The super steel rat race

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Blindfolded I know I couldn’t tell you the difference between 20CV/M4/S30 or 90V. They are all very cool and overkill for my Amazon box cutting needs lol. It’s kinda neat having all these options and variety but I don’t let it get to me and try to remember that our Grandpas went their whole lives using one knife in a high carbon steel like 1095 and never felt they needed more.
 
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New steels are good. Eventually someone will figure out how to make a blade that almost never gets dull, gets screaming sharp, is an absolute beast in toughness and won’t chip or roll (but if it does fail it rolls lightly rather than chipping) is easy to sharpen, and is not prone to rusting. And it’ll be straightforward to heat treat. But for now, all these attributes are in play and so depending on your preferences there’s something available.

I generally stick to 1095 myself.
 
I sometimes buy antique knives where the steel type and maker are both unknown. What counts for me is that multiple generations have owned that one knife and no one has bothered to scrap it. There must be some good in it or it wouldn‘t have survived.

n2s
 
Jumped on this bandwagon sometime in 2006-7. My goal at that time was to collect as many different steels as I could, on the same platform, and learn for myself how they compare, so naturally (for that time) I went for the Spyderco Military.

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Some 10-15 years and 20 Millies later, I've learned that in my (limited and empirical) real-world usage I am not really able to discern meaningful differences between steel types, and realized that (for my use) steel is not as important as blade profile and BTE angle. So I'm off the wagon now (in a good sense, that is :D ).

I still like to try out new steels on similar blade profiles (for example, in the case below I can definitely tell you that Magnacut needs no regular maintenance beyond some stropping, whereas 204P definitely perks up from hitting the Sharpmaker whites every 2 weeks), but I no longer feel I'm on some sort of quest to rule them all.

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brj said:
Jumped on this bandwagon sometime in 2006-7. My goal at that time was to collect as many different steels as I could, on the same platform, and learn for myself how they compare, so naturally (for that time) I went for the Spyderco Military.

da6uJTB.jpg


Some 10-15 years and 20 Millies later, I've learned that in my (limited and empirical) real-world usage I am not really able to discern meaningful differences between steel types, and realized that (for my use) steel is not as important as blade profile and BTE angle.
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An impressive collection!

I like to do real-world comparisons from time to time. I would get awfully bored cutting as much rope and cardboard and carpet as some of the Youtubers do. So I do some tests that are not as rigorous, but they are more relevant to what I use knives for.

I pick out two knives with, for example, different steels but similar blade geometry and sharpness. Then, over the course of a few months, I use both knives just as I normally do, but on alternate days. So I see how long it takes before the knives became noticeably worse at cutting stuff. For example, when I did this to compare S30V and S90V, the S30V blade would need sharpening about once a month, but the S90V blade would last for three months. When I compared serrated blades with H1 and LC200N, it seemed that LC200N lasted somewhat longer, but the difference was not big enough to convince me that LC200N was really better for edge retention.

I am planning on comparing two Spyderco knives, both with LC200N, but I will sharpen one to 15 or 20 degrees per side and one to 10 degrees per side.
 
You hear all this stuff about super steels, as a person who makes knives and uses the hell out of them in the wilderness hunting, I’ve come to the conclusion that you just need a decent steel, with a really good heat treat and good blade geometry! I used one of my knives in A8 mod yesterday on a cow elk, I skinned, quartered, and cut out all the back straps, and the knife was still sharp. When I got home I cut up the meat I brought, not my elk, a friend’s. He gave me some. The knife needed a quick touch up on a ceramic. This knife got a cryo soak and had a good heat treat done on it! Needless to say, I was really impressed!

