Stainless steel Help ?

T

Trekker

Joined
Apr 30, 2003
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53
Most of my knives, with the exception of a few Swiss Army pocket knives are carbon steel. I would like to buy a stainless steel fixed blade for general backpacking, camping. I live in florida and I will me in and out of water.
My problem is I really do not know anything about stainless steel. What is the difference between all the kinds of stainless, and what is best?
 
If you are in and out of salt water, you're going to want a stainless steel that has more chromium in it. H1 is one of the most corrosion resistance stainless steels there is, but of course it doesn't hold an edge as well as other stainless steels. Benchmade makes several knives in H1........in particular their dive knives. If you are only in the water(fresh water) on occasion, and mostly on dry land, 153CM, 440C, or S30V is a good choice for stainless steel. They offer pretty good rust resistance and hold a great edge(S30V is best performer of the three). D2 is a stainless steel that can be tempered to very hard levels making it very good on edge holding, but it is probably the least rust resistant of stainless steels.
 
One thing to know about stainless steels is that majority of stainless knives are made from low quality stainless, such as 420, 440A, and Aus6. These are chosen because they are soft and it is cheap and easy to make blades from them.

The bottom line good stainless for many people is 440C. It is also said to have good corrosion resistance. Above 440C there is ATS-34, 154CM, BG42, VG10, and S30V. S30V is the choice nowadays for a top of the line stainless knife. VG10 also has an excellent reputation.

A good all-round fixed blade utility is the Spyderco Temperance. The blade is made from VG10. Fallkniven also makes well-regarded VG10 knives. If you want a larger knife than the Temperance, then the Fallkniven A1 would be a good choice.

To get S30V in a fixed blade, you'll have to shell out some bucks. The Chris Reeves Yarborough is a good S30V fixed blade knife, which comes in 5.5 and 7 inch blade versions. Alot of top custom makers, for example, Trace Rinaldi, use S30V. You'll have to wait awhile for a custom, and of course the price will be high.
 
A goodknife for your purpose would be Cold Steel Master Hunter in stainless. It's made of AUS8 a good combination of edge retention ,corrosion resistance, toughness.I've used one for years and I'm very happy with it and I've heard excellent reports from others.
 
I forgot to mention some reasonably priced knives made with S30V - that is - reasonably priced in comparison customs and other top quality brands. They are the Simonich Midtech line. Rob Simonich was a famous knife maker who was killed in an auto accident recently. His wife is keeping his business going.

I saw some tactical and utility knives with 3 to 4 inch blades on the Simonich website, all made from S30V. The price range was $129 to $169, which isn't bad for top quality knives. The larger Raven knife with a 7 inch blade costs $299, same as the Chris Reeves Yarborough.

If these knives are over your budget, you might want to investigate the Entrek line. Entrek makes a large variety of knives with 440C blades. Timberline makes the Zambezi, which has a 6 inch blade of 440C.
 
440c doesnt really work in seawater. The steel will rust and pit. For pure seawater use try the mission beta-ti blades, or the Boye dendritic cobalt, or Camillus Talon in talonite, or RW Clark Liquid Metal.

Or for martensitic steels, i.e. stainless steels,

High end
H1 by BM or Spyderco
x1-tn by Boker

low end
420j2
420
6a, 6m

Keep in mind that even high end and low end stainless steels you trade off between hardness and stainlessness.
 
440C is probably one of the best stainless steels around and much better and tougher than ats-34. Also much more corrowion resistant than ats-34.

My list in order of preference would be for a big or medium size:

BG-42, S30V
VG10, 440C
154CM
AUS8A
ATS-34

I would be happy with any of the top 4 on my list and would accept any of the others listed as they are all pretty good.
None of these steels are corrosion proof, only corrosion "resistant" so thy will all rust eventually, though very slowly.

I spent 3 days in the ocean with an ATS-34 Gerber easy out in my pocket. By the time I was done, the entire blade was brown. It didn't take long to remove all of the surface rust, however.
 
Trekker, you did not say what size knife you want for camping. There is a divergence of opinion on what size is best. Some say a knife with a blade of around four inches is the most useful, while others want a larger knife that is suitable for chopping.

The most rugged knife I know of with a four inch blade of good stainless is the Fallkniven F1. The blade is rather thick. That's good for durability but not so good for slicing. The Spyderco Bill Moran has a thinner blade, I think, so that one might be better for fine work. The AG Russell Deer Hunter is a similar knife with a thin blade. All three of these have VG10 blades.

The Boker Orca is a diver's knife and is made from good stainless. The blade is around five inches long, I think.

Alot of the popular factory camping knives with 6 + inch blades are made from carbon steel. Exceptions are the Timberline Zambezi, Fallkniven A1, and the larger Entrek knives. If you do a search on the Zambezi, you will see criticisms of its complicated sheath and thick cutting edge. These problems can be cured with a replacement sheath and reprofiling the edge with a course stone.
 
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