Should I buy a knife just because of magna cut

I have to disagree with lostcause. I don't know about a huge difference but if the knife is used a lot logic would dictate if of course like lostcause said overall experience, ergonomics, grinds, and looks are right, a better steel is going need less sharpening and will be more resistant to dulling on more abrasive materials. It most likely will cut longer perhaps much longer.

This is not science but I can actually feel difference with my finger between less expensive steels such as 440 series which by the way do not cut bad and CPM type steels which seem to bite more and in a lot of case bites into stuff like para-cord with ease while the standard stainless does cut ,it does a lot more sliding and takes a bit more force before it breaks through.. I know you can put a coarser edge on it or super sharpen it while the coarser edge will not be bad those super sharp edges on lesser steels (yes they are lesser, I did not say bad, but no way as good as CPMs) don't stay super sharp for long. They quickly become just plain fair usable edges.

I think more heavy knife users that are thrifty need to be exposed to these newer steels so they can be spoiled ang convinced to open their wallets in accordance with modern day prices. I think the amount of work and hassle they will save will make the purchase well worth it. This will not happen if the only knives available in modern steels are fantasy ninja, fantasy spec ops types of knives with the wrong design and steel (modern steels are made for different types of cutting) for a heavy knife users applications.

Also as with all new products there is initial resistance to change. All it takes is one flunky thrifty cheapo heat treat and the cries will go out everywhere about how that modern steel sucks or is no better than the older steels. Also there is not much emphasis on choosing the right modern steel for what you do. The market hype is always trying to sell the myth of the excellent for everything steel. That is not so in fact because there are now so many choices in better (yes I said better. I do like older steels but it's just true newer steels are better) new steels it means there is much more to learn about if you want to choose the right one for you. It is too bad that knife manufacturers, dealers, and marketers do such a lousy, and I mean really lousy job of including the best uses for the knives they sell. There is a lot of fantasy marketing crap, highly regarded companies included, when it comes to selling knives with modern steels. Often the wrong modern steel is used on a knife just because it sells.

ESEE for example has been truthful about this. They admit they sell a knife using an S30 series steel because people that are either uneducated or use the knife for much lighter tasks than intended insist on it and will pay more for it. They (ESEE) recommend the carbon steel version which in my opinion is better for what the knife was designed for in this particular case.
 
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I would not buy a knife I didn’t like just because it had MagnaCut.

I have, however, waited on the MagnaCut version of a knife I knew I wanted (Protech Malibu) passing up chances to buy in other steels.
 
Bob Denman said:
Buying a knife it's steel is like buying a truck because you dig the color.
Other attributes are just as important
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The same can be said of buying it for any other attribute alone without considering the other factors such as it's intended use and the type of steel used as well as like you mentioned, other attributes.

What you said is true but the problem that I have is a lot of people blow off modern steels as not very important. I happen to agree with what you say at the same time I acknowledge that a modern steel appropriate for the task the knife is intended for can be a great thing and yes for other applications it may not make much of a difference.
 
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I saw they released a magnacut dividend as well! I like the deep carry clip on that one, and it’s a slicey blade, even more than the Leek IMO.. that one is tempting….
But all in all a good sign to see this company is still trying to stay relevant…
Now if we can get some 0308/0562/0393s in magnacut that will be more interesting 👍 or maybe a new model 🤔
 
greater said:
This is not science but I can actually feel difference with my finger between less expensive steels such as 440 series which by the way do not cut bad and CPM type steels which seem to bite more and in a lot of case bites into stuff like para-cord with ease while the standard stainless does cut ,it does a lot more sliding and takes a bit more force before it breaks through.. I know you can put a coarser edge on it or super sharpen it while the coarser edge will not be bad those super sharp edges on lesser steels (yes they are lesser, I did not say bad, but no way as good as CPMs) don't stay super sharp for long. They quickly become just plain fair usable edges.
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I agree with you on that one. K390, 1095, S35VN, CPM-3V and even D2 all feel much sharper and bite much better than Sandvik, 420HC, and even VG-10 and other "normal" stainless steels.
 
