Help me choose my 110's steel!!

S

savageman

Joined
May 27, 2005
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I know of the two aftermarket 110 folding hunters with better steel like the Cabelas Alaskan Guide with S30V for $67.99 and the Bass Pro Buck 110 with 154CM for $74.99. Of the two which steel should I get?

I will be using it for field dressing big game as well as ducks/geese/rabbits and also using it for general use around the hunt camp and in the bush. I dont have alot of experience sharpening my own knives and would like it to hold a good edge for a while. What is the difference in these two steels?? Will the black coating on the Cabelas Alaskan Guide knife be a bad choice for dressing game?? Is there any advantages or disadvantages to either one?

I will likely buy a good simple sharpener in the near future to sharpen this knife as I wanna have it for a LONG time!!
 
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Since BG-42 is no longer available my choice would be the S30V. My experience has been that it holds a usable edge for a very long time but can be sharpened fairly easy.
 
I am in the minority here, in that I have liked the Bp110 in CPM-154 better than the S30V of the Alaskan Guide. But both knives are great steels, and the AG is $5/6 cheaper. I found that the CPM-154 sharpened easier, and took a finer edge, the S30V, does not take as fine/polished an edge, a rougher working edge it does great, and holds it a little longer, but harder for me to sharpen again. Stropping helps me out a lot in between uses. Maybe that did help. I like the BP:D

b.w. durbin
 
154CM is kin to 440C. Buck's 440C is legendary. On the other hand, Paul Bos' favorite steel is S30V. Day to day, you'll never know the diffence. If I were you though, I would just get the basic 420HC, since you aren't good at sharpening. Then I would use and practice with it, before buying the good stuff.
 
I really dont wanna buy the cheaper knife and "practice" on it, I would like to buy one of these high quality blades and keep it going for a LONG time!! Having almost no education on blade steels, I was wondering which would perform better for my intentions and be more "user friendly" over the life of the blade. Any opinions?? S30V or 154CM??
 
I would go for the S30V. When you learn how to sharpen the S30V you will be able to sharpen most steels easily. It is worth the extra few dollars. S30V is not hard to sharpen and there are many here willing to help out. If you keep the edge touched up it will never be a major task to keep it sharp.
 
For all practical purposes, I doubt that a person would see much difference between S30V and the CPM154 of the Bass Pro 110. That said, my preferance is CPM154.
 
Is CMP-154 and 154CM the same steel?? I think I am gonna go with the Bass Pro in 154CM just cause I dont really like the black blade of the Cabelas Alaskan series. No custom knife shop for me, one of these 2 knives will be all I ever need!! Besides $70 is my max budget for this knife.
 
savageman said:
Is CMP-154 and 154CM the same steel?? I think I am gonna go with the Bass Pro in 154CM just cause I dont really like the black blade of the Cabelas Alaskan series. No custom knife shop for me, one of these 2 knives will be all I ever need!! Besides $70 is my max budget for this knife.
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Keep in mind that the Bass Pro 110 is CPM 154 not 154CM. There has been some name switching in this thread. By the way, I have both the AG and BP. You can't go wrong with either knife. I may favor the BP. It's just so smooth!
 
And the titanium grey coating on the BP is nicer looking than the Black Oxide AG.

CS is going to offer 154CM. The BP is CPM-154. Why Buck just doesn't go with the CPM-154 is a question I'd like to have an answer too.

Maybe Buck keeps 154CM in inventory and the CPM-154 was a lot purchase just for the BP production.

Anyway, whats the difference fellas in the two....Isn't the CPM-154 just a next generation 154CM? Can anyone tell the difference in performance?

I've yet to use my BP110 but the 154CM on my Alpha and Tempest are great. I guess I should have said I prefer 154CM in my earlier post.
 
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So there is a difference between Bass pro's 154CPM and Bucks Custom 154CM?? What is the diff and what one is better??
 
CPM is for crucible's powder metal process. it gives a more uniform steel with finer grain structure. some reports say the toughness of the CPM-154 went up vs the standard 154CM as well.
 
2Tonyb, yes their not the same. Ginaz your correct. Crucibles manfacturing process produces a more homogenous product and tougher. Without a lot of morass; Both are top notch. Their main difference is carbon amount and vanadium amounts, resulting in better and longer cutting. S30V has both. But at a price. Its harder to work with and heat treat, cost more, tends to be more brittle and harder to sharpen. But were not going to mallet these were going to use sound judgment. Its trendsical, for most of our cutting we don't need either one. So, get a sharpening kit, then flip a coin both are great. DM
 
I agree that both are great and it's difficult for me to tell the difference between the two from a users standpoint.
 
I don't think that you'll notice much of a difference in actual performance, but I think the Alaskan Guide 110 is the better deal.
And I think it looks better too once you remove the AG logo from the blade.
IMO, The AG's dark coating looks better than the "gun metal" bluing of the BassPro 110.


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