Little thought of super steel SHTF reality

[drebs]

ok considering 2 people gave me actual steels they recommended I’ll leave it abs at and y’all can have your theories about how the end will play out … let’s change the question I’m OCD you aren’t going to convince me it’s unreasonable to only sharpen on ceramic forever !! What steels ? The question is being skirted based on the thesis of the question however that’s irrelevant to the question.

yes aus-8 and the cheap steels I’m asking on opinion and experience in what steels does it start to get pesky in YOUR opinion.. my guy tells me cmp-154 is the sweet spot but there are many here with more experience abs knowledge just asking for ideas.

 

[drebs]

you will die of dysentery long before you wear out your knife sharpener.

You might .. to say I will is a hypothesis and you cannot state that as an absolute. you don’t know the land I have, the national forest it’s up against the experience I have in the woods, the resources I do or don’t have so don’t reflect your expectation of yourself onto me..

It’s not just to sharpen knives but, axes, chisels, draw knives, adze’s, broad axes.

 

[Bob Denman]

S45 sharpens just fine on "normal" equipment...
But I also like to use an F. Dick honing rod that is at least 80 years old.
(Got it from Grampa Denman 39 years ago)
How's THAT for longevity?

 

[Raylas]

You are going to change your knife collection because you think society will collapse to the point of a Mad Max/Fallout style wasteland?

If he does, he can just send all his knives that wouldn't be practical in Fallout: IRL edition, to me. I'll take on the TERRIBLE burden of taking care of them!

 

[DMG]

You might .. to say I will is a hypothesis and you cannot state that as an absolute. you don’t know the land I have, the national forest it’s up against the experience I have in the woods, the resources I do or don’t have so don’t reflect your expectation of yourself onto me..

It’s not just to sharpen knives but, axes, chisels, draw knives, adze’s, broad axes.

Ok. Good luck.

 

[Sonnydaze]

When all is said and done in that situation if it can prepare human meat for consumption you're probably covered.

THIS IS WHAT IT ALL BOILS DOWN TO....IN THE END.

 

[DMG]

I have spent over 30 years playing Oregon Trail to prepare myself for this end.

I am glad someone got the reference.

 

[Sonnydaze]

It's like 9am, you gotta at least wait until noon to grab a drink

IT'S NOON... SOMEWHERE..

 

[Sonnydaze]

End of the World….who needs that? I am prepping for when the “great“ State of California calls us all in to kill every living thing in the forest, so they can pave over the thing to permanently put an end to forest fires.

n2s

YOU NEED LOTS MORE ROOM FOR ALL THOSE TENTS..

 

[not2sharp]

YOU NEED LOTS MORE ROOM FOR ALL THOSE TENTS..

We would all get to wear the issued T-shirt

Mandatory knife content (and we all bring along our favorite tree trimming tools)



n2s

 

[Chronovore]

The first question is how many knives does a knife nut own. I see some insane numbers tossed around here but I probably have twenty dedicated folding knives. Some stay, some go, but that's about my average over time. Even if I didn't have various stones, strops, and other maintenance stuff, I could rotate without sharpening for a ludicrously long time.

So I guess the question for knife nuts is where it hits the proverbial fan. Are you stuck at home, like during this whole pandemic? Are you on the road or permanently stranded? In a real disaster situation where people are fleeing their homes, anything more than a local disaster could get real heinous in a hurry. Something tells me I'll have bigger worries before my primary knife goes totally dull (and that's if I don't have another blade on my multi-tool, key ring, etc. and don't have access to the knife in my car or any other knife that's out there in the world).

For anyone who isn't a knife nut or thinks there is even a marginally remote chance of ending up in this rare scenario; switch your EDC steel to a decent but easy-going stainless like 12C27 or 14C28N.

 

[Shorttime]

Ow! Okay, okay, my arm doesn't bend that way!

Thank you. 52100. D2 as a second choice.

 

[ace]

Yo

You might .. to say I will is a hypothesis and you cannot state that as an absolute. you don’t know the land I have, the national forest it’s up against the experience I have in the woods, the resources I do or don’t have so don’t reflect your expectation of yourself onto me..

It’s not just to sharpen knives but, axes, chisels, draw knives, adze’s, broad axes.

You are getting the answers you are getting, because your question doesn't make sense. You could buy a few vitrified diamond stones and they would not wear out or dish in years and you would be able to sharpen any steel. If you want a steel that can be sharpened on any stone you find laying around in the wilderness then you need a low wear resistant steel. Even then, high wear resistance steels can be sharpened on regular ceramic stones as long as you don't go too high in grit and in a survival situation coarse, sharp edge would be good enough. Sure when staying at home, being bored we agonize about minute details of edges and try to make folders sharp enough to split atoms, but in reality no one would care to do that in a serious situation. So you don't need to change your collection to low wear steels unless you just want to. You can buy vitrified diamond stones and not worry about steel, or use synthetic stones you already have and maybe add a diamond loaded strop.

 

[catspa]

On dishing out. When I was a kid, my grandpa had a big benchstone that was dished out at least 1/4”, probly closer to 3/8. He always had the sharpest knives of anybody I knew, and the neighbors were always bringing him stuff to sharpen. On that dished out stone (probly how it got that way).

