Most Important Knife Property

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me2

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Oct 11, 2003
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I was just wondering what rank people would put on the following properties of knives:

1. Toughness
2. Edge Holding
3. Stain Resistance
4. Ease of Sharpening
5. Cutting Ability

Just something I was wondering what others think.

For a pocket knife, I'd rank them as follows:

Cutting Ability
Edge Holding
Ease of Sharpening
Toughness
Stain Resistance

For a hard use knife, I'd arrange them in the order below:

Toughness
Cutting Ability
Ease of Sharpening
Edge Holding
Stain Resistance
 
My knife acquisitions tend to be mostly in the same category (3"-4" bladed folders) and for the same uses (EDC / outdoor carry), so I only have one set of priorities. Most of what I buy is either flat ground (Strider & Spyderco) or hollow ground (CRK) and both of those are pretty good cutting profiles, even with thick Strider blades.

So... after cutting ability, I put a premium on a balance of toughness & edge holding since I do use my knives for more than just slicing cuts and I cut everything from thread and paper to metal wiring with them. I've even opened a couple of food tins on rare occasions and chipped up some ice for a drink with a boot knife (I'll never do that again).

I spend a lot of time keeping my kit clean and lubed, so corrosion isn't something I worry about. I also have a very *intimate* relationship with my sharpening gear (we see each other as often as possible every week) so ease of sharpening isn't really a concern because nothing ever gets dull.
 
5. Toughness
2. Edge Holding
3. Stain Resistance
4. Ease of Sharpening
1. Cutting Ability

I don't recommend caring about cutting ability. As soon as you do, you'll never be able to use a factory edge again. Cutting ability is essential to me. Incredibly thin edges, full flat grind and extreme sharpness. My EDC's get sharpened at least once a day. Even if I don't cut anything that would dull the edge much, I'll still touch it up on the strop. I don't like using anything but hair popping sharp+ edges. I love the feeling of effortlessly cutting through stuff.

I rank edge holding high because it often correlates with high hardness, little burring and the good performance at thin edges. These attributes are more important to me than extreme edge holding in particular, though it's certainly welcome.

Corrosion resistance is never on my mind in the winter, but in the summer when I'm out skating or running around some woods I get real sweaty. Which is why I'm having a difficult time justifying the purchase of a CPMD2 Para right now. Food prep is the only other time corrosion is a concern, and I always rinse my knives before and after so it's never an issue.

Never have any toughness issues.

Most "easy to sharpen" steels, like SAK steel etc. are hard for me to sharpen because the burring is incredibly persistent IMO. That's one of the reasons I really like S30V.
 
dalefuller said:
chipped up some ice for a drink with a boot knife (I'll never do that again).
Click to expand...

Just curious why you said this?

This last weekend I broke up 1/2 of a five gallon bucket of ice that had partially melted and then been refrozen. I was using a native and went slow and did not have a problem but I may have gotten lucky.
 
I would list them in this order of importance.Concerning folding knives...
I would add ergonomics too,as that's most important to me.

1.Ergonomics
2.Edge Holding
3.Ease of Sharpening
4.Stain Resistance
5.Cutting Ability
6.Toughness
 
FlaMtnBkr said:
Just curious why you said this?

This last weekend I broke up 1/2 of a five gallon bucket of ice that had partially melted and then been refrozen. I was using a native and went slow and did not have a problem but I may have gotten lucky.
Click to expand...


I find all of these properties to be #1 except stain resistance.


A friend of mine used his 10 inch version of the Brend #2 to cut out large blocks of ice to build an igloo in Ranger winter Survival School. One of his classmates broke the blade of his Randall #14 doing the same thing.

By the way the Brend had no damage at all.
brend.jpg
 
I like ease of resharpening as I use my knives very often. Toughness and cutting ability are also very important. I do not worry too much about the corrosion resistance but it is nice to have. That is why I stick with S30V mostly it seems to be the ideal steel for me. Although I did like AUS-8 very well.
 
FlaMtnBkr said:
Just curious why you said this?

This last weekend I broke up 1/2 of a five gallon bucket of ice that had partially melted and then been refrozen. I was using a native and went slow and did not have a problem but I may have gotten lucky.
Click to expand...

:D I was using an old Taylor double edged boot knife and chipping pieces off of a solid block of ice that must have been 2' X 2'. I managed to get enough ice for a drink and lose about 1/2" of the tip at the same time. The end of that knife looked like it came out second best in a fight with a chain saw. :p
 
me2 said:
I was just wondering what rank people would put on the following properties of knives:

1. Toughness
2. Edge Holding
3. Stain Resistance
4. Ease of Sharpening
5. Cutting Ability
Click to expand...

For a pocket knife,

Cutting Ability
Edge Holding
Toughness
Stain Resistance
Ease of Sharpening

I don't let my knives get dull, I hone them on a steel at least twice a week so I don't have to worry about sharpening them for a good long time; Ease of Sharpening is very low on the list for me, but very high up for some people.

For instance, those who prefer more traditional pocket knives like Slipjoints seem to value ease of sharpening highest; knowing they're going to dull their knives anyway and don't mind sitting down to put a nice edge on it again.


On a "hard use" knife, or at least the couple of fixed I picked up for (certain types of) camping:

Toughness
Edge Holding
Cutting Ability
Ease of Sharpening
Stain Resistance


vjb.knife: That knife is beautiful and mean looking. Looks very functional, too.
 
To be a knife it has to have an edge and cut, so I'd say cutting ability and edge holding are interchangeable at 1 and 2.
 
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