Here We Go Again! Everything’s Bushcraft, Bushcraft & Magnacut Steel! WHY?

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Jdottinger said:
I see it so often it’s hard to refrain. Anytime magnacut is mentioned, it better be 63-64 hrc or it’s crap. I’ve been very pleased with my deka in magnacut but others don’t think it’s ran hard enough. People can’t elaborate on why, they just point to the video. And I can’t seem to find a reason they believe 63-64 is perfect, other than the thumbnail.
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I'd concede that folks like Larrin, the steel in question's inventor, and Nate Carothers as well as other respected makers who experiment with the different values that make a steel tenable beyond simple hardness, can speak to the various nuances way better than I ever will on my best day.

The only way that I'll ever know if any of my knives are good or crap is by using them for a certain task and finding out whether they perform as expected, or disappoint...or doing a number of comparisons side by side, which I'm not inclined to do. (But appreciate others doing.)

Thank God my new MagnaCut Sebenzas are reported as being 63-64 hrc, however. I couldn't bear the shame, otherwise. ;) 🍻
 
Danke42 said:
Listen, and understand! The HRC Mafia is out there! They can't be bargained with.They can't be reasoned with. They don't feel pity, or remorse, or fear. And They absolutely will not stop... ever, until you agree that high HRC knives makes you the coolest cat ever!
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You're going to have to go into witness protection now. I know a guy. We'll be in touch. (Stay out of any black Lincolns or Caddies until you hear from us.)
 
Blues said:
You're going to have to go into witness protection now. I know a guy. We'll be in touch. (Stay out of any black Lincolns or Caddies until you hear from us.)
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Goodfellas-Finale.jpg
 
Actually the 63-64 Rc claim was going around before my video which is why that was the thumbnail. But I agree the question mark and the content of the video didn’t seem to help any.
 
Buzzwords just make it easy to find what your after and skip what what your not.

It would be great to have a field day with a dozen identical knives in different steels with no markings and have people use them and identify the steel. Clearly it shouldn't be hard to tell them all apart. Personally I have a great love of outdated steels like N690, aus8, 12c27, D2 and a few others. Can I tell you what the hardness is? Nope. But they use well and resharpen easily. I've been doing a lot of yard cleanup lately and my skrama in 80crv2 performs great. I'm not sure a magnacut version would impress me for 4x the cost. Especially when all my tools get the same treatment after they come in from the rain.
 
Danke42 said:
Listen, and understand! The HRC Mafia is out there! They can't be bargained with.They can't be reasoned with. They don't feel pity, or remorse, or fear. And They absolutely will not stop... ever, until you agree that high HRC knives makes you the coolest cat ever!
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Speaking from personal experience, AEB-L was a terribly mediocre steel before Larrin popularized it's optimal heat treat protocol at higher hardness. At 61-62hrc it is my all time favorite steel for the woods. It's not all just guff.
 
IMHO, if you can't make the minimal effort needed to protect your blade from rust, chances are you won't be able to take care of yourself either in a survival situation. :-)
In a forest, I think toughness and edge retention are more important than corrosion resistance. MC is certainly nice to have, but I still prefer 3V.
 
SwissHeritageCo said:
Speaking from personal experience, AEB-L was a terribly mediocre steel before Larrin popularized it's optimal heat treat protocol at higher hardness. At 61-62hrc it is my all time favorite steel for the woods. It's not all just guff.
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The HRC mafia don't come around much anymore but the last time they did they tried to throw a genuine good guy under the bus. The more they were pressed for hard facts the sloppier they got till they tried to delete as many of their posts as they could because the further it went the wronger they turned out to be.

So we all know an optimal heat treat is essential. That's not up for debate. We also all know going on YouTube or Instagram and grunting about how bad some brands knives are because you tested them in an arbour press with some sidecutters that you're half holding is the picture you see in the dictionary when you look up clownshoes.

Is lionsteel’s m390 still considered soft?

I want to buy a lionsteel very badly but Ive heard a lot of bad things about their m390 being so soft that I might as well get s30v instead. Thought I would ask here before buying.
www.bladeforums.com www.bladeforums.com
 
It is good to have options, to have more options is great!
It’s a choice, not an obligation.
You are free to try it and make your own conclusions - or not.
Just because you like some steel, doesn’t mean you have to hate or abandon all others.
There are abrasive AND corrosive things which need to be cut with a knife. For those applications I personally would be happy to use Magnacut rather than other steels.
 
