Good steel for folding bushcraft knife

TheGame

TheGame

Joined
Sep 24, 2008
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Well, I am looking to getting a good bushcraft knife for around or less than $100. It would be a backup to my Fixed Blade, of course, but I want the best steel I can get with the price.

What is a good steel for me to be looking for here? I prefer (In order)

Relatively easy to sharpen
Edge Retention

Those are the only 2 things I really "Need" for it to have. The retention doesn't need to be great, just good.

Any steel and or knife suggestions?
 
Of all my folders my TOP's CQT thunder hawke and G-10 endura do the best. TOP's being the better of the two.
 
Steel is almost irrelevant if you want easy sharpening and don't demand absolute edge retention. What is more important is a good profile with a thin, acute edge. Those characteristics enhance both ease of sharpening and edge retention. Almost any reputable brand should suffice. For bushcrafting, maybe a Victorinox folder with a saw and the usual accompaniments would be good. You get a few extra tools and they aren't usually very expensive.
 
the Doug Ritter vesrions of the Benchmade Griptillians and mini griptillians are marketed as survival knives and sold only through aeromedix which does pilot survival and emergency gear. They are s30v but as said earlier I am not sure that is the issue - my alternatives are endura and delicia are vg10 (as are my falkniven FB) and clearly are viewed as good survival steels

I like the flatness of the Endura and the blade shape and axis lock of the Ritter griptillians - including the high flat grind particular to the Ritter version

For me - for a 3 inch blade folder I'd go Benchmade minigrip and 4 inch the Spyderco endura - the steel is not the deciding issue as they are all good in that price range
 
I think you'd really like a VG-10 blade, the BM Grip with 154CM would also be great at only $60.
 
In my opinion it doesn't matter what the brand name is, you can only have great edge retention and great sharpening ability if you have a great steel. For all intensive purposes stainless steel is out, not only is it hard to sharpen but it has very poor edge retention, respectively. Tool steels have great edge retention in general but if they're too hard forget trying to sharpen em' in the field. No, for your purposes you need a middle rung ordinary steel. I would suggest L6, A2, or O1 steels. Their not fancy but they'll get the job done in more ways than any other steels I can think of. The good news is these steels have been around for a long time and are fairly cheap. The bad news is no one makes folders in the mainstream knife world with these steels. They're not trendy cause they're old, but that doesn't mean they're not functional. Try looking at a few Indy knife makers who use these steels, or type in A2 folder into Google. Either way don't sacrifice function for style, I made that mistake and payed the price.
 
I don't understand what's difficult about bringing a DMT folding sharpener with you in the field. It will sharpen any knife steel I've ever used without issue. 420J2, ZDP189, 1095, 13C27 etc.

I've never had any issues using stainless steels in the field, fixed or folder. This includes some heavy chopping and batoning. All the production 1095 knives I've used have also fell considerably short of my ZDP189, S30V and VG10 blades for edge retention.

I really like my BG42 Military for the outdoors. Excellent steel properties such as high edge retention, strong corrosion resistance and it quickly takes a very fine edge. HAndle is grippy and comfortable. Very solid knife overall.
 
Don't rule out blades made from AUS-8 either. It has a high enough chromium and vanadium content to make it both easy to sharpen and have fairly good edge retention while still being pretty stain resistant. I would also suggest a byrd Duckfoot for sharpening in the field, it talks up almost no room in the pack and is an easy sharpener to use. It will even handling larger tools like axes.
 
With a price range of up to $100, I'd say some mid range steels would be called for, such as the Swedish stainless steels, 12C27, 13C26, etc. 1095 would be a good choice, but with the price range you could get better. O1, A2, D2, L6, CV, 1075-1095, VG10, 154CM, 420HC, and other proven mid range steels. Some of these are out if you plan on field sharpening with a rock, but with a DMT folding hone, no steel is out for field sharpening. Geometry has at least as much to do with sharpening as steel choice, and for a bush craft knife, an efficient cutting profile with some belly for scraping/skinning seems more important that specific steel.
 
Of course, I will have a small sharpener with me.

Thanks for all the suggestions. I have been looking into the VG10 blades, as well as the BM Griptillian. Still not sure what to get, so many choices, so little time..
 
I guess I'm a little bit late to join.For cutting natural material,I guess edge geometry is more important than steel and I'll give up some wear resistance to get more toughness.If I only whittling and carving wood and bamboo,my SAK holds the edge longer than my EDC BM730 and BM910HS.
In my experience,"simple" steels,such as SAK steel,12C27/12C27M,Japanese white/blue paper steels,5160 are better choices for carving and whittling wood.
My "dream folder'' for outdoors would be a SAK with 13C26/14C28N main blade heattreated to HRC60 or a HRC 58 12C27/12C27M Buck 110.
 
BWSkipper said:
I'd go with any decent quality stockman, trapper, barlow, or even a sodbuster.
Click to expand...

Buck 301 holds an edge surprisingly well and sharpens easily.

Queen make traditional knives in D2.

I used to backpack with a Swiss Army knife. Never needed more.
 
Why not just get a Buck 110 at Wallyworld? $27 out the door, and it is a good, solid knife. Or go online and get one of their better steel versions for $50-80. It is hard to go wrong with them.

-Mb
 
154CM would be just fine. High corrosion resistance and good toughness equals a reliable user. Any S30V blade would be fine also but I'm not thinking of much for under the price you want to get one for. Maybe a Tarani folder but I could be wrong. The Investigator 5.11 Tarani is a good one though IMO.

Anything in stainless like the AUS steels either 6 or 8 would be fine toughness and corrosion resistance. 440C would be fine also.

If carbon steel is your choice you are probably limited to slip joints unless you want damascus. But then your price limits choices again.

I've thought and actually put on paper a new upgraded 'BushCraft' folder over that last one I did in ATS34. I want to make it soon when I get some time to do my projects and have been thinking of trying a folder in 5160 blade steel for the toughness but I'm not sure yet if thats what I want. It was just a thought. I was trying to come up with something that could take serious batoning blows to split wood and stuff like that in a folder.

STR
 
I agree with STR - 154CM. Its the perfect blend of edge retention and durability in my experience.

I would strongly suggest a Vic Camper for the saw and other tools, and an Opinel.
 
I've used some water-quenched 5160 blades when hiking offtrail in the temperate rainforest and really impressed.They hold thin edges really well,and I guess that would be good for folder blades used mainly for wood.They are hard(HRC60+ I guess) and tough,worth a try.
 
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