF polishes the edge but takes away the toothy bight from the edge.


CTS-XHP: likes to have a polished edge and still keeps the toothy bight.

Both are easy to keep sharp if you use the stones they like.


I don’t notice a difference in edge retention in my daily cutting chores between S90V and CTS-XHP. I feel the steels fall in to 3 groups on sharpness:

1. D2 , S90V, CTS-XHP
2. BG-42, M390
3. M4, CRUWEAR

Group 1 &2 are scary sharp and group 3 is OMG sharp
 
I have the XHP Military model and I've been very happy with it so far. Now I know that the S90V is probably the best Military C-36 model ever made from what I've gathered talking to friends that have them. I like the Military is just about every steel that they have offered it up in. I just wish that they would bring back the full Spyderedged version of the knife and XHP would be a great steel for that I'm sure.

The C-36 Military is one of the top 5 most time tested Spyderco models ever. I've yet to talk to any knife enthusiast that doesn't like the Military model. But as far as XHP versus S90V you don't go wrong with either one. They are both great blades with high quality blade steels.
 
Interesting.

2011BLDR, so you're saying that I should really seek out one of those Cruwear Millies? I've already been looking all over, but I have a hard time paying a premium after I saw them In Stock for less than $160 only a week ago. But I suppose I'm prepared to drop around $300 for a S90V or CTS-XHP Millie, so I shouldn't be complaining.

At this point, I'm leaning toward S90V (or maybe Cruwear?). Which is mainly because I have a Domino and a Techno and had a CTS-XHP Mule, so I already have experience with CTS-XHP. In the interest of broadening my steel spectrum, I guess I'd like to try something different.

I did find a steel comparison chart here which lists S90V as being considerably less corrosion resistant than S35VN (granted, I have no idea what the Y axis metric for corrosion resistance would be). How accurate do you guys think this chart is?
 
Depends on how you rank your personal need for stainless VS sharpness. CRUWEAR is not stainless at all. I live in the desert so I can carry a non-stainless knife with just a minimal amount of extra care so sharpness ranks high for me. When I lived by the coast, it was the other way around.

If you are looking on the secondary market, any stainless Military sprint is an excellent choice:

BG-42 /CF
S90V / CF
CTS-XHP / Brown G10
M390 / CF

The S90V / Blue G10 is still available at MSRP from the dealer who commissioned the run.
 
Since you have XHP already, and want to try S90V, I'd say go for it! S90V is very corrosion resistant, better than 440C, so you'll be fine around salt water, just make sure and rinse it thoroughly.
 
2011BLDR said:
I had almost all the sprint /DE Military’s Lost the D2 / FG G10 to a manufacturing defect on a trip back to Spyderco But they gave me a CRUWEAR / Gray G10 as a replacement, lucky timing on that one:


BG-42 /CF
D2 / FG G10
S90V / CF
M4 / Ti & G10
CTS-XHP / Brown G10
M390 / CF
S90V / Blue G10
CRUWEAR / Gray G10



S90V / CF: Does not like to have a polished edge. Likes to be sharpened on the Medium rods or bench stone. Using fine or UF polishes the edge but takes away the toothy bight from the edge.


CTS-XHP: likes to have a polished edge and still keeps the toothy bight.

Both are easy to keep sharp if you use the stones they like.


I don’t notice a difference in edge retention in my daily cutting chores between S90V and CTS-XHP. I feel the steels fall in to 3 groups on sharpness:

1. D2 , S90V, CTS-XHP
2. BG-42, M390
3. M4, CRUWEAR

Group 1 &2 are scary sharp and group 3 is OMG sharp
Click to expand...
Good summary
Locutus D'Borg said:
Boye makes high cobalt water resistant knives that are very reasonably priced.
Click to expand...

Ufortunately, one of those blades you mention are Spyderco Militarys. :p
 
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