Survival knife...easy sharpening vs super steel

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kane22

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Feb 25, 2013
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In a "survival knife" would you rather have something like 1095 that won't hold an edge for that long, but can be easily sharpened, or one of the super steels? I really like 3V, the down side is you're going to need diamonds to get a good edge back on it. There is something to be said for the simple carbon steels that you can use anything to sharpen.
It's pretty unlikely any of us will ever find ourselves in a situation that it really mattered. Then again after the last couple years...aliens, WW3, or zombies might be right around the corner:oops:
 
1095 (or 5160) has ALWAYS been my choice for a survival knife.

As you indicated, 1095 is easy to re-sharpen or touch-up in seconds. With proper heat treatment, it has the toughness required for a hard-use outdoor knife.

Some supersteels can be rather "chippy" if the cutting/chopping force is not exactly perpendicular to what's being cut, and I always forget to take my protractor with me for most of my outdoor adventures. :)

I will sacrifice having to re-sharpen more frequently vs. a chipped blade, any day.
 
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I've never found the need for diamonds to sharpen 3v. It's one of the most easily sharpenable steels out there. Imo the super steels like 3v, cru-wear and 4v offer a massive upgrade over stuff like 1095. You may want to avoid 4v if sharpening is a concern, but there's no situation where I would pick 1095 over cruwear.
 
1095 has been absolutely put through the ringer, and I think ESEE has demonstrated 1095 can make a very durable blade.
if I was stuck with any knife, I'd probably be happy, but I might opt for 1095 only because I'm familiar with it and I think I'd stand the best chance of maintaining the edge.

I will say, however, that I'd expect 1095 to last a week on a single sharpening with the right [bevel angle]* ... and frankly if you're stuck for a week or longer, a truly sharp knife is a luxury.

***ETA
 
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I find 3V really easy to sharpen. I usually use diamond for everything, but even ceramic works really well for 3V.


These videos also show me that diamond isn't a must have to sharpen 3V.

Also 1095 is still easier to get sharp, but 1095 loses it's edge fairly fast when cutting acidic stuff or if corrosion arises. So keep it in mind.

CPM-3V is a lot tougher, almost stainless and will stay sharp significantly longer once you put an edge on it.
 
If I need to continually use my knife in a way that dulls it to a degree that cutting is no longer possible, I should definitely come up with another solution to my predicament...
Apart from that, to get a working edge on any steel that is less hard than the abrasive material you use, is possible. So if your choice is 3V or another high toughness steel, you're good.

Personally, I'm happy with my Beckers in 1095. They stay sharp enough to cut a steak and veggies even if I have used them to baton the firewood earlier.
 
I don't think the question has been asked......

Survival Where???

I love 1095 (well.....it's Ok. I don't hate it)
But............................................. I've read that it loses around 90% of it's toughness in VERY cold weather.

I do occasionally go out in weather that is colder than -30F.
I would want more nickel in my steel. Or something that can handle the cold weather.
15N20 steel.


*Something to think about.
Where the mission is, is always important. Plan accordingly.
 
I would rather have something easier to get to a rough edge over something that requires a lot of effort in that situation.

For me, I see the need to sharpen my knife as a specialized function. That is to say, let's say I take a 15" khukuri for my do-it-all. Lots of soft yet tough steel on that blade. I may get along just fine with a proper convex edge when it comes to splitting wood or cutting down saplings for shelter, but if I really want to do fine detail like fashioning a hook or crude needle or maybe a bit of field medicine where I need a REALLY sharp blade, the soft tip of a carbon steel knife like the khuk can be easily honed to a very, very razor sharp edge.

It won't hold up to chopping, but I could get that sucker sharp enough to peel the print off newspaper with a soft Arkansas stone.

It personal preference for sure. No wrong answer.
 
gazz98 said:
I'm totally content with 1095 or 5160. Cold Steel does a decent job on their SK5 in their SRKs too (great budget fixed imo). Tried and tested and easy to maintain in the field.

One day I will try a 3V blade.
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Too many reports of snapped tips in SK-5 SRKs these days. I think their heat treat is off.

