Help with blade steel

A

autiger

Joined
Feb 12, 2013
Messages
2
Hello everyone,

First post here and I just have a quick question. I am pretty new to knives so I don't know a lot on the different steel choices or anything so bare with me. I currently have a Spyderco endura FFG and a Benchmade mini grip and I love them both. I am wanting a slightly bigger knife with a bigger blade and I have decided to go with the Benchmade full size griptilian. I can't decide between the regular 551 or the 551H2O. Can someone please explain to me how the N680 and the 154CM steel compare and which would be the better choice? I am going to be using this knife on mainly EDC but also with backpacking and fishing. I really just can't decide on which steel.
Thanks for the help!
 
Welcome.

If you are new to knives, as you say....you are probably not going to tell any difference. Many who have been around a while (like me!) couldn't tell the difference (and/or might not even care).

They are both great performers, so don't worry about it. Later on down the road, if you become a steel junkie...then worry about it.

Enjoy your knife! :thumbup: A Griptilian is an excellent choice.
 
Each will perform well, the only difference i know off is rust prevention the n690 will do a little better but the 154cm won't rust unless you just down rite dont take care of it (wipe of blade if it gets wet stuff like that)

I don't realy think there's a bad choice.....
 
9blades said:
Each will perform well, the only difference i know off is rust prevention the n690 will do a little better but the 154cm won't rust unless you just down rite dont take care of it (wipe of blade if it gets wet stuff like that)

I don't realy think there's a bad choice.....
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I agree, though 154cm is a "tougher" steel, so slightly better edge retention, but also slightly harder to sharpen, Iv'e never had either rust on me, both are excellent choices
 
lobodelanoche said:
I agree, though 154cm is a "tougher" steel, so slightly better edge retention, but also slightly harder to sharpen, Iv'e never had either rust on me, both are excellent choices
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Technically, "toughness" is the ability of a steel to resist fracture, and is not causally associated with edge retention and ease of sharpening. 5160 is as tough as it gets...and easy to sharpen.

Just sayin'.
 
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A better question you should consider is 551 or 550? Stout or slicey. Personally I prefer the 550(HG). ...even mo bettah for not much more is the Paramilitary 2! IMO better design and unarguably better materials all around.
 
Thanks for the help guys! I think I am going to go with the regular 551. Now just have to find a good deal on one!
 
marcinek said:
Technically, "toughness" is the ability of a steel to resist fracture, and is not causally associated with edge retention and ease of sharpening. 5160 is as tough as it gets...and easy to sharpen.

Just sayin'.
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Thanks for the concretion, ill keep that in mind, im still trying to keep all those strength terms straight.
 
archieblue said:
A better question you should consider is 551 or 550? Stout or slicey. Personally I prefer the 550(HG). ...even mo bettah for not much more is the Paramilitary 2! IMO better design and unarguably better materials all around.
Click to expand...

I almost went off about this... Until I reread it a few times. I thought the guy was saying the grip has better materials than a PM.

Back to the OP. N680 has worse edge retention than 154cm, but much better rust resistance and I believe higher toughness. Toughness is kind of a crock on normal folders (you don't want to abuse a folder that was not designed to be abused). For normal EDC folders what matters more than toughness is blade thickness (note that a less tough blade can chip if it contacts something harder than it), and a Grip is plenty thick enough. Personally, I view N680 as an upgrade to 420hc, but not close to on par with 154cm.
 
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