How many blades in the field and what kind of steel

[Tylertheman88]

Whenever I'm in a survival situation I have my 1/4 inch thick 400C stainless steel Walther mach tac 2 machete. After that I also carry either my Schrade SCHF3N Extreme Survival Fixed Blade Knife which is also according to emails to schrade is made of 400C as well or my Sog tech Bowie which is made of Aus 8. after that I carry my small utility blade which is a Columbia River Knife and Tool 2020 AG Russell Sting made of 1050 tool steel. And then my last blade is a small folder which is my Schrade IMP22 Imperial which is only 400 stainless. I do prefer stainless in the field because I tend to not worry so much about blade maintenance. Now if I've done my research right Carbon is a softer metal making it easier to sharpen its also cheaper but structurally is more durable and can hold an edge better. And stainless is harder making it harder to sharpen but has corrosion resistance which makes it more durable overall. When I talk to people it seems 50/50 because stainless back then was pretty crappy but thanks to new alloys and treating styles like cryo tempering have allowed stainless to compete with carbon for heavy use. What do you guys think?

 

[OHALLUM]

You will get lots of answers and probably no 3 will be the same. Every one has their favorites and for varied reasons. Depending on what your uses are, will depend on what is right for you.

My steel of choice is carbon because of the reasons you mentioned. I prefer small slippies with carbon blades, as I am pretty easy on my knives and only use them for light duty jobs such a opening packages, mail, cutting strings etc. I also like the ease of sharpening them and maintaining them. I do have some stainless knives, but prefer the carbon.

Blessings,

Omar

 

[David Martin]

I don't know the steel your talking about??
Anyway, when I'm out in the field I carry a 3 7/8" folder with blade of 440C and a 7 1/2" sheath knife with blade of 440C both with deep hollow grind. Carbor is the work horse of cutting. Chromuim helps in abrasion resistance and stainless properties. A polished finished helps the blade in resisting stain too. DM

 

[David Martin]

Another favorite of mine when in the field is CPM-154 steel as it's easy to sharpen and holds a very good edge. I have this in a folder with a 3 3/4" blade. A lot of times this is all I need. DM

 

[Komitadjie]

Typically three, for me, although one is most usually left in camp. I usually use a large/medium/small set, with the large one remaining in camp unless I have a particular reason to bring it with me.

The large is usually either a BRKT Golok in 1075 (I think) or a BRKT Graso Bolo II in 5160. Sometimes a HI Ang Khola in 5160, depending on what I'm feelin' that day.

The medium and small are piggybacked, and most commonly are a Bravo-1 in A2 and a Mini Canadian in A2, although that changes up fairly often. I like A2 and 3V blades, although I've got no gripes with 154CM either.

I think ELMAX is my favourite steel right now, or possibly M390. The folder I carry daily is an ELMAX blade, and the toughness and edge holding is just insane. I really did something stupid the other day; managed to toss-launch my ZT0560 from about four feet into the air out into an asphalt parking lot, where it landed belly-down onto the pavement. Left a couple small dings in the blade, perhaps .010 deep, max, and left a ding in the asphalt. I was VERY impressed, thought that would have trashed out the edge pretty badly. Obviously won't be repeating THAT "test", but it was good to know that it could take it.