Do you guys use your high end knives made out of the so called super stainless steels

S30V - I use the hell out of it on my PM2...it's scratched up real good, has a crazy sharp toothy edge and I had to grind down the slope of the tip a little to make it sharp again after the tip snapped off. I rarely carry my Sage 1 because it's my going out knife and I don't go out very often...it's completely flawless and I intend to keep it that way!

S35VN - Large Insingo is used like crazy and the swedge is real scratched up, but the blade doesn't show any scratches no matter how much I use it because the stone wash is so good. I love that knife....but I use it for everything and anything.

M390 - I don't carry my Ritter mini grip all that often but I use it when I carry it. I don't find it to hold an edge any longer than my S30V knives to be honest, but it does polish up nice and the stone wash doesn't show much in the way of scratches.

CTS-XHP - I haven't had a chance to beat on my Recon 1 much yet, but I find the DLC incredibly strong and the XHP holds an edge better while cutting cardboard than ANY of my other knives, and is also stroppable back to hair shaving sharp really quickly...this is the best steel I have for sure...blows the rest out of the water.

aus8 - Not exactly a super steel but I Have used the hell out of my Rat 1 for all sorts of tasks, its really scratched up and dulls pretty easily while cutting cardboard, but it also goes back to razor sharp in about a minute on the sharp maker.
 
I don't chop with my knives but I do slice meat, cardboard boxes, string, a little carving of wood, plastic or soft aluminum. I carry and use all of my good folders, in 154CM, S30V, D2, Elmax, S90V and S110V.
 
Mikael W said:
VG1 as made in the Cold Steel version, is said to have more toughness than VG-10, but less edgeretention.
I believe them to be Great Knives!

Sorry to hear about Your experience with Your A1.
I don't know why there are differences in the user reports, but I think the knives should be the same for any owner!
I have used the A1 as my son has one.
His A1 doesn't show what You have experienced, so there are obviously differences between knives of the same model.
My son has accidentally hit a stone with the edge of his A1, but it dented instead of chipping.
I have done the same on Limestone with my NL2, but the denting was minimal and the edge was back after 5 minutes on the DC stone.

I have used the NL2 in chopping Sycomore Maple for 2,5 hours of continous work, without seeing any damage to the edge.
I have batoned & splitted firewood + chopped 4" to 5" Mapletrees, for years with the NL2 and it still have the original edge.
It only need maintenance from the strop and the ultrafine ceramic side of the brown DC 4 stone.
I'm happy for this and I'm content with the quality of that NL2.
It's the same with my NL1, even if I don't use it as much as the NL2.

IMO the NL's are what Peter Hjortberger, the owner of Fällkniven promise them to be.
He has personally told me many times, that to this date, he hasn't got any NL's back to him in pieces!


Regards
Mikael
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Hattori makes some gorgeous big bowies

DSC_0750b1.jpg
 
ursamajor said:
Hattori makes some gorgeous big bowies

Yes they do!
For the user who want Campknives in stainless steel, the NL-series are IMO the best production models availible anywhere.
There are of course handmade Custom knives built to higher spec's than any production knife, but they aren't as availible as the NL's or the CS San Mai models.


Regards
Mikael
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8", 16 oz, CPM 3V Bos HT, Shawn Knowles maker, stabilized hard maple

The blade design was ok but handle needed change for me.One inch longer for a chopper and a straight handle. Very comfortable and a pleasure to use !!
 
mete said:
attachment.php


8", 16 oz, CPM 3V Bos HT, Shawn Knowles maker, stabilized hard maple

The blade design was ok but handle needed change for me.One inch longer for a chopper and a straight handle. Very comfortable and a pleasure to use !!
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That's Great, and thanks for showing !!! :)
Is it a flatgrind with convex edge?
What's the HRC?


Regards
Mikael
 
Even in the US midwest, I wouldn't expect anything associated with "stainless" to be very well suited for chopping though the 1095 on my ESEE Junglas does exceptionally well on oak.
Besides, anything associated with "supersteels" are going to be hard to sharpen anyways. Your best bet would be 3V, quite rust resistant and not too terribly hard to sharpen.
 
Jhansenak47 said:
In my experience if it damages VG10 then it damages carbon steel. Big difference is in the wear resistance and how much of a PITA it is to sharpen. Most carbon steels, unless particularly hard (63+RC), are pretty easy to Sharpen.
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You have different experience, and that happens in the normal course of things.

The OP was talking about chopping some notably hard woods. There are "carbon" steels that are used for axes, stone chisels, and jackhammer bits. When the last axe head you saw in VG 10?