It wasn’t til I got old enough to read the interwebs that I discovered you couldn’t get a knife sharp except on a dead flat stone, so for a while I obsessed over flatness, but now that I’m his age I have gone back to soft, friable stones. I like the feedback of swarf on the edge, and I like thinking of my grandpa when I sharpen, though he’s long gone. Like him, I no longer give a damn about flatness.

Now if my darn neighbors would stop bringing me stuff to dish out my stones with...

Parker

 

[unwisefool]

you don’t know the land I have, the national forest it’s up against the experience I have in the woods, the resources I do or don’t have so don’t reflect your expectation of yourself onto me..

And you don't know me, the land I have, nor the ursine army I secretly command!

We also have a small detachment of raccoons, buuuut they aren't great at formations and keep wandering off to steal things. So yeah...

 

[Currawong]

Assuming your criteria boil down to 1. Steel that is very easy to sharpen and 2. maximum edge-holding steels that also meet criteria 1...... and assuming 'very easy to sharpen' means it can be brought back to an effective working edge in the field using a hand stone in less than 10 minutes, then....

Vanax is probably the highest-wearing steel that is also very easy to sharpen. It is also virtually rust-proof. For a steel with such high edge retention and stainlessness, the toughness is also very good (though it is not a tough steel). But it is expensive and hard to get. But it would be the best steel to my knowledge for the two criteria above, so it would be my starting point. If you want to vary the criteria a bit, then....

If you want to retain ballpark the same edge-holding ability as vanax, but are willing to downgrade ease of sharpening a bit (along with stainlessness), then Magnacut, S30v, M390, 20CV, CPM-154 and Elmax would be good alternatives. This assumes they are run at a lower hardness than they're capable of, otherwise they can become hard (not impossible) to sharpen in the field. You wouldn't want to spend a lot of time maintaining their edge using river rocks and the edges of car windows however.

If you want to retain the same ease of sharpening and stainlessness as vanax, but are happy to compromise on edge-holding, then LC200N. It is also much tougher than vanax. But LC200N is relatively expensive and harder to find.

If you like LC200N, but want something cheaper and easier to get, and are willing to compromise on stainlessness to achieve it, then AEB-L. This steel is a bit tougher than LC200N and has exceptional edge-stability. Therefore you can run it very thin behind the edge, which will in turn increase its edge-holding (but because of the geometry, not because of the wear-resistance of the steel).

If you don't need stainless, then there are many steels that have good edge-holding and are relatively easy (not necessarily very easy) to sharpen - M4, CPM-4V, Vanadis4E, and the cheap and widely available 52100. (Again assuming lower hardness heat treats).

The caveat is that edge-holding and ease of sharpening are heavily influenced by geometry and heat treat (hardness), so there are more ways to meet your criteria than just steel selection.

 

[kobold]

To add to the post above, Spy27, CruWear, S35VN and 14C28N are easy to sharpen and have well balanced properties.
I would also look into plateau sharpening.

 

[DangerZone98]

In a SHTF scenario, I suspect a good quality 1095 knife will do just fine. We get other knives anyway because it’s nice to have them.

 

[K.O.D.]

I know I will be the first to die with my medical issues. I don't have the money to stockpile months worth of meds. If it looks like I won't make it, I'll probably just use my guns and knives to make a human mousetrap/labyrinth. Should at least be an entertaining way to go.

 

[midnight flyer]

OK.... whoa, D Danke42 .... just stop it. Seeing that clip is like dropping the a-bomb for real. I saw that when it came out, and at that time I was a very bookish young boy. That totally, completely and entirely freaked me out. A few seconds of incredible imagery that speak volumes about what would probably happen. And a really good look at the fact that you will NEVER be prepared for a dramatic end.

It never ceases to amaze me how many times the "end of the world" and "you could only have one knife" and its hundreds of variants populate this forum. Endless variations on a them.

I always wonder as well how so many think that if there is an apocalyptic nuclear blast, an unexpected tidal wave, a chemical attack, etc., that they will be near their bug out bag. I have an acquaintance that has 3 of them; one for work, one for home, one for the truck. Since numbnuts told everyone what the contents were of his work BOB, they told him he had to leave it in his car and couldn't carry his BOB in the building. He was upset and I couldn't help but needle him. "What are you going to do if the blast turns your car over and you can't get to your BOB?" and "what is a tidal wave washes your car away" and what if infected people that you loaded your BOB to protect yourself from are wandering the parking lot?" and on and on.

Most people I know don't even know how to set up a camp, and have never done more than an overnight or two if they do. An edged tool is very important, but water/food/shelter are certainly more valuable. Just read some of the real survival stories; IF a knife is involved by someone that got lost on a trail, was left behind by the group, or just wandered off, they almost always credit a SAK or a multitool. Never, ever in my 65 years have I read anyone say that a heavy duty knife like I carry daily for work (like my Cold Steel SR!) saved them or helped them.

Since the question is about which steel, just get a knife that has steel you can easily sharpen in readily found gear. Back in the 60s - 80s, I camped/hiked/hunted all the time. I didn't know any better, so most of my knives were 1095 or one of its cousins, whichever steel CASE or Boker used. Someway, they worked fine. And since I was a free hand sharpener I touched up my knives in the field as needed (if needed!) with a piece of 600gr wet/dry sandpaper stolen from the job site. My knives were always plenty sharp for skinning, cutting, shelter building and other camp chores. Best of all, they were snap to sharpen.