Favorite small knife steel (bushcraft knives/EDC knives)

[chriswillman]

Hey guys, I know im new here and am working on getting my equiptment set up to start making my first 1084 steel knives. In the mean time I though I would ask you what your favorite steel is (preferable a tool or high carbon steel) for knives with around 3-4 inch blades, 5 tops. What kind of grind would you prefer, what hrc would you prefer also. This knife would be slicing through things such as cardboard, wood, something in one of those unfriendly plastic sealed cases or whatever they are that are incredibly hard to open, and skinning animals.

 

[ScottRoush]

I think 0.095 15n20 would be awesome. It heat treats like 1084 and has awesome edge retention. I've been playing around with making small stock removal 15n20 bushcrafters and, while thin, they are extremely tough and aggressive. You can check out some videos I made doing some chopping tests with 15n20 here:

http://www.youtube.com/user/RoushScott?feature=mhee

Check out the two 'chopper test' videos....

bushcrafters like scandi or convex. If you go with a scandi, make sure you know how to do it well. Uneven scandi grinds show up real fast when sharpening.