Dragonfly Steel

[stevembarnett]

I am planning to get Spyderco knives as a gift for all of the groomsmen in my wedding, and I am thinking of the Stainless Steel Dragonfly. On the Spyderco.com website I noticed that AUS-8 is used as the blade steel for the Zytel Dragonfly, and ATS-55 is used for the Stainless Dragonfly. However, many of the websites that sell these say that both use AUS-8. One in particular has a picture of the stainless version that is large enough that I can make out "AUS-8" stamped at the base of the blade.

Is it possible that these are earlier production knives that may have used AUS-8.

What is the difference in quality (edge holding ability) between these two steels?
According to Spyderco.com, this blade with AUS-8 has a hardness rating of 58-59, but with ATS-55 it has a rating of 60-62.

If you can shed any light on this, I would appreciate it.

Thanks

 

[Roger Blake]

The stainless steel versions have ATS-55 and the zytel have AUS-8. Most of us prefir ATS-55 but AUS-8 is perfeclty acceptable to me. It takes a good edge but won't hold it as long as ATS-55. I would make my choice based on the handle material in this case as the difference are greater. The zytel is much lighter in weight and will resist scratching. The steel feels better and more substantial in the hand. The clip is integral with zytel where you can unscrew it on the steel handle.

I don't like the clip on such a small knife and I don't like the weight of steel and the ease of which it scratches. I opted for the Carbon Fiber which has the ATS-55 blade but was more expensive.

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Roger Blake

 

[gadgetman]

beam is correct about the FRN version using AUS-8 and the SS version using ATS-55, at least in current production. I got an earlier production model of the SS Dragonfly in GIN-1. When I got a second one for my SO, I was jealous of the ATS-55 at first, but I've grown to like the GIN-1 steel. I also have a zytel Dragonfly which I rarely use now.

The ATS-55 will hold an edge much longer, but if it isn't used for aggressive tasks, then the AUS-8 will do fine, and a couple of strokes on a fine stone or steel will bring back the razor sharpness. If your groomsmen are not knife nuts, then it probably won't matter which version you get, but the SS is little nicer, IMO.

Other models that are nice are the Dyad Jr. Lightweight and the Calypso Jr. Lightweight (which replaced my SS dragonfly as my favorite small knife).