Spyderco Military question

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Nov 17, 2006
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From my understanding BG42 is inferior to S30v except in it ablilty to take and hold a super high polish. This bieng said I was suprised to see the bg42 military had a matte finish on the blade. Would'nt a s30v blade have better overall cutting/edge retention qualities? Or am I missinformed on BG42?

"BG42 is a superior, ball bearing grade stainless steel. It's made in the USA by Latrobe Steel, and it is similar in composition to CPMS30V, but with less Vanadium. It takes a higher polish than S30V, but doesn’t have the performance of S30V, and so I use it mostly on fancier knives where appearance is paramount."
-R.J. Martins' website
 
I think there are few issues going on:

BG-42 being inferior to s30v is a matter of at least a little debate. I tend to like sebenzas with BG-42 better then s30v.

Secondly Spyderco likes to experiment with different steels, so it's selection of BG-42 is not solely based on if it does or doesn't have certain qualities.

Further Spyderco tends towards "user" designs and as such doesn't automatically take their blades to a high polish, even if the steel used could be polished.
 
Which is best? I have no idea but I would guess that the advantage either one has is minuscule at best. I have 3 blades of s30v, but none in BG42. I have however studied the compositions of both. S30v is fantastic if HT'd correctly (like Spyderco does), and I hear much the same from people who've used BG42 from Spyderco as well.

That being said, you never mirror polish a knife that is intended for military or tactical use. It tends to give away ones position and once done, you're dead. ;-(

Rus
 
The general consensus seems to be that BG-42 is a little easier to sharpen than S30V, but that S30V has slightly better edge retention. Many people say they can get a higher initial sharpness with BG-42 than with S30V.

Just because someone says BG-42 is inferior to S30V performance wise and that the only advantage it has over S30V is looking pretty doesn't make that anything else than one persons opinion.
 
I do understand That a mirror polish on a tactical is a very, very bad idea. When a match can be seen like a road flare in gen 4 nv, any shiny surface can become a beacon. I was just used to seeing BG42 from custom makers in a high polish. Therefore I was a little suprised to see it in matte finish on a tactical. Im shure I have seen it matte before and probably didnt know I was looking at BG42 or didnt make any note of it in my overstuffed filecabinet of a brain. It just seemed with the carbon fiber scales and higher price this was meant to be a flagship of the model (might just be my perception of this thats off) and was wondering why one would take BG42 over S30v if not for its finishing traits. I guess the differences may be alot slighter than im giving them credit for. Also the ease of sharpening is a big help in the field, although I like S30v because I usually have no problem waiting to get back from the field to sharpen it. I know BG42 is a good blade steel to say the least. Sometimes in my quest for the holy grail I forget how good most steels are these days. :)

p.s. I did not reference MR. Martin in order to provide that as my sole source for thinking S30v was superior (at least in the miniscule variations of criteria for a good blade blah blah...), but just as one reference to it. Mainly because he states what I had thought in my head, that many knife makers are choosing it for the ability to polish it to a chrome like finish.
 
Before he got involved in helping develop S30V, Chris Reeve used BG-42 in the Sebenza. He polished some of them, but most of his BG-42 blades are stonewashed, which hides marks from use better.

Polished blades may be tactically problematic, but they resist corrosion better, since the smoother surface provides less pits for rust to develop.
 
Dunno bout you guys, but I ....WANT.... hi polish. In case an adversary is as chicken as I am so he will decide that knives are NOT fer fightin.

:D
 
I think you'll find small differences in heat treatment to far outweigh any inherent differences in performance, between S30V and BG-42. They are very similar in performance, from my experience.
 
Lavan said:
Dunno bout you guys, but I ....WANT.... hi polish. In case an adversary is as chicken as I am so he will decide that knives are NOT fer fightin.

:D
Click to expand...

Not me. I want to be able to draw and ready my knife covertly, if necessary. That way it's ready if needed and also a big surprise to my opponent(s). I can always make it known that I have it out if I want. I just want the choice. However, not all my knives are black finish. But only a very few are satin. I like the looks of stonewash. At least it doesn't reflect light as much as a satin finish but still look nice...IMHO.

Regards
 
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