Mystical Edge Retention

El Jay said:
Hello all. After 20 plus years of this hobby one thing has eluded me. I cannot find a knife that holds a good edge after about 60 cuts. I have tried stainless steel and carbon steel. My cutting chores are plastic wrap, plants, fruit, meat, plastic banding, tape, cordl and blister packs. No matter the steel I get about the same amount of cuts. The only difference is that the carbon steels are easier to maintain and restore. I've used a Sharpmaker and freehand sharpening methods. I'm not cutting into a board or hard surface. The best results are Opinel's carbon and the worst is S30V. Your thoughts? Thanks for all replies.
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M4 Steel .
Careful of the plastic banding if it is glass fiber reinforced . Some of ours at work I cut with a very, very small hacksaw . One stroke per band .
You may or may not have seen these three . Spyderco Tenacious . Originally come with light brown handles . I like black so my M4 got black .
This is about as good as it gets at retainiing very very sharp edges for as long as possible .
I have :
REX 121 cuts well long term but deteriorates to a working edge faster than M4 .
Maxamet same but stays a touch more toward very sharp than the 121.
Also shown in the image in my link below is S90V in the two vertical knives ; great stuff ! For my money it is the best of the stainless . I'm not a big fan of stainless .

I've had really good luck with S30V but gets to a working edge faster than M4 then cuts a bit longer if it is a good heat treat . Be sure to sharpen S30V with diamond and I like to go polished edge .

M4 for the win !
(and it takes a fantastic blue patina)
The top three horizontal ones here .
 
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El Jay said:
Hello all. After 20 plus years of this hobby one thing has eluded me. I cannot find a knife that holds a good edge after about 60 cuts. I have tried stainless steel and carbon steel. My cutting chores are plastic wrap, plants, fruit, meat, plastic banding, tape, cordl and blister packs. No matter the steel I get about the same amount of cuts. The only difference is that the carbon steels are easier to maintain and restore. I've used a Sharpmaker and freehand sharpening methods. I'm not cutting into a board or hard surface. The best results are Opinel's carbon and the worst is S30V. Your thoughts? Thanks for all replies.
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I think you're slicing too hard or something lol. These are my 2 package opening knives, and S30V they are not, and I can attest, based on the continued cuts on my fingers, they hold up just fine after 60 or 70 opened packages.

20260503_192941.jpg20260503_192928.jpg
 
Sorry BBB I spaced out listing 15V !
It is the very best factory edge I have experienced !
The Spydercos with 15 V are so very ready to go out of the box . Almost everything else I start reprofiling and resharpening before I can take it seriously .
E El Jay you might just want to cut to the chase as it were and try some Spyderco BBB 15V .
 
I would like to add that it also depends on how you cut that effects how the edge wears. If you make a slashing cut as opposed to a pushing cut or consistent slice you will wear more of the edge rather than a smaller portion of the edge. I’ve seen some guys slash or stab a bag of feed or bale of hay open like they were fighting a grizzly bear . Using an aggressive style may be more fun but isn’t necessary most of the time and that feed bag or bale of hay is not going to maul you. 😆 and the edge will last a much longer time.
 
Lesknife said:
I would like to add that it also depends on how you cut that effects how the edge wears. If you make a slashing cut as opposed to a pushing cut or consistent slice you will wear more of the edge rather than a smaller portion of the edge. I’ve seen some guys slash or stab a bag of feed or bale of hay open like they were fighting a grizzly bear . Using an aggressive style may be more fun but isn’t necessary most of the time and that feed bag or bale of hay is not going to maul you. 😆 and the edge will last a much longer time.
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You're right........................ Not as Fun.
 
When it comes to down hill mountain biking I tell people : To use the brakes is to admit defeat .🤣

I'm a push cutter .
To use a consistent slice is . . . to admit the edge isn't " sharp ". 🤨

Relax . . . I'm just kidding around . . . for the most part . 🤔
 
Wowbagger said:
When it comes to down hill mountain biking I tell people : To use the brakes is to admit defeat .🤣

I'm a push cutter .
To use a consistent slice is . . . to admit the edge isn't " sharp ". 🤨

Relax . . . I'm just kidding around . . . for the most part . 🤔
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Good attitude, sharpness is just a state of mind.
 
I think first and foremost what does a "good edge" mean to you and how are you achieving it?

Even with fairly higher end steels, if you are going after a few feet of corrugated cardboard, i could certainly see a hair whittling or shaving edge not be as biting even if its s30v or slightly better.

The other thing to look at is how you are getting your edges. What angle are you sharpening at and with what stones? If you are actually getting better performance from simple carbon steel opinels, its possible that is coming from the geometry rather than the actual edge. its ALSO possible you are sharpening with something that cant cut the higher carbide steels.

You get a nice edge on the carbon steel opinel but not the S30v etc.
 
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