Does 154CM stand out at anything anymore?

Macchina

Macchina

Joined
Apr 7, 2006
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When I first got into knives a few years back, the nicest knives were making the transition from 154CM to this new super steel: S30V. While most of my collection is either S30V or one of the NEW super steels (ZDP-189, CPM-M4, M390, Elmax), I still have a few 154CM knives. These knives, specifically my ZT 0200 and Benchmade 520, are made to be hard-use knives. I like 154CM as a user steel just fine, but would like to be able to tell myself: "This knife is better than a super steel knife because of this one reason...". I know it won't hold an edge longer than the new stuff, but that is not the only attribute that is valued in a knife steel.

So, does 154CM still excel at anything in this day and age of 64 Rc powder steels? Corrosion resistance, strength, etc.?
 
Being able to resharpen and reprofile without very expensive stones. 154CM is about as "super" as I like to go. I don't need the teeny bit extra of edge retention & hardness on the superer steels at the expense of sharpenability.
 
It's still a good general use steel that is easy to sharpen and cuts well.
 
I get so confused when someone says knife steel X gives them everything they want in a blade steel, but is it as good as knife steel Y. Ya know?
 
I still quite like 154CM as a knife steel in my EDCs. It's got great corrosion resistance and it’s a great “user” steel for me. Some of my favorite EDCs are 154CM – Griptillians, An older Stryker, Blitz, etc… Don't know about anyone else, but it's still one of my top steels.
 
Mannlicher said:
I get so confused when someone says knife steel X gives them everything they want in a blade steel, but is it as good as knife steel Y. Ya know?
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If a knife steel gives me everything I want in a knife, then it's as good as it gets for me... and I'm the only one my knives have to satisfy. I'm not a tester or a collector, I'm a user. I like steels that I'm familiar with and that I can depend on to perform consistently in my uses. After using knives for 55+ years, I have a pretty accurate idea of what my uses are going to be.

To the OP: 154CM, VG10, S30V, and 1095 are the steels in the blades that I use the most. They do everything I want and I know how to maintain them. They excel at satisfying me. That's the best I can tell ya.
 
Mannlicher said:
I get so confused when someone says knife steel X gives them everything they want in a blade steel, but is it as good as knife steel Y. Ya know?
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That's only really their opinion and that steel could be AUS-4, some mystery steel or S110V depending on who you talk too. ;)

You also have to know how or if they really USE their knives for more than a flip toy or fingernail cleaner, that really DOES matter. ;)

Give a person a knife in S30V that has been using flea market knives all their life and they will like it until they have to sharpen it, then they will hate it and go right back to using the garbage they were using before because they can't sharpen S30V.

That's not even getting into steels like S90V..... ;)

Perception is what it is......

People tend to hype up (enter NEW toy here) with (Enter Steel here) because it's new to them so it's the greatest thing since sliced bread in their opinion..... That doesn't mean that it really is though. ;)

Most of the time it's good to find things out for ones self...
 
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wintermute said:
Being able to resharpen and reprofile without very expensive stones. 154CM is about as "super" as I like to go. I don't need the teeny bit extra of edge retention & hardness on the superer steels at the expense of sharpenability.
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^^ Good responses. VG10 is one of those steels for me as well. I dont care how many new steels they come up with that promise this-that-and the other , the differences are just too subtle to justify the added work for me.

Tostig
 
IMO the real attribute of 154cm/cpm154 is that it is a very well-rounded stainles steel performance-wise and gets fairly high marks in every aspect rather than standing out in one particular, while perhaps lacking a little in another, which is my personal opinion on many of the newer "wonder steels". Rather than looking for one particularly strong attribute, I appreciate a lack of weak attributes. In this light the cpm version is really a wonderful alloy and is the only stainless I work with currently.
 
154 CM is one of the best all around steels that I have found. It's really easy to maintain, sharpen, and keep sharp, etc. I use it a lot.
 
It works really well for me as well. I like playing with the supersteels but I honestly haven't carried anything better than s30v or 154 cm for a user.
....edited to add; it excels at being an inexpensive and high performing steel.
 
I think it has been covered nicely but i will add my 2 cents. I have a preference for ATS 34, but I have a lot of knives and with diffrent steels. As long as it is a high quality steel I do not care, my main concerns are, is it carbon or stainless so I know how to treat the blade. Can I sharpen it within reason because some steels are just to damn hard and if you dull them you have a devil of a time sharpening them. Personaly I think 57-58 Rc is plenty hard enough for most uses.
 
It seems that a few years ago (early 2000) that ats-34 was more prolific than 154cm. Now it seems to be the opposite. Anyone care to enlighten me as to why this is?
 
zrfunited said:
It seems that a few years ago (early 2000) that ats-34 was more prolific than 154cm. Now it seems to be the opposite. Anyone care to enlighten me as to why this is?
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Production and availablilty I believe.

kreole said:
154CM is only made by Crucible. Other companies do make it but under different names.
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I thought that Crucible's version was CPM154 which is a powder version of the steel, whereas 154CM is very similar in properties but not made by Crucible. Or maybe they're both made by Crucible but only one is a powder steel? I could be mistaken (probably a good bet :))

Nathan
 
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