Magnacut is a steel I want to experiment more with. It balances the properties well! Toughness in a hunting/camp blade is very crucial personally! In my opinion, making knives for a few years now, and hunting all my life. Cpm3v is probably the best you need as far as wear resistance. Unless you’re hunting moose, then maybe 4v or m4. 3v, ztuff and A8 mod will handle all camp chores, batonning wood for camp, yet easy enough to touch up, and hold up to working an animal!!
By all means, if you want more wear resistance, have at it. I’d make whatever a customer wants, but the above is just my opinion! I’ll continue to use those three steels more from now on! With the exception of magnucut. I will be using that on some of my smaller hunting blades in the future
 
mitchnola said:
I guess what irks me and got me started on my rant is when people only judge the value of a knife by what steel it comes in.

For example benchmades aren’t worth the money cause I can get a spyderco with the same steel cheaper. Well for 30+ years you could only get an axis lock from benchmade. Or how Emersons are a rip off cause he only uses cpm 154, never mind that his knives are built like tanks, easily maintained and also are the only one with the wave feature. Personally I feel with all the innovation in steel, it’s the last thing I look for in the value of a knife because they’re all pretty damn good.
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Lots of ways to wave without an Emerson. I see your point though.
 
mitchnola said:
My first few years getting into knives I was all about reading up on the next hot new steel but I have to admit, I’m completely over what steel I’m getting on any particular knife. It’s to the point that I don’t even consider or pay much attention to what steel I’m buying these days. If I like a knife I buy it. If I support certain makers, I buy them regardless of steel. At this point I know if I’m spending x amt of dollars Im getting a good steel.

The whole super steel rat race has just become ridiculous to me. It almost seems gimmicky to me so that people feel the need to own every pm2 in the next newest hottest steel for example.

There’s still no steel out there that wont dull, isn’t too hard or too soft and won’t be needed to be sharpened at some point. It will never exist until we figure out how to put a laser edge on a knife or come out with lightsabers.

I also find it amusing how quickly and suddenly the greatest steel ever becomes antiquated. It may only take a year or two. Magnacut will just be the next super steel to become antiquated. I really wonder how much all this steel innovation is solely just to sell more knives? It definitely seems to be the easiest innovation in the knife world, even more so then locking mechanisms.

So I’m just curious if I’m the only one and where or how I’m totally wrong. But otherwise I’m out the rat race. Just give me a great knife with a sharp edge that I can and will sharpen.
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You've discovered the gorilla of truth in the corner of the room, and just saved yourself a lot of money!!!!!

Its always all about the money.
 
I understand the OP’s point about chasing the next super steel and I certainly agree that for my purposes that I really can’t tell the difference between their 420HC or their S30v on the same knife model ( I actually have a model 501 in both 420HC and S30v). I am thankful for those individuals who drive the innovation of new super steels! What is todays’s super steel becomes the norm a few years later. I am sure many here can remember when S30v was a big deal, now it is available on many knives.
 
Now again when I think of it... it really is all about money. But it also drives the industry forwards.

Now again, 1095 and 420HC can do the job. But super steels do it better.

Cut longer, resist staining better and being tougher while having higher wear resistance.

I'd take my 3V knife over 1095 knife any day for example. More toughness, more edge retention, more corrosion resistance.

Wide variety of steels available is part of the hobby and that's the beauty of it. There is something for everyone.
 
I come from a time when 440C was a ”SuperSteel”, and touted to be the replacement for carbon steel, which was “prone to rust”. But 440C was hard to sharpen on our archaic Arkansas oil stones, so manufacturers looked for a high-carbon stainless that as easy to sharpen and held an edge like carbon, but was as rust resistant as 440C. To me, that felt like the start of the current “race to the moon“ times we live in now.

Although I still love me a good 1095 pocket knife…
 
LostCause said:
Now again when I think of it... it really is all about money. But it also drives the industry forwards.

Now again, 1095 and 420HC can do the job. But super steels do it better.

Cut longer, resist staining better and being tougher while having higher wear resistance.

I'd take my 3V knife over 1095 knife any day for example. More toughness, more edge retention, more corrosion resistance.

Wide variety of steels available is part of the hobby and that's the beauty of it. There is something for everyone.
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Yeah, a 1980 Corvette with a 150hp 350 is nice, but gimme a Dodge Hellcat over it any day of the week!
 
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