S30v thoughts? Been a while since ive purchased anything.

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wesessiah

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Feb 23, 2012
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The last time I purchased a knife was probably around 2015, so I'm outa date. I've only ever owned one knife in s30v and it's a kershaw blur. I like the knife, have never had a problem with it... well, except the grip leaving a callous on my pinky knuckle from sliding my hand past it into my pocket, lol. However, I was never really wowed by it.

Seems to me like it chips more easily than my auto rift in 154cm and other older knives in 440c, aus8 or similar. It's always kept a good working edge, but I can't say I've noticed a big difference in edge retention over my 154cm rift. Also never seemed to take as fine of an edge as some of my lesser steels. Since I've owned the rift its been my benchmark for edc knives. At one point tried a zt in zdp189 (0450 I think? Always had trouble keeping up with their numbers in place of names) and decided the edge retention wasn't worth it in my style of edc with the not as easy/quick of sharpening. Same with my old d2 benchmade adamas.

Anyway, with the s30v, it seems like it's taken the factory blade market by storm, and 154cm has gone by the wayside. I kinda figured cpm154 would have taken off, but doesn't really look like it. Is my old s30v kershaw blur just inferior to more modern s30v with heat treat or something?

Honestly I wasn't even looking at s30v knives or another edc knife, I have my eye on the benchmade 535bk-4 bugout in m390 as more of a safe/dresser queen, night out on the town knife. But in my looking around to see what's new these days, I couldn't help but notice just how popular s30v is now. When I'm in the mood to buy a new knife, I rarely stop at one, so I may very well get another edc knife to put on rotation as well and was curious if the current s30v knives would impress me more than my blur. I've really enjoyed the ease of sharpening, lack of chipping and fine edge taking ability of 154cm for a knife I will make dull.

Thanks for any thoughts/input/advice, and forgive me, I know I tend to get a little Ernest Hemingway-ish and make a novel when I start typing.
 
I think everything 154 cm and above are perfectly good steels. I personally like benchmades s30v over their m390. I am probably in the minority on this. I have always had great luck with the performance of Benchmade's s30v and I have owned many of them.

My most carried modern folder these days is a Mcnees 3.5 Mac2 in s45vn. It is a perfect combination of toughness and edge retention for me.

Of course take this with a grain of salt as I mostly carry traditional pocket knives in 1095 and 154cm. Hope this helps.

Paul
 
Thanks for the input. How do you feel about their s30v vs their 154cm as far as chipping and fine edge? 1095 is one of my favorite steels btw, it's my go to for fixed blades, with 1075 for machetes.

Edit: it really surprised me to not even see a griptilian in 154cm now.
 
I carried a benchmade in either 154cm or s30v during my 10 years of service and did not have any issues with chipping. I beat on them too as this was before I became a knifeaholic. S30v did hold a noticeably longer edge in my experience.
 
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S30v steel is good to go.
154 and s30v are both good steels that are well balanced. Pretty close in performance as well.

There are a lot of steel choices to chase. Some of them perform good and really close to each other. other Steels stand out for one attribute or another.
 
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It really depends on each knife. Geometry will play a large part. I'm not familiar with those specific knives but if one had a thinner profile or edge bevel angle then that may be why one would chip more than the other. Neither 154CM or S30V are known for great toughness, if anything S30V should bit a little less prone to chipping all things being equal.

It sounds like you want an easy to sharpen knife steel that is fairly tough. Maybe S35VN? It's very similar; you may lose a little edge retention for a little better toughness. If you can get something in Magnacut it should perform well for those attributes as well. If you don't mind a non-stainless steel there are some great steels that are both tough and hold an edge like K390, M4, Cruwear, 3V the list goes on.

S30V should still be a good choice though if you like a particular knife in that steel.
 
I have Recon1 in S35VN which is almost the same steel as S30V. So far no issues.

S30V is a good steel, just S35VN and S45VN make more sense, especially at prices we still see S30V at.
 
I’ve owned numerous knives with S30V and never had chipping issues. It seems much tougher than we’re led to believe. If you cut tough materials like people do in destruction tests, then you’ll probably experience the chipping issues that we hear about.
 
I’ve tried several knives in S30V. Of the ones I tried, I think that Buck and Benchmade do a really nice job with this steel. My most carried and used folder in the past couple of years is a Buck 112 Slim Pro with s30v and it has been excellent.
 
