Military steel choice....52100, S110V, S30V, S90V, or? (Ultimately I chose M4)

Heirphoto

Heirphoto

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Looking to pick up a Millie (full size) but debating what steel to go with. Thinking of 52100 or maybe S110V unless something else is better. Tarnish does not bother me and I do want a long lasting edge. Not to be abused (prying, chopping, zip ties, etc... just cardboard, food prep, household stuff) I use a KME to sharpen with diamond plates.

What are your thoughts on the steel options? (I realize few of these choices can be found new anymore so searching the secondary market)
 
Given the choice out of all of them, I'd pick the M4 version. The CF handles on my 52100 are pretty awesome and better than the G10 ones I got.

Was there a CRUWEAR one? Not sure, but if that exists I'd definitely would like that. S110V in my experience was a little chippy on my Manix, so I shy away from it.

Good luck!
 
Any of those steels will do.
Tbh I like s30v it's just a very common steel.

S90v is also a great choice, I don't look forward to sharpening it though.
 
Knibes said:
Maybe just get an s30v Military to tide you over until the next drop of less common steel?

I don't really want to talk you into spending $300+ on what suits ME the best. (I hope for more Rex-45 Mils:D)
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I had one of those before they went sky high $$ but didn't care for the orange.

May just go for an S30V unless I stumble on a Super Steel user since I have no burning desire for one particular steel and that this will not be my primary knife. More of a fun addition and why I was interested in a steel I have not yet owned.
 
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Any Millie will do extremely well the work you described. So if I were you, I'd pick one that is readily available (and the least expensive if $$ is a factor).
 
sharp_edge said:
Any Millie will do extremely well the work you described. So if I were you, I'd pick one that is readily available (and the least expensive if $$ is a factor).
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Yeah, but that makes too much sense :) Everytime I buy the plain vanilla version of something and like it I then wished I had got a "better" version.
 
Dergyll said:
Given the choice out of all of them, I'd pick the M4 version. The CF handles on my 52100 are pretty awesome and better than the G10 ones I got.

Was there a CRUWEAR one? Not sure, but if that exists I'd definitely would like that. S110V in my experience was a little chippy on my Manix, so I shy away from it.

Good luck!
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Yes, there was a CruWear, light gray G-10 scales. I'd go looking for the CF/M390 if I didn't already have one. I've never had any problems with my blurple S110V either. It's hard to go wrong with a Military.
 
Heirphoto said:
Yeah, but that makes too much sense :) Everytime I buy the plain vanilla version of something and like it I then wished I had got a "better" version.
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About 8 Spyderco Millies passed through my hands (S90V, Rex45, 204P, S30V with ti, cf, g10 handles) and only one remains with me - my first Millie with digicam g10 scales and DLC S30V blade. Unless someone is collecting the model, I see a plain jane s30v Millie alone will last his life or maybe even longer. No joking.
 
Heirphoto said:
Decided to go with an S110V from a forum member. Doubt I will have any regrets with that steel (till sharpening day eventually rolls around)
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Diamonds will be your friend...though you can touch up on the Spyderco Sharpmaker hones.
 
I know that I'm a voice in the wilderness but, if you are actually going to USE your Millie, the steel that holds its edge best for your needs AND is the easiest to re-sharpen would be the best IMO.

That would ELIMINATE all of the premium HARD steels (like M390, S110V, S90V, 20CV, S45VN, etc.) and would restrict your choices to "mundane" steels like S30V, M4 and D2 or even VG10 or AUS 8, if any of them other than S30V were even ever offered w/a MIllie (which they weren't, except for D2 which was offered w/a prior Sprint version and in M4 in a prior "exclusive").

But that's just me . . . ;)

For a USER, the better choice might be an early version of the MIllie (if you could bring yourself to actually use it) that uses ATS-34 or CPM 440V instead which should have the durability and ease of sharpening that (at least) I would look for in a "user."
 
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sgt1372 said:
I know that I'm a voice in the wilderness but, if you are actually going to USE your Millie, the steel that holds its edge best for your need AND is the easiest to re-sharpen would be the best IMO.

That would ELIMINATE all of the premium HARD steels (like M390, S110V, S90V, 20CV, etc.) and would restrict your choices to "mundane" steels like S30V, M4 and D2 or even VG10 or AUS 8, if any of them other than S30V are offered w/a MIllie.

But that's just me . . . ;)
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Very true, for my user millies I generally default to my S30V examples. That said s110v can take while to sharpen without diamonds or CBN, but it’s not that bad compared to other super vanadium enriched steels (for me personally s90 and even m390 can cause more of a headache).
 
Free hand sharpening with diamond stones is the fastest and the easiest and it does not matter which steel you are sharpening, unless you are going after highly even and symmetric bevels. I have not sharpened my s110v Manix 2 but was able to free-hand reprofile my K390 Endela to ~10-13 DPS with ease. Well, the result does not LOOK beautiful but the knife is SHARP - it slices double-layered toilet paper. For a user knife that costs less than $140, I don't mind the looking.
 
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