Steel type for survival/hiking fixed blade - stainless?

GhostAlpha0

GhostAlpha0

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I carry a fixed blade knife whenever I go outdoors - hiking, camping, backpacking, snowshoeing, backcountry skiing, etc... I haven't found my ideal knife yet. The ESEE6 is great but at 6.5" the blade is just a bit too long. The ZT0180 the other one I use. I also love this knife but at 4.2" that one falls on the other side of the spectrum. My ideal blade length would be around 5.5". The ESEE5 comes so close but it's much thicker than the ESEE6 so it actially weighs about 6oz more (10oz vs 16oz) and I'd rather sacrifice length than weight.

Which brings me to my question. I've always thought the Rick Hinderer Fieldtac 5.5 would be my grail knife. Until now I never had the opportunity to buy one. Now that I have the chance I'm hesitating because it's made of S35VN steel. While it's not my favorite steel I think it's great for a folder. But what about a fixed blade knife? For this particular purpose I feel like I need a high carbon steel knife. I want it to be super tuff and hold an edge for a long time. It needs to be able to take a beating. Does anybody agree or disagree with this? My experience with S35VN just doesn't apply here and the fieldtac 5.5 is very expensive. Thoughts?
 
akrapacs said:
I carry a fixed blade knife whenever I go outdoors - hiking, camping, backpacking, snowshoeing, backcountry skiing, etc... I haven't found my ideal knife yet. The ESEE6 is great but at 6.5" the blade is just a bit too long. The ZT0180 the other one I use. I also love this knife but at 4.2" that one falls on the other side of the spectrum. My ideal blade length would be around 5.5". The ESEE5 comes so close but it's much thicker than the ESEE6 so it actially weighs about 6oz more (10oz vs 16oz) and I'd rather sacrifice length than weight.

Which brings me to my question. I've always thought the Rick Hinderer Fieldtac 5.5 would be my grail knife. Until now I never had the opportunity to buy one. Now that I have the chance I'm hesitating because it's made of S35VN steel. While it's not my favorite steel I think it's great for a folder. But what about a fixed blade knife? For this particular purpose I feel like I need a high carbon steel knife. I want it to be super tuff and hold an edge for a long time. It needs to be able to take a beating. Does anybody agree or disagree with this? My experience with S35VN just doesn't apply here and the fieldtac 5.5 is very expensive. Thoughts?
Click to expand...
"Super tuff" and" holding an edge for a long time"contradict each other.

Especially when it has to be stainless.

S35vn might be the closest you can get to having both.

Its not the toughest steel in the world, its also not the longest edge holding, or as corrison resistant as a "dive knife". But it probably has the most balance between all those properties, which is why it was made.

Also, its not like you can just pick the steel you want for that Hinderer knife you like.

While steels like INFI and 3v are great choices, technicaly they are not stainless steels even though they are not as reactive as other tool steels.

Steel gets all the focus but there are other things that make a knife perform too.
 
I would opt for a SurviveKnives GSO series fixed blade in CPM-3V. Very tough, will hold a decent edge. Keep it clean and it will serve you well. It's not stainless, but still my first choice in a survival steel.
 
CPK (Carothers) Field Knife in Delta 3V, really excellent tough fixed blade...one that I would definitely take with me on a camping or hunting trip. Perfect size it's about four & a quarter blade length

Or the Busse SOB (INFI)
 
What about the venerable old hickory butcher knife in 1095, or really any knife in 1095 ?
There's a reason this Steel has been used for so long.
 
If you didn't find your knife yet, design one - is not a joke - and ask someone to make it for you.
And if I would be looking for "survival" I would look for 1095 or 5160 steels. Yes, they are nothing special as steels but are more than decent for the task. I would get a Buck Hood Punk at 5.5/8" blade if you don't like 6.5" ESEE blade. For stainless steel I would take a 440C without problems.
 
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akrapacs said:
I carry a fixed blade knife whenever I go outdoors - hiking, camping, backpacking, snowshoeing, backcountry skiing, etc... I haven't found my ideal knife yet. The ESEE6 is great but at 6.5" the blade is just a bit too long. The ZT0180 the other one I use. I also love this knife but at 4.2" that one falls on the other side of the spectrum. My ideal blade length would be around 5.5". The ESEE5 comes so close but it's much thicker than the ESEE6 so it actially weighs about 6oz more (10oz vs 16oz) and I'd rather sacrifice length than weight.

Which brings me to my question. I've always thought the Rick Hinderer Fieldtac 5.5 would be my grail knife. Until now I never had the opportunity to buy one. Now that I have the chance I'm hesitating because it's made of S35VN steel. While it's not my favorite steel I think it's great for a folder. But what about a fixed blade knife? For this particular purpose I feel like I need a high carbon steel knife. I want it to be super tuff and hold an edge for a long time. It needs to be able to take a beating. Does anybody agree or disagree with this? My experience with S35VN just doesn't apply here and the fieldtac 5.5 is very expensive. Thoughts?
Click to expand...

S35VN will hold an edge far longer than any simple carbon steel. Anything that will damage one will also damage the other, I'm not sure how people gauge 'toughness' between steels, any knife I've ever had has rolled or chipped when dropped onto a rock or hit sand when cutting wood.

There are a lot of great outdoors knives in S35VN, it's great steel when heat treated properly. I've enjoyed S35VN knives, used in the outdoors, from Bark River, Spartan Blades, and Chris Reeve Knives. It sounds like the Field-tac is exactly what you're looking for.
 
I have a ZT0770 in S35 and after a good strop it's the sharpest folding knife I own.
It's stupid sharp and it holds it, my elmax blades get sharp but nothing like that.
My sharpest blade fixed or folder is my ESEE 6, it is a scalpel and I have cut myself just feeling the edge a little to hard.
My 4 is also sharp but nothing like my 6.. I don't know what I did beyond a couple of stone passes and a strop job but it just takes an evil edge..
 
My current users are in the stainless realm (stain less, not rust proof) laminated vg10 and m390. I've not had problems with either in the way of holding edges or "toughness". I do still have 01 and 1095 knives in my collection because I feel they are tried and true for abuse knives. I honestly don't think you can go wrong with any steel that is properly heat treated for its uses optimal potential. Most manufacturers are pretty good at this now.
 
I did some more in-depth research after the comments here and I realized my understanding both of these steels (1095, S35VN) steel was incorrect. 1095 is a popular steel for this kind of knife (survival/bushcraft) so my original perception was that with high carbon steel you give up corrosion resistance for hardness (strength) which would make it a "tough" steel so you could use it hard (chopping, carving, etc...) and it would hold an edge well. After my research I realized 1095 steel actually doesn't hold an edge well -- it's popular for this kind of knife because it's cheap, easy to sharpen, and it even though retention isn't great it will take a sharp edge. It now seems to me that S35VN would be a great steel for this kind of knife. It will hold an edge longer than 1095, it is highly corrosion resistant, and it's reasonably easy to sharpen even out in the field (but due to better retention would be less frequent).
 
That's my understanding too. I've used s35vn and vg-10 for stainless woods bumming, and been very happy. No real maintenance, even in the cold and wet and salty, and the edge holding has been great. Sharpening is not even really harder if you're ok taking a pocket diamond sharpener.
 
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