I'm a steel snob

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LostCause

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I admit. I'm a steel snob.


I'll frown upon a lot of steels and these are my thoughts upon seeing it:

Any 10xx under 1080 - "That's almost iron, only good for machete"

_Cr_MoV - "Get that chinesium out of my sight"

440 series - "Hard to sharpen, easy to dull, easy to break"

420 stuff - "Roller coaster... more roller, less coaster"

D2 - "Only buying it if it's not Chinese"

N690Co - "So unimpressive, yet so expensive. Why does that brittle POS cost that much?" (Context - I had Fox knives knife in that steel and it's tip snapped just from straight stab into wood, no prying)

4116 - "Is this low end kitchen knife or?"

154CM and CPM154 - "More expensive variations of 440..."

VG-10 - "Some chippy stuff"

VG-10 San Mai - "3 expensive layers of crap"

CoS - "Vg10 with cobalt and higher price"

Laminated CoS - "Same as San Mai..."

4034 - "Pretty sure that there's some pots made out of that crap. No company that cares about their reputation or customers will sell a knife made out of that crap to their customer."
 
What do you do with your knives that warrant industrial strenght cutting power and resilience? How many miles of cardboard do you break down daily?
 
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Billy The Hungry said:
Trollin'
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Nah, I'm just telling - I'm a steel snob.

I'm not disputing the fact that you can have and use some of these steels and be happy with them.

I'm fully aware that people lived for hundreds of years with steels that are worse than some of these I mentioned.

But, I'm also aware of steels that exist today. And when I think about it... if I am a knife enthusiast and I have very few knives and I use them all - then why settle for low end steel and make compromises when I can buy something more modern and enjoy being impressed by it's performance?

I'm not buying knives just because I like them.
I also don't need a super steel knife. But yes I want it.


I want my stuff to last. I don't want to spend my time taking out chips or rolls, or to worry about my knife breaking. Or to have to make breaks to sharpen...

I'm not rich. I don't own load of knives, and I don't plan to buy dozens if knives either. So, each knife has to have a purpose and have something that makes it special.

There are affordable steels that I won't trash talk too - 1095, 5160, and whole line of Sandvik.

Knife doesn't have to be expensive to be good, but some steels shouldn't be use for knives at all IMO...
 
LostCause said:
Nah, I'm just telling - I'm a steel snob.

I'm not disputing the fact that you can have and use some of these steels and be happy with them.

I'm fully aware that people lived for hundreds of years with steels that are worse than some of these I mentioned.

But, I'm also aware of steels that exist today. And when I think about it... if I am a knife enthusiast and I have very few knives and I use them all - then why settle for low end steel and make compromises when I can buy something more modern and enjoy being impressed by it's performance?

I'm not buying knives just because I like them.
I also don't need a super steel knife. But yes I want it.


I want my stuff to last. I don't want to spend my time taking out chips or rolls, or to worry about my knife breaking. Or to have to make breaks to sharpen...

I'm not rich. I don't own load of knives, and I don't plan to buy dozens if knives either. So, each knife has to have a purpose and have something that makes it special.

There are affordable steels that I won't trash talk too - 1095, 5160, and whole line of Sandvik.

Knife doesn't have to be expensive to be good, but some steels shouldn't be use for knives at all IMO...
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I get it man. Sorry, I jumped the gun there probably. We've been seeing a lot more fake accounts recently, but I see you're not.

Honestly I'm becoming a little more snobby with steels too. I don't like Aus 8 or 8Cr anymore.
 
Billy The Hungry said:
I get it man. Sorry, I jumped the gun there probably. We've been seeing a lot more fake accounts recently, but I see you're not.

Honestly I'm becoming a little more snobby with steels too. I don't like Aus 8 or 8Cr anymore.
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No problem brother.

I guess it's natural thing to come as you try out better things.
 
One thing my Gramma Denman taught me was to keep quiet: if I had nothing good to say about something or someone...
But you do as you like.
I also like high-end steels; but do find value in the ones that you have trashed...
 
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Bob Denman said:
One thing my Gramma Denman taught me was to keep quiet ....
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Says the guy with well over 6,000 posts in one year .... :oops:

Back to the topic at hand, fortunately we might just be in a golden era of steel; one's purpose for their knife isn't going to match another's. If you want something you consider to be more "premium" go for it. At least the OP listed reasons for why they feel the way they do, in some cases from actual use.
 
