Stainless in the woods?

SDS

SDS

Joined
Oct 22, 2007
Messages
1,389
I'm not a regular in this forum but I do enjoy reading a lot of what is written here. I just have a quick question about the steel used in the knives you carry in the woods. It seems as though most of the knives posted in here are carbon steel.

I like carbon steels a lot but usually carry stainless. I use ATS-34, 154CM, and D2 for the stuff I make. Do you have a preference for carbon and if so why?

I'm going to guess for ease of sharpening and to use for striking ferro rods. Other reasons? Would you be opposed to carrying a stainless blade?

Thanks for the opinions. I'm just curious.
SDS
 
I've used my nimravus for mostly everything this year, I have other carbon (1095, Carbon V, few unknowens) but the 154cm that benchmade produces gives the best results for me. A Griptillian and Nimravus are my favorite knives, most used and easy to keep up.

put it to ya this way how much I like them, I came back out west this year, and I brought the two benchmades, a sac, my 110 and a leatherman Blast.
 
Carbon has toughness on its side and easy of sharpening. The appearance of it is also appealing. Strangely enough I really like the patina and have come to recognize it as a sign of a well worn and trused knife. Shiny, mirror polishes look like what a lambergini looks like to a truck guy.

However, I did have the chance to work in the Arabian Gulf where salinity is about 30% higher then normal marine systems. That salty air - and yes its the humid air not the water, rots even 420J with a crazy rapidity. So I certainly respect SS and would really like to try H1 in that environment.

For the woods though, definately carbon. People sometimes freak out when they see a little rust fuzz on their knife - but it comes off with a little green scrubby or just wiping it on your jeans. If you have a nice patina on the knife already, those rust spots never show up though!
 
I have used stainless knives mostly when camping and such in the past and find that I still mainly use stainless today. What works for me is what alot of people would shun at, but my trusty buck 110 I think it's in 420hc is what I use. Also, my edc carry knives are in stainless, again 420hc and cpm s30v. You can also strike a ferro rod with stainless but carbon does kick out more sparks.

I also have some custom carbon blades that are kick butt too. But, I feel that the extra time, effort, attention and pride come into play too when I speak on my custom blades in carbon. I use a carbon machete that works for my needs for battoning and splitting firewood...which is the extend that knive gets.

I always feel a little better using stainless for food prep as well as opposed to carbon. I would also say that generally speaking carbon would be stronger, more durable for the heavy stuff, like making logs for a log cabbin house and such j/k :). But for generall cutting chores stainless IMO is just fine.
 
I'm a fan of 12c27mod from Sweden. Easy to sharpen, takes a keen edge, holds it well and takes what the elements can throw at it and it never hurts to mention that most of the knives that use it, are Mora's.
 
I know for a fact that there are better choices out there. But AUS8 and VG10 have never let me down in the woods- or any where else for that matter.
 
I like the Fallkniven S1 a lot in terms of a stainless blade I'd take into the woods.
Laminated VG-10; very tough stuff.

But as many of the others who've posted, I prefer carbon steel for bushcraft/camping.
5160, A2, 1095, some others as well.
The "old" Becker 0170-6C a.k.a. Cold Steel Carbon V was very good steel too.
 
BRK&T NEBULA

Stainless, crazy sharp, Mike's heat treatment of this stuff is close to A2 in toughness.

It's got it all.

:D
 
about the firesteel-it doesn't matter the steel as long as there is a sharp edge on it. for examble, i have used strikers ranging from blocks of quarts to flint to glass to even the spines of knives...all very good sparks.

i have never used a knife with stainless better than about 420, in the form of case's trusharp. it performs well for an EDC steel, and i have a belt knife that i like to carry from time to time in that steel, no real complains in the woods.

i just prefer carbon mostly for nostalgic reasons, and because in general it has a higher toughness ration and smaller carbides for a more polished edge which i like to have when i work with wood.
 
Carbon steel is used, first mostly because stainless isn't always necessary as carb steel actually doesn't rust that easily.

Second, main reason for me would be that *generally* carbon steel gets sharper and is easier to sharpen in the field (and anywhere else).

It is generally tougher too, but that would only be second.

Finally, you can probably find stainless capable to complete against carb steel but it generally requires an hi-tech/expensive stainless to compare in raw performance against a simple/cheap carbon steel.

