I dont mean to open a can of worms here, but simply put I'm looking for recommendations on specific steels for blades.
Alright, so my current every day carry knife is a Gerber Instant. I know it's a 35 dollar knife and that most performance knives are much higher than that but we all have to start somewhere right? I initially bought it not thinking I'd use it this much. but I've been surprised by how much I actually use it which is partially why I'm looking to move up. I dont know how much most people use their knives, but I use mine A LOT. I use it at work to cut through zip ties and boxes. I take it camping where I usually start sharpening wood and what not out of boredom as well as food preparation. I use it to cut 16 gauge and thinner wire, plastics, all sorts of things. I know there are wire cutters, and specialty tools but who feels like walking to get it when your knife can do the job?
Like I said, I use my knife a lot for all sorts of things, and I think I did a good job hitting the main things that I think put the most amount of wear. Cutting through plastics is probably one of the most frequent things I do that that in my opinion takes a burden on the edge. And I am talking about think plastic, about 1/4 inch. Now the gerber is serated which is nice for when the blade goes dull, and this is where my issue lays. The blade goes dull relatively quickly. I dont have high end sharpening stones or anything, but from just messing around I've learned my way around steel sharpening rods and I can put a great edge on this thing. Good enough where I can shave my arm and leg with it.
I've been reading on the different steel alloys and there is waaay to much information for me to understand. I've done a lot of reading on the science of adding different elements, and how they effect the steel and I think that is really cool stuff, especially as a physics major. I will definitely be reading more on it, but being as thorough as I am I'm not sure I can read about each specific alloy. I know my ideal blade will be a high chromium based alloy since the blade will be getting a heavy dose of the elements(dirt, water, etc). Given the things I've said whats a good alloy to choose from? The gerber is something I cant recall at the moment but the consensus on the internet has been that its very similar to, and pretty much is a 440A equivalent. From the googling and browsing around on the forums that I've done it seems like S30V is pretty common alloy that is praised. Along with the BG42 though this seems to be more rare these days.
Like I said, I'm just looking for alloy recommendations mostly, but if anyone wants to give a specific knife recommendation I just wanted to make it clear that I wasnt looking for anything "tactical" or all black. I think it's stupid but at times I felt like I was getting unneeded attention because of the gerbers all black look . So thats something for me to consider. Also ambidextrous is a huge plus for a lefty like my self.
Alright, so my current every day carry knife is a Gerber Instant. I know it's a 35 dollar knife and that most performance knives are much higher than that but we all have to start somewhere right? I initially bought it not thinking I'd use it this much. but I've been surprised by how much I actually use it which is partially why I'm looking to move up. I dont know how much most people use their knives, but I use mine A LOT. I use it at work to cut through zip ties and boxes. I take it camping where I usually start sharpening wood and what not out of boredom as well as food preparation. I use it to cut 16 gauge and thinner wire, plastics, all sorts of things. I know there are wire cutters, and specialty tools but who feels like walking to get it when your knife can do the job?
Like I said, I use my knife a lot for all sorts of things, and I think I did a good job hitting the main things that I think put the most amount of wear. Cutting through plastics is probably one of the most frequent things I do that that in my opinion takes a burden on the edge. And I am talking about think plastic, about 1/4 inch. Now the gerber is serated which is nice for when the blade goes dull, and this is where my issue lays. The blade goes dull relatively quickly. I dont have high end sharpening stones or anything, but from just messing around I've learned my way around steel sharpening rods and I can put a great edge on this thing. Good enough where I can shave my arm and leg with it.
I've been reading on the different steel alloys and there is waaay to much information for me to understand. I've done a lot of reading on the science of adding different elements, and how they effect the steel and I think that is really cool stuff, especially as a physics major. I will definitely be reading more on it, but being as thorough as I am I'm not sure I can read about each specific alloy. I know my ideal blade will be a high chromium based alloy since the blade will be getting a heavy dose of the elements(dirt, water, etc). Given the things I've said whats a good alloy to choose from? The gerber is something I cant recall at the moment but the consensus on the internet has been that its very similar to, and pretty much is a 440A equivalent. From the googling and browsing around on the forums that I've done it seems like S30V is pretty common alloy that is praised. Along with the BG42 though this seems to be more rare these days.
Like I said, I'm just looking for alloy recommendations mostly, but if anyone wants to give a specific knife recommendation I just wanted to make it clear that I wasnt looking for anything "tactical" or all black. I think it's stupid but at times I felt like I was getting unneeded attention because of the gerbers all black look . So thats something for me to consider. Also ambidextrous is a huge plus for a lefty like my self.