S30V was the best steel at the time and still is used for many knives.

 
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S30V remains an excellent cutlery steel. I especially like Benchmade's version, it seems finer grained than some others.
 
I'm generally happy with S30V. Some people find it more chippy than others but some of that could just be due to factory grinding issues. That's also part of the reason that edge retention can increase with subsequent sharpening. How deep the effect goes can vary though.

We're currently seeing 154cm get a second life with Chinese manufacturers. Since 2015, there has been a veritable Renaissance among the Chinese manufacturers. Several have stepped out of the OEM shadows and are now making decent stuff, interacting with the American and European EDC communities, and collaborating with reputable designers such as Dirk Pinkerton and Ray Laconico. Kizer, Bestech, and WE (including the Civivi and Sencut brands) are good examples.

This trend really took off with D2 near the end of the last decade, presumably because China could cheaply produce a version of it. While it was a good replacement for 8Cr13Mov on budget stuff, it tended to lag in performance versus D2 in American knives. Speculation for why included issues such as variance in the vanadium content and difficulties in mass-production heat treatment. While some companies have gotten better with the Chinese D2, some have started importing Bohler K110 (a cleaner D2) and others have switched to different steels such as 154cm. Kizer recently moved to 154cm as their default budget steel and it also shows up in the OEM work they do for other companies (such as Olight).
 
I really appreciate the input everybody. This s30v blur is from when kershaw first made it, 2008ish maybe? So that could have to do with my experience with the edge. The factory edge is long gone btw. My use for edc knives is farm use, so I may cut into something and hit chicken wire or pasture fence, or cut through a hose and hit metal and so on.

Looks like I may get a night out on the town knife, and also throw in another edc in s30v, or maybe s35vn. I tend to do folders in stainless, and fixed blades not. I know myself so I'll probably end up looking for a third knife, but that one would be a completely different topic I should probably make a new thread for. Again, Thanks for everybody's thoughts.
 
Benchmade has their s30 v heat treat down pat for a while now... No worries!!!! Worst case your edge was.cooked while sharpened.... Just resharpen and you'll be fine!!
 
wesessiah said:
I tend to do folders in stainless, and fixed blades not. I know myself so I'll probably end up looking for a third knife, but that one would be a completely different topic
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Have you heard about MagnaCut? It was invented by a regular here. It has an excellent balance of toughness and edge retention while being extremely stainless. Custom makers here have been offering reasonably priced fixed blades in MagnaCut. It's worth keeping an eye on the exchange.

For Sale: Fixed Blades

www.bladeforums.com www.bladeforums.com
 
jfk1110 said:
Benchmade has their s30 v heat treat down pat for a while now... No worries!!!! Worst case your edge was.cooked while sharpened.... Just resharpen and you'll be fine!!
Click to expand...
I've always liked my benchmade stuff, so im glad to hear people say their heat treat is good on the s30v as well. My issue with benchmade right now is they don't have much in their lineup that I like anymore that I don't already own... outside of the m390 bugout im eyeballing, and possibly the s90v bugout as well. It's not necessarily that I like m390 better, I just really like the look of those aluminum scales on that particular one.
Chronovore said:
Have you heard about MagnaCut? It was invented by a regular here. It has an excellent balance of toughness and edge retention while being extremely stainless. Custom makers here have been offering reasonably priced fixed blades in MagnaCut. It's worth keeping an eye on the exchange.

For Sale: Fixed Blades

www.bladeforums.com www.bladeforums.com
Click to expand...

Chronovore, I'm glad you mentioned that. In the reading I've done in the past week or so, I did see the word magnacut come up. I didn't realize it was an actual steel though.
I thought it was a tm word for a process, like cpm, or something along the lines of air hardening tool steel, lol.
 
For me and folders, S30V is good enough, not the best of the best, but once I know that's what's used, I only look at the knife, geometry, etc.

It shines with a course edge (think medium Spyderco bench stone), and can hold it long.

I prefer CPM 154 and other steels, but once I like a knife, I consider them a bonus.
 
I tend to use 1000 grit on my folders and smaller fixed blades, and 600 grit on my machetes. So I never have a mirror finish, but I never really leave my folders course. As far as the spyderco medium bench stone, would that be like the 600 range?
 
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