Recommend a steel for me.

T

tuckerdogenito

Joined
Jun 8, 2026
Messages
16
I have always been a fan of 420hc, 440c, and 1095.
I like a steel that is easy to sharpen and allows a thin profile with a toothy edge.

Tried spyderco s30v and was too hard to keep super sharp but stayed kinda sharp for a long time.

Tried case and eye brand carbon steel and was too soft. Opined 1095 was better. Some of the older marbles carbon steel was good, older camulis ss was good also. Probably the best steel I have used was a 6A blade from Texas knife makers. Have no idea what it really was but suspect aus6.

Currently use a buck 110 in 420hc but have had good luck with their old 440.

I normally take a few links with a steel hone and am back in business but every 3 or 4 touch ups I run the blade on corse silicon oxide stone. I like a toothy thin edge. Diamond stones just don't last for me.

Use varies. Anything from cleaning gane to processing fruit to cutting plastic, wood and rope.

I also carry a leatherman and use that to prevent abusing my buck 110.

Going to need a new pocket knife and with the price hike on the 110s I wanted to see if I should consider any of the new steels.
 
Also had good luck out of boker stainless. I suspect I am looking for a hard steel with Lower wear resistance.

Needs to be capable of a thin profile like a buck hollow grind or opinel, or sodbuster type profile.
 
Depending on what your budget is...

Try looking at the Worksharp RMX line. They just dropped a clip point knife, to add to their lineup.

For $150, you can get a drop point in M390 or reverse tanto in 3V. Button lock, that can go from regular opening to automatic.

Spyderco's are on sale everywhere right now for father's day.
 
Not many makers or manufacturers use it but I've been loving Z Tuff. Its one of the toughest steels out there, can support an ultra thin edge and cuts very well with a toothy edge. It can be maintained well with stropping.

Cuts very aggressively as well and is semi stainless. As long as you do basic cleaning, it won't rust on you in most environments.
 
SharpBits said:
Lots of good steels mentioned already, but don't forget VG-10 and Aus-10. Good steels and easily touched up without needing diamond or CBN.
Click to expand...
If you were to add 154CM to that list, what order would you put them from least to best? I'm not sure. AUS10, 154CM, VG-10??? As in keeping the edge longer.

I'd guess they all sharpen as easy as each other. All fairly stainless, not bulletproof but pretty good. Not amazing toughness but not chippy bad either.
 
M4, K390 and Cruwear will all hold a toothy working edge. I’ve never had any issues with rust if properly maintained ( I live in Southern California though, usually no humidity ).

Not sure what your budget is.. spyderco has models available in all the steels mentioned above.

Magnucut might be worth checking out.. I definitely prefer a toothy edge on my folders - Cruwear has proven itself. M4 would be my second choice.

For dedicated tough stainless

* Nitro V is a good folder steel
* 12c27
* 14c28n
* AEBL at high hardness
* Elmax
 
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I used to be picky about steel, though have come to the conclusion that it really isn't as important as I used to believe. I now think a few things need to be considered, but not that many. I really enjoy traditional pocket knives from companies like, R Rider, Schrade, Roper, etc... They use 440A extensively. Edge retention is a bit low, though I enjoy sharpening and don't mind. The first pic show how much cardboard I cut with the big blade. The cardboard was really heavy duty, so it didn't cut that much. The small blade on the Marbles canoe almost finished filling the trash can with cardboard along the lines of what it used by Amazon.

I also like D2 and appreciate the edge retention. I have nice diamond plates for sharpening, so those big carbides are no problem. For high end stainless performance, I love SRM's 140cr steel. First, it's really cool looking - see last pic. They have a core of 140Cr tool steel with two layers of stainless protecting it. They advertise S35VN performance. I did a cardboard cutting comparison between this steel and a Benchmade with S30VN. While this wasn't a perfect test, I have no doubt that it does have edge retention comparable to S35VN. And, their 255L (lighter duty) and 258L (full liners, heavier duty) are both under $65.

I have more expensive knives with great powder metallurgy steel, but don't like them more than the less expensive ones. I will also say that that if I had an application where knife failure would be life threatening, I would pony up the best steel for that particular application.
 

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