EDIT:
As for the firesteel thing, always the same old mistake:

1)"Swedish" Firesteel, ferrocium rod, etc:
you get a special "ferrocium" material rod, using some sharp edge, you scrap a small piece of the rod, which heated by friction ignites, creating a spark of fire (incandescent scraps of "ferrocium")

2)Flint steel:
you strike a piece of steel (in that context your knife but there are dedicated steels too) with some hard scrapper (sharp flint or glass).
The striker detaches a tiny piece of your steel piece that through shok and/or friction/oxydation ignites: you get a single tiny spark (one incandescent tiny piece of steel).

#1 will work with any sharp edge hard enough not to deform under stress

#2 will only work with some steels: the more carbon the better, the less alloy the better: stainless are generally high alloy so don't work but some "carbon steels" that are high alloy (eg: A2) don't work either.
 
Last edited:
Stainless is fine on my SAK's; also any smaller camp kitchen knives, I have no issues (Spyderco Moran, Mora 2K or Grohmann's). I also like the Fallkniven WM-1 in a pseudo neck harness (actually a figure-8 harness). Once I get into whittling wood or chopping, I prefer carbon steel (although I do agree about the BRKT Nebula...great stainless for bushcraft).

ROCK6
 
I like hi carbon steel , its tougher , and I can get it sharper ,than I can stainless ,and it hold an edge longer for me that being said , I use low end knives .

I do have a couple small stainless folders tho , they are OK for what they are used for , peeling mangos , digging splinters , opening packets etc ... but still they break tips , most of the stainless ones I had I have reprofiled the tips on , but the hi carbon ones I just peen back into shape again .
 
From what I've read I was pretty much right on with what I was thinking. I like the patina that carbon steels take on but haven't gotten into doing my own oil quenching yet so I've stayed away from using them for making knives.

I just got to wondering about this because of a knife I made up recently. I had some leftover ATS34 that was the wrong size for the knives I usually make from that thickness of stock so I tried my hand at flat grinding and made up a kind of camp/utility knife. I played around and bead blasted the knife then tried out a new (for me) way of adding some striping to the blade. I like the knife but was curious about what people who really use camp knives thought about stainless.

Thanks,
SDS

I added a pic of the knife so you can see what I was talking about.
 

Attachments

  • DSC00163.jpg
    DSC00163.jpg
    25.6 KB · Views: 38
Once I discovered carbon, I will never go back to stainless.

Reasons:

*Easy to sharpen

*Takes a very sharp edge easily

*Holds an edge well for a long time

*develops a patina which gives it character

*The only thing that stainless offers is rust protection, but I have found that I have little to no problems with rust on carbon knives, in fact the only tool I own that has any rust on it is my stainless Leatherman. (The main use for my knives is fishing and camping, and even after a full day of fishing in the ocean, I have never had any problems with rust.)

*Also, it's usually cheaper too.

*Oh, and tougher, as in less brittle. (i.e. you don't see any axes, machetes, or full size saws made of stainless)

This is just my opinion of course, but I think stainless steel is just a gimmick to apeal to housewives so they don't have to worry about there knives and they can just throw them in the draw, leave them in sink, or leave them in the dishwasher.
 
Stingray, I think stainless certainly has it's uses and applications but you make some very valid observations.

Thanks for the input guys,
SDS
 
Eh, I have never had a hard time sharpening stainless steel. I think primarily its a toughness factor, and there are stainless steels that are tough enough.
 
Smash05 said:
Eh, I have never had a hard time sharpening stainless steel. I think primarily its a toughness factor, and there are stainless steels that are tough enough.
Click to expand...

Indeed. If you can't get it sharp with a bit of wet-n-dry or a DMT stone your technique is the limiting factor. I don't know of a knife steel that can resist either for long.
 
I carry stainless knives, I carry carbon knives, sometimes I'll carry knives that are carbon and others that are stainless at the same time. Generally, they are all good, because I choose each knife by its own individual merits- many of them are knives that people on most BF sections would dismiss as garbage. If I have the choice, though, I usually will go with carbon- unless I anticipate the knife getting wet and staying wet. Another difference between myself and many of the posters on this forum (WS included) is that I generally don't carry sharpening in field- and I expect only a working edge from my knives- shaving sharp is nice but not something that I usually need.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top