H1 alternatives ?

[Gannet]

Good Day,

We are a company that designs and manufactures Diving equipment here is the USA. We are new to the forum and are looking for a few specific answers to a question. We are not metallurgists of forgive us in advance.

Q: If anyone knows what the closest blade steel to H1 would be and that is available here is the states on a wholesale level? Or another suitable alternative? We are looking for a highly salt corrosion resistant, decent edge retention steel. This would be for production, not one off custom.

Thank you in advance

 

[Insipid Moniker]

LC200N is a solid alternative.

 

[anthonycastorena2014]

If you can get LC200n it performs on the level of S35vn and other powdered steels. Awesome stuff. Impervious to rust and holds an edge much longer than H1

 

[brandoak]

LC200N is a solid alternative.

If you can get LC200n it performs on the level of S35vn and other powdered steels. Awesome stuff. Impervious to rust and holds an edge much longer than H1

Both great advice. Only other one I can think of is something in the 440 line.... all have been proving to hold an edge better than H1.
H1 has had decent results in serrated performance but that's just about it.

 

[michaelm466]

Benchmade used X15tn and N680 I think it was in their water knives, not sure how it compares to LC200N though.

 

[Josh K]

We are a company that designs and manufactures Diving equipment here is the USA.

Which company?

Hard to beat H1 for corrosion. It's all I carry or recommend when diving. Edge holding is not a concern.

 

[KenHash]

H1 is the top of low corrosion. In Japan I believe only G.Sakai makes knives with H-1, for their own brand and Spyderco. Mr Y. Sakai told me himself that H-1 absolutely won't rust but can't hold an edge at all. But edge holding isn't an issue for dive knives. In my some 12 years or so of diving I never had to sharpen my knife. Aus6 of course is widely known to be pretty rust resistant. Even 420j2 and both of these are used for dive knives. If sourcing in the US is required or preferred I wonder if 440A would be satisfactory?
None of these are exciting steels, but as people with knowledge of diving and knives will be quick to point out, the requirements for a dive knife are different from on land.

 

[tyyreaun]

In addition to H-1 and LC200N (also known as Z-Finit), there's also Vanax (aka Vanax 37). It's fairly new so there aren't too many test results on it, and it's expensive, but it'd be awesome on higher-end gear.

 

[jc57]

Higher end dive knives are titanium these days.

 

[Mecha]

Higher end dive knives are titanium these days.

Beware of those, they can be really crappy.

 

[SpyderPhreak]

Good Day,

We are a company that designs and manufactures Diving equipment here is the USA. We are new to the forum and are looking for a few specific answers to a question. We are not metallurgists of forgive us in advance.

Q: If anyone knows what the closest blade steel to H1 would be and that is available here is the states on a wholesale level? Or another suitable alternative? We are looking for a highly salt corrosion resistant, decent edge retention steel. This would be for production, not one off custom.

Thank you in advance

Company name?

 

[John_0917]

I’m curious to give LC a try myself...there is an interesting post on the Spyderco company forum where Sal basically says they’re not too thrilled with it in some real world use and have had more than one mule develop rust.

I’m going to buy a native salt when they come out and see for myself...as to the OPs questions, all the steels mentioned plus maybe add S110V to the list. In spite of having 2.7% carbon it is extremely corrosion resistant.

 

[dirc]

you'd be better off with CPM 20CV - if you're going that route, it's not so extreme in the carbon unless you just like chipping machines

 

[Josh K]

Higher end dive knives are titanium these days.

Titanium does not a good knife make. Also, no such thing as “higher end dive knife.” Best dive knife is a Pacific Salt SE.

 

[Mecha]

Titanium does not a good knife make. Also, no such thing as “higher end dive knife.” Best dive knife is a Pacific Salt SE.

 

[SpyderPhreak]

Titanium does not a good knife make. Also, no such thing as “higher end dive knife.” Best dive knife is a Pacific Salt SE.

I sure as $h!+ wouldn't turn down a Mecha dive knife, made from a solid billet of forged Ti!

 

[knarfeng]

Enough with the funny pictures. This is not Whine and Cheese.

 

[Insipid Moniker]

Titanium does not a good knife make. Also, no such thing as “higher end dive knife.” Best dive knife is a Pacific Salt SE.

Much as I love my Pac Salt, I'd take either iteration of the Jumpmaster, The Fishhunter or the Aqua Salt over any folder. Or, as mentioned above, a Mecha-made dive knife. I have a small blade he made and it does a lot better than many knives made from conventional steels.

 

[Insipid Moniker]

Oh, Böhler-Uddeholm's N360 might be another alternative.

 

[Mecha]

I sure as $h!+ wouldn't turn down a Mecha dive knife, made from a solid billet of forged Ti!

Much as I love my Pac Salt, I'd take either iteration of the Jumpmaster, The Fishhunter or the Aqua Salt over any folder. Or, as mentioned above, a Mecha-made dive knife. I have a small blade he made and it does a lot better than many knives made from conventional steels.

That's very nice of you to say.<3

As for the OP, maybe that fancy nitrogen steel would be good. Isn't it highly corrosion resistant?