Knife steels you avoid and why

[rycen]

For me my top two would be

Elmax
No exactly sure why except maybe poor reviews/heat treat when it first became popular.

8cr series
over saturation

 

[TheEdge01]

All steels have their place in the knife world if heat treated and profiled correctly.

 

[Oklahoma Outlaw]

I steer clear of Böhler M398.

 

[shane45-1911]

Anything AUS.

Or the ever-popular "high quality stainless steel".

I do concede that proper heat treatment on a mediocre steel trumps poor heat treatment on a premium steel.

 

[Dadpool]

All steels have their place in the knife world if heat treated and profiled correctly.

Agreed!

But personally I generally don't buy anything less corrosion-resistant than D2 or any budget steel "below" 14C28N (as subjective as that value judgment can be). Traditional folders are the exception; just about any stainless is fine by me on those.

Sorry, I forgot to add why. I live in the PNW, and my experience has been than anything further from stainless than D2 requires too much maintenance. Nothing against budget steels, but I like more edge retention and all-around performance than many of them offer, so it's an easy filter to apply.

 

[Dergyll]

420HC, 440A, 420J2 - never seem to get a good performance out of them. I had a few 110s, but they were all special edition ones with a different steel.

RWL34 - overpriced 154CM
AEBL - overpriced 13c26
VG10 - other than being very stainless, I dont find this steel remarkable

I have no problem with 8cr, AUS8, 1065, etc as long as the price reflects the steel choice. Dont sell me an AUS8 knife for 150$ *cough survival lily cough*

These are my (mis)conceptions!

 

[Danke42]

Played out supersteels

If it's not a certified fresh I keep walkin'

 

[King of the Cheese]

For me, it’s more about “brands” I avoid. Steel is only as good as the heat treat and the grind, which a good company gets right. I’ll take alphabet steel with a good heat treat and solid grind work over anything from a bad brand, or “gas station knives”.

 

[ferider]

I try to avoid anything with less than -4% chrome. And hardness should be in the upper 50s or better.

But, of course, there are exceptions. Function/design, geometry, and trusted heat treat come first.

 

[scdub]

What steel does Strider use again?

 

[MarkN86]

The more experience I gain in the knife world the less I use chemical composition as the sole benchmark for performance. The most important factor is whether the heat treatment is appropriate for the steel used. It's very obvious when the HT is not where it needs to be.

Outside of specialty steels like H1 or LC200N I don't have much interest in steels below 0.45% carbon. Below that point it's just not possible to get it to the hardness to where it needs to be. I'm also wary of spending a lot on a new, unproven steel. Until manufacturers have some experience with the heat treat a steel is not always at peak performance. Don't have to look far to see where this has happened in the past.

I echo the sentiment that I find manufacturers that I can trust and follow them. Build quality is as important to me as the steel and heat treatment.

 

[pvicenzi]

The latest grail steel. Whatever that may be. It seems like it takes the manufacturers awhile to fine tune the heat treat for new steels.

 

[Ernie1980]

Avoiding “mystery steel” is a given, but I also don’t care for 420j and vg10 and won’t buy anything with those steels.

 

[Oklahoma Outlaw]

What steel does Strider use again?

Mine is PSF27.