Well first off . . .No man should need a reason to justify buying another knife.

Now, with that said, a few questions.

What is it about your current EDC (talking to the OP) that makes you think that some other knife made of any other steel would make your life better?

How much better must a "new" knife be to compel you to replace your current trusted EDC?
 
I’ll buy a MagnaCut knife when the right one comes along. Carothers looks promising.
 
VorpelSword said:
Well first off . . .No man should need a reason to justify buying another knife.

Now, with that said, a few questions.

What is it about your current EDC (talking to the OP) that makes you think that some other knife made of any other steel would make your life better?

How much better must a "new" knife be to compel you to replace your current trusted EDC?
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Well I look at it from this angle, less sharpening less corrosion and holds a edge longer. Less BS for me to deal with. My knives get used many times every day. I need my knife. It's a tool, it's a must have for me. So I wanted the best steel there is.
 
Vlad:

You have evaluated your needs and concluded that your current cutlery does not meet your needs. Hope there is something out there that does.

In my own case, some forty five years ago, I found that in my job as a "mud-man" on oil rigs, the Buck locking folders just would not stand up to the heavy and abusive usage of cutting open fifty bags of oilfield chemicals every day. I am not sure that even today's wiz-bang miracle steels would.

Best wishes in your search.
 
VorpelSword said:
Vlad:

You have evaluated your needs and concluded that your current cutlery does not meet your needs. Hope there is something out there that does.

In my own case, some forty five years ago, I found that in
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VorpelSword said:
my job as a "mud-man" on oil rigs, the Buck locking folders just would not stand up to the heavy and abusive usage of cutting open fifty bags of oilfield chemicals every day. I am not sure that even today's wiz-bang miracle steels would.

Best wishes in your search.
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I know a few mud engineers(fascinating job). I've worked the oil fields for a Time.(raccoon point field) Collier county Florida, My buck 110 always did the job back then never had any issues. I've even used it to scrape hot dope off of a pipe joints. I really have to think hard about what knife I would use today to do that type of work? Buck and shrade we're really the only two choices back then. What knife do you think you would use if you still had to do that type of work with what's on the market today?

It failed x-ray after we doped the joint. And since I filed the joint before they welded it guess who got in trouble.
 
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I wouldn’t go out and buy a knife just for a certain blade steel. If a knife I liked had Magnacut steel and I didn’t already own one then sure but to buy a duplicate just for the blade steel then the answer is no.
 
DavidABQ said:
I wouldn’t go out and buy a knife just for a certain blade steel. If a knife I liked had Magnacut steel and I didn’t already own one then sure but to buy a duplicate just for the blade steel then the answer is no.
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I really regret not getting the dividend instead of the leek. But now I have another knife I need to buy. I'm running out of storage space. It's very humid here, so my Queens are in a ziplock bags with desiccant spell check, and their oil pretty good. For one thing's for certain come payday I'm getting a dividend
 
I'm slow to move on super steels but strictly from a maintenence perspective. I live in an extremely humid environment and outside of my 80crv2 woods knives rust has never been a big issue for me (and really isn't a big problem for 80crv2), especially in relation to pocket knives. Simple carbon steels have served me well (outside of O1, it rusts just looking at it) and while they might lose their hair popping edge quicker in coarse mediums such as cardboard, they are very easy to maintain with a strop. Got a micro chip, a few rolls? 5-7 minutes on stones and you're back to new.

I will try Magnacut one day, I enjoy Larrin's perspective. Since his heat treat protocol for AEB-L became popular, it has become a favorite steel of mine to use in the woods. I love it precisely because it behaves in a similar way to simple carbon steels and can be ground very thin. Like 80crv2, it's my ideal for a field knife... but for a pocket knife Magnacut does sound tempting. If for nothing else it's worth a likeability test.
 
Vlad: Back in the day, I ruined several Buck 110s. I eventually carved a knife out of a piece of centralizer spring with the welder's angle grinder. Got it red hot with his torch and quenched it in old ger oil. It was rough and not pretty.

