New Benchmade 20cv or 90v?

Jbrown250

Jbrown250

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Sep 3, 2022
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Hey everyone:

I will be buying a mini crooked river in the next few days. A local shop still has some 20cv options in stock, as well as 90v. I wanted something different then 30v as I've had a few knives with that steel. I know edge retention/corrosion resistance on both won't disappoint.

The deciding factors are sharpen-abilty and toughness. I know 20cv sharpens a lot easier, but is 90v manageable for the extra edge retention? (I'm thinking possibly not, I'm not a pro sharpener and still learning). I have a few shapton glass pro stones and a little set of 6 inch dmt diamond plates (320,620,1200 I think). With toughness I just hope they would be in the same ballpark of each other, nothing worse than needing a knife for say a random one off zip tie and opting to search out something else for the job with a knife in your pocket.

Thanks for reading!
 
I think a lot has to do with blade geometry and how thick the blade is behind the edge. Both are pretty tough, and you can't really go wrong with 20CV, especially if you've chipped S90V before.

I have not read this thread yet > https://www.bladeforums.com/threads/benchmade-cpm-20cv-vs-s90v.1772013/

In my experience my Benchmade S90V mini Griptilian is not at all chippy vs my 20CV full-size Griptilian, but the blade sizes and thickness are very different although both Benchmade knives. I can't compare Apples to Apples here. My son has had his S90V mini-griptilian for several years, that he built on the Benchmade custom site, and it hasn't needed to be sharpened yet after cutting open box tape and other EDC tasks. But it's not a hard use knife. My S90V mini Freek in carbon fiber, and my 20cv mini Griptilian with blue liner/grey scale, have not even cut anything yet, so I can't help much in comparing them with a similar blade.
 
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Also googled - these two

https://www.reddit.com/r/knifeclub/comments/bmmzr3
nd

Recommendation? - Bugout 20CV or S90V?

I currently have the standard, blue Bugout, and I'm thinking about ordering a second with all satin hardware and maybe a higher end steel to put some Flytanium titanium scales on to be kind of a nicer knife. What do you guys think about the 20CV and S90V that Benchmade does with these? I've read...
www.bladeforums.com www.bladeforums.com

They like 20CV toughness better, with similar edge retention.
 
As always, depends on how they are heat treated, but all else being equal, S90V should be considerably better for edge retention. Both are OK for toughness, not great but good for most tasks not needing superior toughness. 20CV should have much better corrosion resistance, although S90V is in the same league as VG10, S30V or 440C for example.

Edit: both shouldn't be a problem sharpening with your DMT's. 20CV might be slightly quicker to sharpen out of the two.
 
Awesome, thanks for the resources/info/opinions. Like the linked article I have also been reading conflicting info!

Maybe I should stop lying to myself that I wont eventually buy a blade in both and get two new knives! Lol
 
According to Larrin Thomas (the expert), they have about the same toughness, while s90v has significantly better edge retention and 20cv has slightly better corrosion resistance. I wouldn't sharpen s90v on the Shapton stones, because it has 9% vanadium and vanadium carbides are harder than the abrasive in the Shaptons. 20cv has 4% vanadium.
 
Blade Lab said:
According to Larrin Thomas (the expert), they have about the same toughness, while s90v has significantly better edge retention and 20cv has slightly better corrosion resistance. I wouldn't sharpen s90v on the Shapton stones, because it has 9% vanadium and vanadium carbides are harder than the abrasive in the Shaptons. 20cv has 4% vanadium.
Click to expand...
Awesome, thanks! My DMT set was off amazon and they are only 6 inches. Maybe I upgrade those in the near future. I have a 120(I think) Atoma diamond plate I use to flatten my shaptons, maybe I get a finer grit version.
 
For a general edc knife, either would be perfectly acceptable imo. I will say that I have not had any issues with BM's s90v being chippy..

My 565-1 Mini Freek in s90v has done alot of cutting for me, including zip ties and hitting a few hidden staples. Haven't had any chips yes. Also, I use a KME, but it isn't noticeably much harder to sharpen than my 20cv/m390.. ymmv.
20220618_065609.jpg
 
I would suggest going with s90v, IME it was less prone to chipping than 20cv.

Hope you enjoy the new knife.
 
Benchmade's S90V steel is only a little bit tougher to sharpen than 20CV.
But hold it's edge a whole lot longer!
 
I would go against the grain here, if it were my choice I would choose 20CV, it’s a really excellent steel and I dislike how slippery all the S??V blades feel on a stone
 
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