Has Anyone Actually TESTED VG-1?

C

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Since Cold Steel began using it in some of their high-end knives, VG-1 was thought by many to be a typo for VG-10. But not so. On paper, it appears to be a slight improvement over AUS8, but how much no one has said. It has a full one percent carbon, but its manufacturer says it's "an ideal cutting steel and its material provides the base of our stainless cutting steel series."

Its strengths are said to be:
  • hard
  • ductile
  • abrasion-resistant
  • corrosive-resistant
Although Cold Steel makes fairly large blades from VG-1, they also sandwich it between 420 stainless in their San Mai III formulation. Does doing this accomplish anything or, is it as I've always suspected, a gimmick? They used to sandwich AUS8 (as if it needed it) in their earlier San Mai offerings.

The question I've had is, is VG-1 to AUS8 what AUS8 to 440A? A friend asked me several weeks ago whether he should "upgrade" from AUS8 to VG-1 and I told him absolutely not, but honestly I don't know if anyone has been able to, or even bothered to, compare the two in any meaningful way. And why haven't other knife companies gone to VG-1 as well? A Google search for VG-1 turns up pages of Cold Steel references and little else.

I've not found any deficiencies with AUS8 to make me actually go out and get new knives. I've also yet to hear if there's any downside to going to VG-1. I've wondered why CS would sandwich either AUS8 or VG-1 between softer steels, though I could understand it if it were VG-10.

Cliff Stamp said: VG-1 was "more comparable to AUS-10 than AUS-8," though he conceded it is "impossible to say if one steel is 'better' than another without first defining the criteria of evaluation." That is what, so far, has seemed elusive.

I would like to think VG-1 is a step up, but just how much of a step is it? I'm always suspicious when changes like this take place because of the profit margin thing. Is it better or did CS just get a better deal on it? Carbon content isn't everything and it may get an increase in edge holding, but take a hit in toughness or something else.

Does anyone have any real experience with VG-1 as it relates to AUS8?

ColdSteelVoyagers_2.jpg


Cold Steel makes some of their 5- and 6-inch blade steels from VG-1,
but how much better is it than the previously used AUS8? And how is
"better" to be defined?

.
 
I haven't done any scientific tests, but in general use, the new VG-1 Voyagers seem to hold an edge a bit better than the AUS-8 did. Not that the AUS-8 was that bad.
 
All of their San Mai knives have VG-1 core. They do take a great edge, but holding it.... never tried to test it out.
 
I've carried a Large Voyager with VG1 blade on my last trip to Florida.
The knife was used to open (blister) packages, cutting up food with and without a board, a little whittling, removing some large thick leaves from a cactus in someone's garden, and cutting up various fish for bait on a wooden board.

I'm pretty satisfied with the knife as a whole, it's lock, and it's VG1 steel, and i'm not even a fan of the brand.
The handle allows for many different grip positions, due to the surface structure i also have a good grip on it, even when it's covered in fish goo, the lock came without any play and still has none, and the blade was near shaving sharp at the end of the holiday, which lasted over 5 weeks.
Only minor gripe, the steel does react to certain foods, as there is some discolouring on the blade now.
But i haven't tried something like Flitz yet.

Steelwise you could do much worse, i can tell you that.
 
I hear you. As others have said, AUS8 has worked fine for many folks, but VG-1 seems to be used mostly by Cold Steel. The initial reviews of the Voyager were good enough, but steel changes aren't always driven by the desire to improve. Sometimes, it's a matter of who offers the best deal on lots of steel. If someone has some 440A to offload, well, buy it and make some knives until it's gone. That's what CS did with the Night Force and Pro-Lite knives. They even used the same lot to produce the first generation of Recon 1s. When it was used up, they dropped the first two knives and switched to AUS8 on the Recon 1s.

I wonder if we'll see more of VG-1 with other knife brands?
 
I've used a limited number of knives in 19C27, which is relatively similar. 19C27 is extremely easy to sharpen while offering high potential hardness (62+ Rc is easy) and good wear resistance. Its main drawback is corrosion resistance, which is fairly low. It will not offer the same wear resistance as VG-10 or 154CM, but the toughness and ease of sharpening will be higher.
 
Corrosion resistance is not one of the major things I look for in a knife blade. If it can be part of the overall mix, fine, but I look for ease of sharpening, edge retention and toughness, which means I'd probably prefer blades made of carbon steel. Some companies have shown that painting a blade can do wonders in keeping down rust and pitting.

VG-1 should be tough enough not to benefit much from laminating (as it's done in San Mai III), but 154CM undoubtedly would. I have a number of knives with 154CM, ATS-34 and S30V, and I can't tell much difference between the first two and the third when it comes to edge retention. They're all fine steels.

I'd like to see some batoning with VG-1, though, or at least some high impacts. I just bought a Cold Steel Konjo and it was extremely sharp out of the box, so I know that VG-1's capable of taking a vicious edge. I haven't been able to get my Native that sharp, but that's probably due more to my lack of sharpening skills.
 
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