Could you shape a blade to better resist impact? Sure; nice obtuse convex. But Phil Wilson wouldn't like it much. :p
 
The cow said:
Even in the US midwest, I wouldn't expect anything associated with "stainless" to be very well suited for chopping though the 1095 on my ESEE Junglas does exceptionally well on oak.
Besides, anything associated with "supersteels" are going to be hard to sharpen anyways. Your best bet would be 3V, quite rust resistant and not too terribly hard to sharpen.
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No steel is hard to sharpen with the right knowhow and equipment in Your pocket !

About "stainless" and chopping oak, here's a Bark River in plain ol' 12c27 chopping oak:

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No problems as the geometry is set for the job.


Regards
Mikael
 

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I use "super" steels all the time, though I admit that I do it more with folding knives than I do with a fixed blade. I have used several fixed blades in 3V, Elmax, 20CV, and 12c27 though, and they have performed amazingly well, as long as you know what the edge is able to handle, and what the knife was intended to manage.

In my folders, I have had pretty much all of the big ones at this point: S35VN, S30V, CPM-154, M390 (and its analogs), Elmax, S110V, S125V (talk about hard to sharpen!), 10V, M4, 4V, etc.
I really like using different steels to see how they handle different tasks and how they perform compared to one-another.

I still have a Vic Pioneer in my pocket almost every day though, and I usually have something in 1095 on me at least once a week...
 
I have several medium sized fixed blades in steels like CPM-20CV and use them to de-limb/etc. & they work great...no edge damage at all & they stay very sharp for a very long time. "Super" stainless steels, of which VG10 is not one, work fine for most impact related knife tasks.

It always cracks me up on these threads when guys can't wait to say that of course they use all of their super steel knives/expensive knives/etc., because why else would they buy them? The vast majority of the knives I choose to collect, custom fixed, never see anything but light to very light use - because I'm not only a knife user, but a knife collector as well....I view the knives that I choose not to use as pieces of art, so all I do with those is add Tru-Oil if the scales are wood & some paste wax & rotate EDCing them for light use only, because I enjoy carrying beautiful fixed blades. I just checked, and my male genitalia is still intact even though I choose to only subject a select few of my knives to any medium to heavy use tasks I encounter.
 
Mikael, I don't remember the hardness but probably 60 HRc.There are two top HT places here, that are knowledgeable and can be trusted - Bos [likemine ] and Peters . One reason for me to be interested in Survive ! knives is they use Peters for HT of the special steels like their 3V.
My knife is flatground.
I'm the metallurgist , they had to do it right !! The major question that people have is -- 400F or 900F temper? .The 900F is designed more for dies where stability is important.This of course gives you secondary carbides. The 400F is for knives !!
 
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mete said:
Mikael, I don't remember the hardness but probably 60 HRc.There are two top HT places here, that are knowledgeable and can be trusted - Bos [likemine ] and Peters . One reason for me to be interested in Survive ! knives is they use Peters for HT of the special steels like their 3V.
My knife is flatground.
Click to expand...

Thank You Mete!
My BR Scandi is 3V around HRC 60 and I like the cutting performance.
When looking up on Shawn Knowles, it seems like he has used both Bos and Peters.
Is he still making knives?


Regards
Mikael
 
mete said:
I'm the metallurgist , they had to do it right !! The major question that people have is -- 400F or 900F temper? .The 900F is designed more for dies where stability is important.This of course gives you secondary carbides. The 400F is for knives !!
Click to expand...

This is why I read Your posts with great interest!
 
I do not own any stainless "super steels" but I do have a few folders and fixed blades in Aus-8 steel and it's variants. I do use them and like them very much but I would never subject them to the abuse I would my carbon steel blades.

For larger knives where toughness and wear resistance come into play especially out in the wilderness I personally believe 5160 reigns supreme, it is my personal favorite for a large camp knife or chopper. 1095 is my second favorite but more so for medium to small fixed blade knives.

Stainless steels are great especially the more advanced ones but I usually only keep them for folders or fixed blades for lighter work. That being said I am in love with the A1, it is actually my grail knife, though I see it more of a combat knife than a true "survival/outdoor knife", same way I feel about the Kabar USMC, great as a combat knife but their are better options for outdoor/bush use.
 
Mikael, apparently Shawn [according to Facebook ] is still making knives .

Aleous , AUS-8 as in the Cold Steel Hunter is a great knife .When they changed to the Chinese "equivalent " it wasn't equivalent at all and that knife started to get many complaints on this forum.I have NO complaints about the original in any aspect , and it was my regular deer knife for many years.!! Beware the term "equivalent " !
A steel I like better than 1095 is 1084 as it's a good performer but easier to forge and HT.
We've all got more choices than we can deal with ! HA
 
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