SwissHeritageCo said:
Speaking from personal experience, AEB-L was a terribly mediocre steel before Larrin popularized it's optimal heat treat protocol at higher hardness. At 61-62hrc it is my all time favorite steel for the woods. It's not all just guff.
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That's a good point. Years ago, I got my hands on some M2 at 66HRC and it's a great edge holder. For edge retention cutting rope, 1095 at 65 is very impressive, with a thin edge. Everything has a sweet spot.
 
It is about status and ignorance. Which as people we do a lot.

So if we are ignorant about the product then we look to the most reputable use of that product as the best example.

Bushcrafters seem to have the most knowledge of knife use so therefore their knives are just better.

And we carry this with us as bias. So even if we use a knife we still believe in the status thing.

That is why if I recommend a knife I try to show why I recommend it.
 
Bushcraft, EDC, Survival etc.
It is lifestyle branding now. Fashion.
 
My Buck 121 has be with me since 1978. The steel is great. I expect the S45VN on my Buck 831 and my Spartan Harsey Folders will also withstand the test of time. As will the CPM20CV on my Hinderer XM-24. And I tend use my knives for everything. Boxes, deer, kindling...

Look forward to trying Magnacut, as well as some steels.
 
Larrin said:
It’s not true that MagnaCut needs to be at higher hardness or it isn’t good. If you’re happy with other steels at 60 Rc why would MagnaCut be subpar at the same hardness?
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No disrespect was meant towards in my post, I just meant that I don’t seek knives out just for specific steels these days. I definitely don’t want to argue steels with you lol ,but isn’t Magnacut optimal around 63-64, whereas S35/20CV does better at 60/61 (going by your edge retention tests & the HRC they were at). ?
 
Knives&Lint said:
The majority of my outdoor activities are either in the PNW, where I am often crossing creeks and hiking up to alpine lakes; or in my costal Central Florida home town in the brackish mangroves, swamps, ocean, and generally humid weather. The way I see it, for my uses, and with the attributes of the steel, a more valid question would be "Why not Magnacut?"

That being said, I don't currently own any and I seem to be getting along just fine so far.

As for the "Bushcraft" craze and use of the term, it's neither here nor there for me. I can see why it annoys many, but I really just never give it much thought. It's certainly not a term I ever use, and I'll go as far as to say that I purposely avoid referring to my Benchmade 162 by it's other name (honestly I usually forget the number as well ;)).
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Lived in the PNW for over 20 years before moving to the Fairbanks area(still PNW just more humidity and mosquitos). I’ve used a variety of knives over the years but always seemed to gravitate to my Fehrman for most smaller tasks. The F3V has always treated me well and never developed any rust except a spot or two under the scales. A little rust eraser and then a good wipe down took care of it.
Actually, I’ve been using my Mega Ratweiler more and loving it. I just wipe it down at the end of the day and no issues so far.
That being said, I am very eager to try out something in Magnacut and may be picking up a Bradford down the line. It’s not a need just a want.
Also, I am not a ‘bush crafter’ or some tactical wannabe just a guy who likes to use his stuff
 
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Gene said:
I swear, every time I look at videos on Youtube or anyplace else, all I see is “bushcraft, bushcraft, bushcraft.
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There is lots of stuff on Youtube about knives that isn't bushcraft. If you can't use the search function on Youtube, you can try Google by including site:youtube.com in your search string.
 
tony281sc2 said:
No disrespect was meant towards in my post, I just meant that I don’t seek knives out just for specific steels these days. I definitely don’t want to argue steels with you lol ,but isn’t Magnacut optimal around 63-64, whereas S35/20CV does better at 60/61 (going by your edge retention tests & the HRC they were at). ?
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I think anything between about 60-65 Rc can be appropriate for MagnaCut depending on desired properties, the knife, target customers, etc. Hitting 65 Rc consistently is difficult even with custom heat treating, 64-65 is probably a reasonable target if what you want is max hardness custom heat treating. For production heat treating 63-64 Rc is more realistic as a maximum. But I have worked on production heat treatments more in the 62.5-63.5 Rc which is a bit more balanced. 61-ish is a good target for blades that want to favor toughness. But there are certain customers requesting maximum hardness, and it certainly works fine at max hardness. M390 and 20CV have been pushed into the 62+ Rc range in recent years but that steel has relatively low toughness so it is somewhat surprising that this is the steel people have identified as one that “should” be at high hardness. I would argue that S35VN would be a better choice for 62+ Rc than M390.
 
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