new bushcraft blade steel... Vanadis10, M390, or Elmax?

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starter17

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May 14, 2014
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So I'm about to place an order for a 5" blade semi-custom bushcraft knife. This one, to be precise:



It's a 5 inch blade. For the steel I can choose from the following:

Vanadis10 (4.7 mm)
M390 (4.5 mm)
Elmax (4.0 mm)

Right now I'm leaning towards either the Vanadis10 or the M390, if anything just for the added thickness. I'd like the option that provides for the best mix of impact resistance, lateral flex resistance, and corrosion resistance, in that order of importance.

I intend on beating the snot out of this knife... Batoning etc. What steel would you choose? Thanks!
 
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ELMAX is the toughest of the three by a good margin, followed by M390. However I'm not sure how the thickness would balance them out. It looks like Van10 would have the best edge holding as it's about 9% V, followed by m390. As far as rust resistance, m390 and Elmax are very rust resistance, Van10 is a tool steel so will rust much more easily than a stainless
 
The thicker blades seem better suited for your stated needs. I'd get the M390 because it is thick enough, plus stainless.
 
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