Need Blade Steel Advice

mrandolph

mrandolph

Joined
Mar 22, 2011
Messages
46
Hey all. Am buying a mid size folder for camping & backpacking and will choose from the following- 940 green alum, Grip 550 and Mini Crooked River. My quandary pertains to the steel options available. Between S30V and 20CV, am looking for the most balanced steel. That said, what I really want to ask is this: of the two steels, which is tougher for camp and woods type tasks? Also packing a fixed blade and hatchet so no abuse planned. Thanks for any advice. Appreciate it.
 
Cypress said:
Get a 550-1. 20CV is better than S30V, the handles are better, and the blade shape is tip top.
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True that the Grip is the only normal production model with 20CV though the others can be had with it one way or another. Thanks for that
 
Either one...not going to matter much in day to day (non-youtube) uasge.
 
dano said:
Either one...not going to matter much in day to day (non-youtube) uasge.
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Nailed it. I honestly can barely tell a difference in day-to-day use. Now, I can obviously see the small difference when I do my testing. It really depends on the heat treat. Benchmade does a great job on their S30V heat treat. Sadly though, a lot of companies (including Benchmade) don't take 20CV and the likes to their max potential. I have 20CV in my Anthem and the performance has been lackluster. It actually performed a bit worse than S30V in my tests. I could've just gotten a dud though!
 
20CV will have better edge retention. While the S30V is less brittle (more tough). Honestly for an over all camp knife that can take more of a beating in the woods of the two options you gave I would go S30V.
 
I looked at the knives Benchmade offers in the Tactical category. In addition to 154cm, d2 and even m4, S30v is used quite a bit. 20cv not at all. I appreciate the feedback, all.
 
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