Is s30v worth the money?

thew sort answer is no, but on the other hand it is great for an edc blade, IMO 154cm is a great steel, youll be just as happy with it
 
s30v and 154cm have different variations depending on the knife company. if your debating between benchmade 154cm and spyderco s30v then i would personally take the spydrco s30v because of the longer edge retention and how it takes to a stonewashing and engraving. but while s30v is harder to sharpen i do believe that it lasts a significantly llonger time.
 
CPM 154cm and 154cm are not the same. CPM 154cm performs quite a bit better than it's older cousin.

The reason you don't see ATS34 very often anymore is because of price. It's only available from one place and it is expensive.
 
singularity35 said:
Yup, but what would they be using if they had today's alloys available then?
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Oh, they'd opt for the new, but my point is that we get all wound up about stupidly small performance differences when people who actually used their knives as genuine survival tools in a real wilderness managed to survive--and often thrive--with so much less.

The point is, if you have a serious lust for S30V over 154CM based upon the hype, then fine. That's reason enough to buy it, and it does have some extremely small performance advantages. But if the OP is wondering if, on a performance level, he'll be able to do anything with properly done S30V that he couldn't do with properly done 154CM, the answer is a big fat NO. Someday, when the new whiz-bang alloy has come out (with tiny variations in vanadium and molybdenum), we'll then hear stories about how people were able to perform amazing feats of cutting awesomeness that all previous similar alloys never dreamed of, and how they could never make do with boring ol' S30V.
 
i personally am not a fan of s30v... ive never been able to give it a good super sharp edge... ive had much better luck with vg10 (very similar to 154cm) so i would say its not worth it!
 
sweet_hitch-hiker said:
i personally am not a fan of s30v... ive never been able to give it a good super sharp edge... ive had much better luck with vg10 (very similar to 154cm) so i would say its not worth it!
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S30V(and all other SXXV series steel) aren't known for taking a razor edge due to the high carbide volume. It's more known for keeping a "working edge" longer. Think serrations on a microscopic scale.
 
TUF said:
That day is here. It's called S35VN :D
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Indeed, and the whole campaign is just as BS as the last one was. And that isn't to say it isn't good steel. Thing is, there're a LOT of good steels.
 
Noctis3880 said:
If we're talking about mountain men, then I would assume they sharpened with good ol' stone. In which case, I suspect they'll be sticking with carbon steels.
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But then they didn't have diamonds then, might they not be carrying those pocket diamond stones if they had them?
 
I'd think mountain men would carry easy to sharpen stainless knives that were relatively tough like Aus 6, 12C (M), etc. I'm pretty sure they would have loved these easy to care for knives. For fishermen and sailors H1 "Salt " knives would rule the waves. They would be valued trade items as well. Remind me to bring a bunch if they ever get time travel working. :)
 
It's not a bad plan, but keep in mind that the beaver pelts they'd pay you in won't do much for you when you return to the present.
 
t1mpani said:
Oh, they'd opt for the new, but my point is that we get all wound up about stupidly small performance differences when people who actually used their knives as genuine survival tools in a real wilderness managed to survive--and often thrive--with so much less.

The point is, if you have a serious lust for S30V over 154CM based upon the hype, then fine. That's reason enough to buy it, and it does have some extremely small performance advantages. But if the OP is wondering if, on a performance level, he'll be able to do anything with properly done S30V that he couldn't do with properly done 154CM, the answer is a big fat NO. Someday, when the new whiz-bang alloy has come out (with tiny variations in vanadium and molybdenum), we'll then hear stories about how people were able to perform amazing feats of cutting awesomeness that all previous similar alloys never dreamed of, and how they could never make do with boring ol' S30V.
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I don't have direct 154cm experience, but have heard vg10 is extremely similar so am basing it on that. you are absolutely right, s30v won't magically perform tasks that "lesser steels" can't. However I've found the edge holding to be more than "extremely small performance advantage" in my working experience it will keep that working edge probably 3 times longer than vg10. To some people this doesn't matter as much, to some it does. It's certainly not a deal breaker for me, but it's very nice.

That said, my CPM M4 holds an edge about 3 times longer than s30v, so spend the money on that :p
 
I just haven't found the difference to be that significant, but perhaps it would show up in different uses than I've put them to. Yes, M4 trumps all being discussed.
 
Depends on the media being cut, if the media being cut is abrasive S30V will perform better cutting longer.

The SXXV steels develop a working edge that continues to cut for a very long time.

It all comes down to the use of the knives in question and the perception of those said users.

Perception isn't always correct though, a lot of people judge sharpness and or edge retention by how long a steel holds a shaving edge (Hair Popping edge). While an opinion that's just perceived sharpness based on that one standard that doesn't tell the whole story.

In the end comparing S30V and 154CM from my testing S30V will be still cutting while 154CM would be butter knife dull.

S30V is one of the better user steels for people who use their knives and need them to to just keep cutting (performing).

Take the SXXV steels a step farther to S90V and S110V and we have steels that will continue to cut for an incredible amount of time taking into count a proper HT.
 
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reviewing whats been written and what ive wrote here on this comparison, i think its fair to say id not choose between s30v and 154cm based on knife steel, but only on overall knife design. it would only be fair to me to make this a choice between the 2 if we were talking a specific knife that was otherwise the same except steel, and really none come to mind. you could say well the manix 2 comes in 154cm and s30v, but not really, the sprints come in s30v or other steels, but the standard version is 154cm, is not ffg like the sprints, so comparison breaks down somewhat due to one being a sprint run and the other not. i like the shape of the standard version much like that of the smaller native 4 knife. nothing against ffg, just think sabers with some swedge cut better in some cases than ffg blades, heres a perfect case where you might consider 154cm over s30v or vice versa because of the blade grind style over knife steel. other than sprint runs i dont see a huge price difference in them. some of my favorites are in 1095, m4 and a2 steels, not even stainless. so is s30v worth it to you? id say if the knife you want to get is in 154cm get that one. if your set on another in s30v get that one. atthe end of the day i dont think your going to be horribly disappointed with either choice.
 
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