Steel choice for a fixed blade

oldmanwilly said:
You should also defer to what your maker recommends; he (or she?) will probably know which steel works best for their designs.
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Maybe. I saw an IG post this morning where the maker says 1095 does not have any corrosion issues and he never oils his knives. That seems like a pretty far fetched statement coming from maker. I feel many makers can hit used car salesman type of marketing BS.
 
Seedy Lot said:
Maybe. I saw an IG post this morning where the maker says 1095 does not have any corrosion issues and he never oils his knives. That seems like a pretty far fetched statement coming from maker. I feel many makers can hit used car salesman type of marketing BS.
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Absolutely a fair point, but it is possible that particular maker wasn't lying. If he lives in an arid environment, doesn't mind patina, and only uses his knives to chop and whittle timber then, in his experience, 1095 doesn't have "any corrosion issues." That statement would become misleading to convince someone intending to cut limes and clean fish out on open water to buy a 1095 knife.

We should not dispense with common sense and seeking second opinions and perspectives from BF is a great idea before committing funds towards a custom job.
 
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White room, I'd pick Magnacut for answer 2. My only in-hand specimens are just a year old or so i can't attest much for use yet.

My answer to 1 is probably whatever is cheapest from whatever thick stock they have on hand. A general use camp knife is going to get the tar beat out of it. Sharpen frequently, dont fuss about the edge.

I've not had much of any issues with factory 1095, and wouldn't balk at having a custom blade done in it.
 
AEB-L for the win. Even at higher RCs it still resharpens or touches up easily. I would say that ability would trump edge holding for your envisioned usage. Had a guy over in the shop the other day, a professional elk guide. He was asking what steels I used and why. I showed him one of my leather roundknives. Pulled a piece of heavy scrap saddle leather out of the trash. Showed him how my roundknife from AEB-L at 62-63RC would cut the leather but was dragging a lil. Walked over to the buffer and 2/3 seconds came back. A buffer takes the place of a strop in most pro leather shops. After that 2/3 seconds the roundknife was slicing through this heavy leather like it wasn't there. In fact it was too sharp I was getting stuck in the cutting board. So here was a guy that uses knives for a living and he was impressed, really impressed. Bought one and ordered two more.

This is not an ad for my knives btw this is just an opinion on the steel. I don't really make what you are looking for. But if I did I'd use AEB-L for sure.
 
Interesting question. Probably it depends of what would You do outdoors. 1095 would be good choice for harder activities and 440C for more "barbecue" adventures. For long and dangerous trips look what locals use (in my case that would be next village)
 
Thanks everyone!

For those of you who like AEBL, can you tell me your experience with its corrosion resistance, if you've ever tested it or been around conditions that would?

That's my only hesitation with the steel. I'd like to be around salt water areas and also, I have very acidic skin. You can tell which side of the bed I sleep on because it is all bleached 🤣

So fairly decent stainlessness is essential for me
 
XtianAus said:
2 part question here:

1.) If you were ordering a custom camping/harder use fixed blade that was 9-10" overall/4-5" blade, what steel choice would you choose?

2.) I personally like steels that are tough but very stainless. I am stuck between vanax, LC200N, Magnacut and Aebl (though Aebl is less stainless). Of my choices what would you pick?
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Hands down I would personally go 3v, I've never had an issue with it rusting. In my opinion it's the best steel, but if you need to choose from one of the options you gave, I'd go AEBL.
 
I'd go with 3V, because it's very tough and has good edge retention.

I have had it rust, but only after leaving it out in the rainforest for about three days by accident. The blade was rusty, but it was a shallow, surface rust that wiped right off.
 
AEB-L is a good choice. LC200N is great but is more expensive and not many makers seem to use it. MagnaCut is a cool steel but is special in being high-toughness relative to its edge retention. So it's tough for what it is but not as tough as LC200N, AEB-L, 14C28N, or Nitro-V. At least for me, it would depend on what choices are on the table with your preferred maker and maybe the pricing or waiting period. For instance, if he was doing a run in MagnaCut or something or had some to use and was ready to go, it might be the right choice. If everything was on the table though, I might go with a tougher steel in this case. That's not to say the MagnaCut version would fail you horribly or anything. It could be awesome. Just saying, the ideal is constrained by the real.

That said, Nitro-V has really picked up in popularity over the last few years. I've been seeing it more and more in both production and custom knives. It is related to AEB-L but gives up some toughness, coming in just tougher than MagnaCut according to Larrin's ratings. He rates Nitro-V the same as AEB-L on edge retention and corrosion resistance, which makes it seem strictly inferior. However, I've at least heard anecdotal reports of it being marginally better in those areas. I don't know that it would be my first choice but if offered, it's not bad.

Really though, 14C28N remains a sweet spot. The edge retention is in the same ballpark as AEB-L and Nitro-V but the corrosion resistance is much higher and the toughness is closer to AEB-L. If I was pursuing this kind of knife and 14C28N was an option, I'd choose it in a heartbeat.
 
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