INFI and/or SR-101 vs 3v thoughts?

I have knives in all three steels but do not use my knives anywhere near as much as some of you guys. While 3v, sr101 and Infi are all wonderful options they all play a different role for me. Of the three, in smaller knives 3v would win out when repetitive cutting is needed. 3v when taken to 60+ (Hardness) has excellent edge retention. In large knives/choppers Infi is awesome for a number of reason, ease of sharpening being a big factor.
My debate has always been in knives with blade lenghts between 6-8 inches. Not sure which of the steels I'd choose if pushed.
 
For many years and really up until recently I was not a fan of 3V. But this was way back and I had some bad experiences. Now, after having tested two GSO knuives I can say that toughness is excellent. I think the advantage that both INFI and 3V have over SR101 is in corrosion resistance. SR101 with a differential HT is probably very close in toughness to the other two. As for edge holding. There are many different media that are involved in cutting and one steel may hold an advantage over others in this. Still, I think SR101 may have the best edge retention of the three. With 3V next. INFI will be tougher. INFI definitely has better corrosion resistance than the other two. I have seen this many times over.
 
DJC72 said:
I have knives in all three steels but do not use my knives anywhere near as much as some of you guys. While 3v, sr101 and Infi are all wonderful options they all play a different role for me. Of the three, in smaller knives 3v would win out when repetitive cutting is needed. 3v when taken to 60+ (Hardness) has excellent edge retention. In large knives/choppers Infi is awesome for a number of reason, ease of sharpening being a big factor.
My debate has always been in knives with blade lenghts between 6-8 inches. Not sure which of the steels I'd choose if pushed.
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I think size is a good point to bring up. 6" to 8" INFI knives are a good deal thicker than their GSO opposites. It would be hard to compare the two. Are there any .21" to .3" thick 3V knives that are 6" to 8"? The resharpening of INFI is another good point, it's definitely easier to strop than 3v. But if you can free hand and have a diamond stone you can bring back 3V pretty quickly.
 
Not sure why people have such an issue with sharpening 3V. I have not had any issues resharpening it.
 
rockspyder said:
I don't have 3V (yet) or INFI (yet), although I have both on order (S!K 4.1 and TGM, respectively). But I can say that SR-101 ranks up there with ELMAX and M390 for edge holding, in my uses. I have been somewhat shocked at how well it holds its edge. I'm hoping the 3V and 20CV that I have on order from Survive hold that well. If they do, I'll be quite happy.
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Following up on my earlier post. I now have INFI. In my favorite blade so far, the Swamprat Ratmandu. I haven had a chance to use it much. It seems to be just a bit of a different animal in sharpening. Not harder or softer, just different. Difficult to get the feel of it. It hasn't been overwhelming. Just another steel. I doubt a RMD is going to show its strengths. Similar to how I really doubt a 4.1 is going to show the strong points of 3V. I'm eager to get my first Survive! 3V to see how it feels. But, I'll say this, both INFI and 3V have a steep hill to climb to impress me more than SR-101.
 
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