Spyderco PM2 in 20CV or S45VN?

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Pcexbird

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Nov 27, 2020
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On the Spyderco Paramilitary 2, which blade steel would be preferable and what's your take on either 20CV vs S45VN?
 
That's good to know, I was wondering a similar thing about what stainless I want to have as my daily driver, and I was thinking of leaving the M390/20CV for smaller knives and lighter tasks. I have an S45VN PM2, a 20CV Yojimbo, and an M390 UTX-70.
 
20cv. Better corrosion resistance and edge retention. The extra toughness is useless in the PM2 IMO, and 20cv isn't brittle anyway.

The knife will also hold its value better, if that matters to you.
 
kreole said:
20cv. Better corrosion resistance and edge retention. The extra toughness is useless in the PM2 IMO, and 20cv isn't brittle anyway.

The knife will also hold its value better, if that matters to you.
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How much toughness is one sacrificing with 20CV? Would toughness apply to how the blade would fare if it were to suffer a mild fall tip down or knick a staple in cardboard on accident? Not just using the knife as a pry bar which I don't intend on doing.
 
I've dropped S45VN on hardwood from a few feet up and it was pretty unscathed.
 
I asked myself this very same question lest week... winner... 20CV. Better edge retention.

I don't plan on wood battoning or cutting copper wire or coaxial cable with it... so edge retention is my #1 priority.
 
I'd hate to live on the difference between them.
They BOTH are excellent choices!
 
Pcexbird said:
How much toughness is one sacrificing with 20CV? Would toughness apply to how the blade would fare if it were to suffer a mild fall tip down or knick a staple in cardboard on accident? Not just using the knife as a pry bar which I don't intend on doing.
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S45VN should have a slightly better chance at surviving a drop or hitting a staple and not chipping. As others have said though, 20CV should be better for holding an edge in more normal/light cutting.

Unless you are using it in a particularly harsh environment, like coastal/salt or high humidity etc, you will probably never see any corrosion on either steel, but 20CV should be better otherwise. S45VN is still a pretty good stainless.
 
chalby said:
S45VN should have a slightly better chance at surviving a drop or hitting a staple and not chipping. As others have said though, 20CV should be better for holding an edge in more normal/light cutting.

Unless you are using it in a particularly harsh environment, like coastal/salt or high humidity etc, you will probably never see any corrosion on either steel, but 20CV should be better otherwise. S45VN is still a pretty good stainless.
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So 20CV holds an edge longer than S45VN but when it comes time to sharpen is 20CV the beast it's made out to be? Also why is 20CV so darned expensive? I notice on Benchmade they want much more for SKUs that are 20CV compared to their S30V. Most steel charts rate 20CV as 2 out of 10 on the scale of "easy to sharpen" but I can't find anyone comparing the toughness of the 20CV or M390.

Would you say it's easy to maintain the factory edge with my Sharpmaker on 20CV by simply not letting the 20CV get truly dull?

In this case how often would you touch it up on the Sharpmaker?

Final thing... The stop pin. I've read the PM2 is the only model left in the Para line from Spyderco that hasn't been switched to the no-fuss floating pin. Are the Pm2s a bear to keep the action running good requiring a lot of adjustments?
 
Pcexbird said:
So 20CV holds an edge longer than S45VN but when it comes time to sharpen is 20CV the beast it's made out to be? Also why is 20CV so darned expensive? I notice on Benchmade they want much more for SKUs that are 20CV compared to their S30V. Most steel charts rate 20CV as 2 out of 10 on the scale of "easy to sharpen" but I can't find anyone comparing the toughness of the 20CV or M390.

Would you say it's easy to maintain the factory edge with my Sharpmaker on 20CV by simply not letting the 20CV get truly dull?

In this case how often would you touch it up on the Sharpmaker?

Final thing... The stop pin. I've read the PM2 is the only model left in the Para line from Spyderco that hasn't been switched to the no-fuss floating pin. Are the Pm2s a bear to keep the action running good requiring a lot of adjustments?
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I don't have any 20CV. I do have Maxamet, K390 and ZDP189 for example and have never really understood the difficulty in sharpening the high carbide steels. If you use diamond it may take a bit longer but it's no more difficult than any other steel to sharpen.

I also don't have a Sharpmaker, but would imagine as long as you have diamond or CBN it would be fine as long as you are not repairing damage or reprofiling.

No idea about the stop pin sorry.
 
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