Like the Bucks, I used it to cut open hundreds of sacks of mud chemicals. That wore it down to a recurved profile. Ire-ground it twice before just dropping it 90 ft or so into the Persian Gulf from the deck Rowan Alaska before going home.

On another hitch, I did make a nice one. More experience asnd skill etc. Made friends with the mechanic and welder. They were making knives from old files that had cast aluminum handles. Had an easy four weeks, so put time into it. Handle from some tropical hardwood that came from a shipping crate and brass pins from brazing rod.

Fool that I am, I sold it to some guy for ~$100.
 
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Personally, I wouldn’t buy any knife just for the steel type, it makes little actual difference in use for me, and I don’t mind sharpening regularly, I touch up whenever it loses that aggressive bite I like, super steel or not, most every steel loses that bite quickly when actually used.
However, the f I were already in the market for a knife, the steel type can and does somewhat sway me in a direction towards or away from a knife, but it’s never a primary concern for me.
 
VorpelSword said:
Vlad: Back in the day, I ruined several Buck 110s. I eventually carved a knife out of a piece of centralizer spring with the welder's angle grinder. Got it red hot with his torch and quenched it in old ger oil. It was rough and not pretty.

Like the Bucks, I used it to cut open hundreds of sacks of mud chemicals. That wore it down to a recurved profile. Ire-ground it twice before just dropping it 90 ft or so into the Persian Gulf from the deck Rowan Alaska before going home.

On another hitch, I did make a nice one. More experience asnd skill etc. Made friends with the mechanic and welder. They were making knives from old files that had cast aluminum handles. Had an easy four weeks, so put time into it. Handle from some tropical hardwood that came from a shipping crate and brass pins from brazing rod.

Fool that I am, I sold it to some guy for ~$1
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In my case I never had to mess around with chemicals. The only work I did on the actual pad was installing heat exchangers and such. Our main job was to install a 20 mile long pipeline from the three well pads to a trucking distribution point where the crude would be transported to Port Everglades. I did try to get a job on an oil rig called pennsuko. Unfortunately for me I was under 21 years old and they couldn't hire me. So I stayed on Pipeline crew. I have destroyed a lot of buck 110s. Not deliberately just out of hard use. I have no idea of offshore oil work. But I could tell you this for sure, get some crude oil in that buck 110 and see what happens. Trashed, throw it away and buy another. And the water is extremely salty Gives you a big calluses on your hands. And when your hands are cut up it burns like a Dickens. But I always love to work around that type of equipment. I was a pretty good rigger in my day as well. But after a few years I moved on to boilermaking and steam fitting. But nothing super critical. Zurn and Babcock and Wilcox boilers
 
I was surprised to find that the Buck lock backs were only pinned together. The pins always worked loose. The blade steel was just too soft to cut many of those heavy multi layered bags full of abrasive stuff . . .sometimes it was cement.
Don't know if any blade steel made today would stand up to that at any price point.

The oilfield crashed in the '80s. I retrained as a Nuc-Med Tech and did cardiac treadmill stress testing with isotopes. . . . .an inside job with air-conditioning and regular hours (mostly).
 
VorpelSword said:
I was surprised to find that the Buck lock backs were only pinned together. The pins always worked loose. The blade steel was just too soft to cut many of those heavy multi layered bags full of abrasive stuff . . .sometimes it was cement.
Don't know if any blade steel made today would stand up to that at any price point.

The oilfield crashed in the '80s. I retrained as a Nuc-Med Tech and did cardiac treadmill stress testing with isotopes. . . . .an inside job with air-conditioning and regular hours (mostly).
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I agree, with the work we used to do I don't think any knife today would stand up to the abuse that we put the buck 110 through. Love it or hate it the buck 110 was the mainstay of the working man's knife years ago. It's a legend that will live on forever I guess. If I wasn't retired and we're still working in the field I would probably still have a buck 110 on my belt.
 
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