How blade steel affects your buying

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Blade steel affects my buying decisions mainly by setting a pretty substantial portion of the value proposition of any given knife. I don't have exotic needs and so determining relative value of any given combination of materials and build quality is pretty straightforward as long as I'm familiar with the manufacturer.
 
There’s something for everyone
:)
Chopping chores definitely would need a bit more behind the edge, I don’t do much of that
G2
 
I have s30v, s35 v , don’t care for them. S45v works really well for me as does spy27, cpm154 , M4, and Bucks 420hc. K390 has been a hit and miss
 
My favorites:
1095 with proper heat treat for fixed blades. Wouldn’t mind trying s35vn on small fixed blade sometime.
CPM154 or 154cm for dress knives with polished edges.
M4 for everything else.

I avoid 20cv and similar ”super” steels. Too chippy for me although I must admit that I like s90v on my 940-1 and Spyderco Sprig.
 
The best steels in my experience have been Busse’s INFI and 52100, Nathan’s D3V and properly heat treated 1095. I have a couple of knives in 80crv2 coming in shortly. I excited to give that a try.
 
I admit that I am a steel junkie. Always looking for the holy grail of steel. Looking forward to my first magnacut blade. But the HT and edge geometry are just as important.
 
sgt244 sgt244 That also makes sense, I'm usually not an hour away from something that I could touch the edge up if it needed it, seldom do they run out of sharp, but, the draw of the latest flavour does keep me wanting to try it.
I have a request to email me when a certain Ritter Magnacut is back in stock, I noticed one person has one up for sale, but, I'll wait until they are back in store ;)
G2
 
I’ve used dozens of different steels on various knives, and although I’ve had ones I really liked it wasn’t really the steel per se that stole the show. The steel on a knife has little effect on my interest/buying of a knife. If it is offered in various steel choices I’ll usually choose the one I have less of in my collection. I’m definitely more attracted to well balanced stainless steels though, so I often find myself considering knives with those.
 
Blade steel is a factor in my purchases. I used to say "I'm not a steel snob" but I tend to pass on xCRx..., most 440_ , and maybe a few others. Does that make me a snob?

Over the years, I've learned I like some steels more than others in similar price ranges. If I can get 14c28n or D2 for $50 in a similar style knife, I'll go 14c28n.

I have no favorite tho. I still carry more VG10 (Spyderco) on a monthly basis than anything else. CTS XHP would be 2nd.

I don't know what is Larrins problem, all he has to do is make a steel that is 9/10 in toughness, edge retention, and corrosion resistance. I could have asked for 10/10 but I'm not greedy.
 
It's like the different elements of controlling light on a DSLR camera. Blade steel is just one factor in how I decide on one knife over another. Ergonomics, edge geometry, price, other materials used, designer, brand reputation, and if I'm being honest the look cool factor is important too. The steel choice becomes a factor for use and price. I have a few knives I've relied on that are made from Aus 8 (Spyderco Walker, Ontario Rat 1, and Cold Steel Tuff Lite) and and I have no problems with them, but I'm not paying $200 for a knife made from Aus 8 steel either. I have one knife with 8Cr13MoV because I liked the design (CRKT Pilar), but I stay away from that steel because of who is using it the most. Now I'm looking for 12Cr or better.

A lot of my choice of steel comes down to trust in the heat treatment from one company versus another or in the case of companies like Boker different divisions regarded differently, especially with D2 and 420C. If Buck has a made in US fixed blade with 420C I'm good with that, but if they make it elsewhere or other companies are using it for their mass produced budget lines I'm a bit less interested. If Benchmade makes something with D2 I have no hesitation regarding their choice of steel. It's not purely about geography either. Gerber could make a knife out of mithril and it would still be a hard pass from me. I really like my Real Steel Luna Lite (D2 blade, made in China), a slipjoint which gets a work out as the designated kitchen folder where moisture can be an issue, and it's probably helped out a lot by its blade geometry. For all the companies using D2 to make folders, there should be a lot more thin, slicey blades out there than there are. But what if they want to baton with it? shouldn't be a consideration for small folding knives.

If the same knife has different blade steels to choose from I'll do the research and decide which is best suited for what that knife will be used for. Sometimes I'll choose a knife steel just because I don't have a representation of that steel in my collection yet. This happened when I chose Sleipner over M390 for my LionSteel M5 or chose the Artisan Cutlery Arroyo over a similar knife in D2, because I wanted something made from AR-RPM9 (not because it's the best but because it's different).

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I'm always looking at the steel, what its characteristics are, and how it will fit in with my preferences. Basically I'm an overachiever and I'm overthinking it. Most contemporary knife steels would work for me but I like to think that the one I bought is better than the others. In particular I like the more esoteric carbon steels for my use because I think they are both tougher and have better edgeholding than the more ordinary stainless steels. Most of my EDC folders are M4, Rex45 or K390.
 
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