Steel

[LX_Emergency]

Thanks for all the help guys. Lots more to read, and some of it looks more practical than what I found before.

As far as customs, I don't know why, but a fixed blade custom is ok, but a folder is not. For some reason, spending the money on a folder custom goes against the grain. Not sure why. It makes no sense whatsoever.

Luckily, custom fixed blades are generally also cheaper than custom folders. You might want to check the Makers Market here on BF. There are some screaming deals on there right now.

 

[BTGuy]

Maybe a Spyderco in S110V might be a good one to try. Will resist rusting the same as the S30V and Elmax that you've already used, but will hold an edge much longer. It'll be a little more difficult to sharpen than Elmax though. I use a ZT 562 with Elmax blade and Sypderco Native with S110V blade for general outdoors tasks and they hold up fine. Unless I'm very rough on them, I rarely have to do more than touch-up on a strop a couple times a week.
A good way to maintain a good edge on your main working knife is to not use it for stripping wires and other such tasks that do the most damage to the edge. Keep another small, cheap knife for stuff like that and save yourself some work maintaining your good knife for the actual cutting tasks.

 

[redman2006]

I have considered more than one knife, but my pockets fill with too much crap as it is. I do wear a set of pliers or a leatherman wave when I plan to really be working on the place. I guess I never really considered stripping wires to be too touch as it is just copper, but I do use a dedicated set of strippers when I have bigger electrical projects. When the tractor is acting up, I use what is at hand. On a 1970's massey, that is more often than not some days.

 

[NJBillK]

All the more reason for a custom fixed blade on a belt sheath.