I would also go for plain old carbon steel that is easy to sharpen. You can go 3 min without air, 3 hours without shelter (in a hostile environment), 3 days without water, 3 weeks without food, and 3 seconds without a hair popping edge 🤣🤣🤣
 
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Not to derail the the thread, but here's another question. Do you think you need diamonds to sharpen vanadium carbides??? From everything I've read, and high magnification pics I've seen, the answer is they're probably best. To me it looks like you're going to need diamonds to actually cut the vanadium carbides in the steel. That will give you the cleanest, longest lasting edge, and take full advantage of the high end steel. When you sharpen it with something that's not harder than vanadium, you're just sharpening the steel matrix around the carbides.
I could be wrong, and if someone can show me otherwise I'm all ears. I've gone to diamonds for sharpening all the vanadium steels though.
 
kane22 said:
Not to derail the the thread, but here's another question. Do you think you need diamonds to sharpen vanadium carbides??? From everything I've read, and high magnification pics I've seen, the answer is they're probably best. To me it looks like you're going to need diamonds to actually cut the vanadium carbides in the steel. That will give you the cleanest, longest lasting edge, and take full advantage of the high end steel. When you sharpen it with something that's not harder than vanadium, you're just sharpening the steel matrix around the carbides.
I could be wrong, and if someone can show me otherwise I'm all ears. I've gone to diamonds for sharpening all the vanadium steels though.
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Diamond sharpeners have their place. In my experiences however, ANY steel can be sharpened with ceramic stones - it just takes longer.

I like diamonds for putting an initial edge on a very dull knife. I do not like finishing an edge with diamonds - I always finish with ceramics. In some cases, even fine-diamond stones will actually rip the carbides right out of the edge, rather than sharpen them. I prefer something less aggressive, that leaves a finer edge (ie. ceramic).
 
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shane45-1911 said:
Diamond sharpeners have their place. In my experiences however, ANY steel can be sharpened with ceramic stones - it just takes longer.

I like diamonds for putting an initial edge on a very dull knife. I do not like finishing an edge with diamonds - I always finish with ceramics. In some cases, even fine-diamond stones will actually rip the carbides right out of the edge, rather than sharpen them. I prefer something less aggressive, that leaves a finer edge (ie. ceramic).
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I've read the opposite. That it's better to use diamonds cause they will cut the carbide cleanly, and not rip it out??? I finish with gunny juice on a balsa wood strop. Pretty happy with how that's working.
 
kane22 said:
Not to derail the the thread, but here's another question. Do you think you need diamonds to sharpen vanadium carbides??? From everything I've read, and high magnification pics I've seen, the answer is they're probably best. To me it looks like you're going to need diamonds to actually cut the vanadium carbides in the steel. That will give you the cleanest, longest lasting edge, and take full advantage of the high end steel. When you sharpen it with something that's not harder than vanadium, you're just sharpening the steel matrix around the carbides.
I could be wrong, and if someone can show me otherwise I'm all ears. I've gone to diamonds for sharpening all the vanadium steels though.
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I’ve sharpened magnacut (4% V, 2% Nb), 3V (3% V), Cruwear (2.5% V), M4 (4% V) and nitrobe 77 (2.5% Nb). All of these steels sharpened as well on my naniwa chosera stones if not better than they did on my venev 400 grit diamond/resin stones.

Carbide volume does play a huge part here. All of these steels have less than 10% VC/NbC carbides in volume, so despite the presence of these very hard carbides, I can still get a razor sharp hair popping edge on them easily.

I’ve found that the A11 and above class of supersteels (k390, 10v, maxamet and z-max) are extremely difficult to sharpen on traditional abrasives like those on the naniwa chosera stones. For those I would absolutely go diamond without any hesitation.

Additionally, a lot of the “stainless” supersteels like s30v and s35vn don’t have a whole lot of pure vanadium carbides due to the massive amount of chromium in the mixture. They tend to form a softer type of “chromium enriched vanadium carbide”, which is quite a bit softer than pure vanadium carbides. So steels like s30v, s35vn, spy27 and m390 definitely do not need diamonds to sharpen. They sharpen very easily on traditional abrasives.
 
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