opinions on steel for a camp knife

fishface5

fishface5

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I have acquired a United Cutlery Lainhart Special Forces Machete. Yes, UC makes crap in general, but this particular knife is very well made. The blade is 3/16" ATS-34, about 9.5" long. It's a really great design for an all-around camp knife but I think I might like to duplicate it in something better suited for hard chopping, i.e. tougher, yet still retaining the high abrasion-resistance. Since INFI and SR101 are not available for me to build my own, I was wondering what others would suggest for this purpose? 1095, 5160, etc are easily available, cheap and tough, but do not have optimal edge retention. I was thinking maybe 3V? What do you all think?
 

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If it doesn't have to be stainless, it's hard to go wrong with something like 1075. It has enough carbon for good edge holding but still has the toughness of a low carbon steel. 1075 is what they make douk-douks from, so I would think it's one of those steels that can hold up to rough use.
 
I don't know enough about steel to make a recommendation. You might want to post in the knife makers forums to get opinions from guys who actually make em. Don't forget, steel is important but so is the heat treatment.

Most of my camp knives are 1095. If it aint broke, don't fix it imo. Good luck.
 
fishface5 said:
I have acquired a United Cutlery Lainhart Special Forces Machete. Yes, UC makes crap in general, but this particular knife is very well made. The blade is 3/16" ATS-34, about 9.5" long. It's a really great design for an all-around camp knife but I think I might like to duplicate it in something better suited for hard chopping, i.e. tougher, yet still retaining the high abrasion-resistance. Since INFI and SR101 are not available for me to build my own, I was wondering what others would suggest for this purpose? 1095, 5160, etc are easily available, cheap and tough, but do not have optimal edge retention. I was thinking maybe 3V? What do you all think?
Click to expand...

Get an axe.
 
fishface5 said:
I have acquired a United Cutlery Lainhart Special Forces Machete. Yes, UC makes crap in general, but this particular knife is very well made. The blade is 3/16" ATS-34, about 9.5" long. It's a really great design for an all-around camp knife but I think I might like to duplicate it in something better suited for hard chopping, i.e. tougher, yet still retaining the high abrasion-resistance. Since INFI and SR101 are not available for me to build my own, I was wondering what others would suggest for this purpose? 1095, 5160, etc are easily available, cheap and tough, but do not have optimal edge retention. I was thinking maybe 3V? What do you all think?
Click to expand...

mmarkh said:
Who said 1095 won't hold an edge? I WANT NAMES!:)
Click to expand...

1095 not hold an edge? Shirley, you jest.

Perhaps you were thinking of 1055?

1085 or 1075 would both have a pretty fair combination of edge retention and toughness.
 
Leatherface said:
5160 would be hard to beat for this bro


CPM 3v would be VERY costly

sweet

but costly
Click to expand...

CPM 3V would be a good choice.

It shouldn't be prohibitively expensive. I'm working on a large 3V cleaver (14" OAL), the steel wasn't too expensive compared to other CPM steels. The cost in belts may be another story, though......
 
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