New Socom Delta in S30-V ? Why not 20cv, CTS-204p, S35-VN, CPM-D2

eodtoad

eodtoad

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Apr 5, 2013
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I have no experience with MT's s30v, but with the great wear resistant steels MT have been using (including s35vn shown in CrimsonTide Shooter's test), why is MT going back to s30v? I value wear resistance the most in my EDC blade/emergercy defensive blade. Will MT's s30v at least match the wear resistance of it's recent s35vn? Are they just running their steels harder? Should I buy a Socom Delta plain edge drop point in s30v, or wait for s90v, 20cv, cts-204p, or even s35vn? Any info on MT's heat treat, or experience with their s30v would be very helpful to me.

Thanks you all.

Brian/eodtoad
 
They buy what is available at the moment, I honestly don't think they really care as long as they sell.
 
MT use a few different steels, they even released some knives in ATS-34 recently. They mostly use S35VN and S-30V though. From what I understand they run their steels pretty hard. I dont know about waiting as it seems to be totally impossible to predict what they will do.
 
Microtech is known for using whatever steel they have handy or whatever they can get ahold of. They're not like Spyderco, where they listen to their customers saying "I'd really like to see XXXX knife made in YYYY steel" and then do a sprint run in that configuration. Microtech however just makes whatever knife in whatever steel, with no rhyme or reason.

That's not really a bad thing though. They know how to heat treat a blade. Whatever steel the knife you choose happens to be, you can be assured that it's heat treated properly and will serve you well.
 
I wouldn't let the steel choice stop you from buying a Delta; it's a fantastic knife, easily one of my favorites. I couldn't put mine down when I got it. That being said, I think you might be underestimating the wear resistance of S30V/ELMAX (the steel they use the second most) when hardened to the levels Microtech brings them to. Microtech's use of CTS-204P and 20CV is apparently a thing of the past; it was only used on the second run of the Whaleshark (when they switched the pivot to the T30) back in June of 2012. The Delta was also only available in 204P for the first run of them.

I could be wrong about this, since I'm not MT expert. Nevertheless, whatever steel they're using is probably no slouch.
 
Most of the the upcoming MT folders including Delta will have Bohler ELMAX steel.
 
The S/E is a sweet blade, buying my first one in S30V was fine by me. If they come out in Elmax, I'd like to hear some user feedback first, but other steels I would buy right away.

Like the OP, I wish was wishing for a more exotic steel.

The s30v version, this blade slices extremely well.
 
Did I miss something when did S30V (when ran hard like it should be) become a bad steel? I think a lot of people over look it because of all the new high speed steels coming out but I highly doubt very many on this forum would ever need more from a steel than good/ hard S30V offers.
 
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