- Joined
- Dec 30, 2008
- Messages
- 4,565
And came to the conclusion that in my hard use knives i actually like softer "cheaper" steels. I LOVE victorinox's blades. I also don't have a problem with some of the AUS steels, 420 & 440 and similar steels. Don't get me wrong I love my 154cm & ZDP-189, but any of my knives i've had forever and beat the crud out of before I knew anything about knives have had the cheaper steels. One of my favorite knives is the CRKT M16-03(aluminum handled, before the Auto LAWKS), it was one of the first versions and i believe it had AUS-8 steel. Love that knife! I prize my victorinox knives too. I love the newer harder steels, but when a job gets tought mistakes sometimes happen and blades get damaged. It took me less than 3 minutes to get a decent ding out of my victorinox centurion's blade, where as if that was 154cm or zdp-189, well, you know... lol. Anyways, i'm all for the newer super steels and love them, but i realize that sharpening every other day with a softer steel is worth not having the frustrations of sharpening out chips and such. I save the harder steels for jobs where I know I won't damage the edge too much. Or when I know i'll have buddies around and they may possibly want to use my blade, i'll carry a cheaper, softer steel knife. My woods choice of steel is 01, which has all the properties i love.