154CM has served me well in older BMs. I have no problem with CPM 154.
Nothing wrong with Bucks 420HC. Other 420s aren't as good. Thank you Paul Bos and the crew he trained.
I've had no problems with Spydercos VG10 over the decades.
440C with a good HT is still viable imo.

Again, although the name of the steel stays the same, the companies heat treat and blade geometry play a huge factor in performance.

The OP is entitled to his/her opinion.
 
Why pay double or triple the amount it cost just to get say a
15% increase in performance? My knives get carried a lot but i hardly ever use them to cut stuff. I understand it when you need a knife when you work in a factory and you break down cardboard boxes all day long. Or you work on a farm and the knife is more in your hand then on your belt. But "steel snobbery" made my hobby way more expensive because they don't make the model in affordable steel anymore. No this one is made from unobtainium and it has a 0,3% increase in Mg and that's why it's now double the price....
 
BTTLBRN said:
Says the guy with well over 6,000 posts in one year .... :oops:

Back to the topic at hand, fortunately we might just be in a golden era of steel; one's purpose for their knife isn't going to match another's. If you want something you consider to be more "premium" go for it. At least the OP listed reasons for why they feel the way they do, in some cases from actual use.
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I didn't own all of the steels enlisted, but I did own fair share. I might have gotten lemons, but when your first experience with a steel is bad, you probably won't buy that same steel again.

Also, for example 5160 and CPM-3V have been outstanding performers from my experience. I know 5160 isn't super steel but it's great for a chopper.

I also recently created a thread about affordable and really tough knives. Knife doesn't have to be expensive to be good. Just from my experience - some steels are indeed lacking (at least for my needs) and don't justify their price. At right price - everything becomes viable as everyone needs a beater...
 
Jim malone said:
Why pay double or triple the amount it cost just to get say a
15% increase in performance? My knives get carried a lot but i hardly ever use them to cut stuff. I understand it when you need a knife when you work in a factory and you break down cardboard boxes all day long. Or you work on a farm and the knife is more in your hand then on your belt. But "steel snobbery" made my hobby way more expensive because they don't make the model in affordable steel anymore. No this one is made from unobtainium and it has a 0,3% increase in Mg and that's why it's now double the price....
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Example:
New Cold Steel Warcraft tanto in 4034 costs 180€.
Old Warcraft Tanto in CPM-3V has cost 200€.
Now compare the attributes of those 2.

Triple amount for 15% performance increase is indeed ridiculous.

But let's make a comparsion:
Manly City knife in 14C28N costs 50€.
Manly City knife in S90V costs 80€.
Will you pay the difference for better steel? Also notice that I didn't even talk trash about 14C28N since I see it as a nice steel to begin with.

Anyways it often isn't just 15%.

I could have bought VG10 Endura for 120€.
I could buy ZDP-189 Endura for 167€.
I bought K390 Endura for 167€.

Is it worth it to you, to pay around 50€ or 30% of the price more for such increase in edge retention? Here, I'm also gaining increase in toughness over VG10 too, but at the expense of corrosion resistance.
To me, it's worth it.
 
LostCause said:
I didn't own all of the steels enlisted, but I did own fair share.
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Could you be more specific? After all, you've made some strong statements.

Can you identify which steels you actually have experience with, and in which model of knives from which makers you are basing your descriptions/opinions on?

Otherwise it comes across as "stuff I read on the internet", and it's hard to take that seriously. You can find people on the internet to criticize any steel. Just like you're doing in this thread.
 
killgar said:
Could you be more specific? After all, you've made some strong statements.

Can you identify which steels you actually have experience with, and in which model of knives from which makers you are basing your descriptions/opinions on?

Otherwise it comes across as "stuff I read on the internet", and it's hard to take that seriously. You can find people on the internet to criticize any steel. Just like you're doing in this thread.
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ibb.co

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Image 20211125-110456 hosted in ImgBB
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Laminated CoS here.

Also broke 440C, rolled and bent 4116, and chipped Chinese D2 so badly I had to take pics.
ibb.co

20220216-122241 hosted at ImgBB

Image 20220216-122241 hosted in ImgBB
ibb.co ibb.co
ibb.co

20210119-131844 hosted at ImgBB

Image 20210119-131844 hosted in ImgBB
ibb.co ibb.co

I wish I took pics of everything though.

So, no, I'm not talking out of my ass. Lots of these steels failed me in real life use.
 
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