Top 3 Steels

  1. Stainless: ZDP-189 - holds an edge forever, is stainless as shit and tough as nails (used it to deburr steel-parts at work which it took without any damage really)(Honorable mentions are M390(and derivatives; maybe I like ELMAX better), LC200N and US2000)
  2. Toolsteel: CMP M4 - Also holds an wicked wicked edge forever(and polished up really nice), can patina and seeing the choppers razor-edge-knives built with it... Damn it can certainly be tough (though at least with spydies K390 has been tougher in my experience; may be overall better than M4, not sure though)
  3. Carbon Steel: Pretty much only have experience with 1095, XC70 and Roselli UHC Wootz and the UHC has been great this far. 1095 and XC70 are usually run too soft for my taste
 
If I HAD to choose only 3

M390

Cpm Cruwear

Elmax

I also love CPM154, and have a new found respect for S35VN.
 
CPM 3V
CTS XHP
Serrated H1

Until I moved to the coast of Oregon, I really liked my 1095 and 0170-6 fixed blades. Now I'd rather not deal with edge rust when camping or being in the rain.
 
Well, I can't narrow it down to just 3, because I love more than 3 equally, so any 3 of the following: CPM154, Cruwear, Elmax, K390, and ZDP-189. Honorable mentions to CTS-XHP and D2, D2 just doesn't perform quite as well as the rest, and I haven't extensively used CTS-XHP enough to call it a favorite or not, but it's been pretty decent so far.
 
jux t said:
CPM 3V
CTS XHP
Serrated H1

Until I moved to the coast of Oregon, I really liked my 1095 and 0170-6 fixed blades. Now I'd rather not deal with edge rust when camping or being in the rain.
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If I could live on the Oregon coast rust would be the last of my worries, That is some of the most beautiful country I have ever seen.
 
My top 3 would be
1. CPM 3V
It's super versatile, and nearly indestructible. And I can get awesome cutting geometry with it for choppers. And has pretty good edge holding

2. CPM- cruwear. (Also Z-Wear)
I really love the edge holding and toughness. Relatively easy to sharpen to a very high degree. Edge holding is exellent at 62HRC for Zwear. May push for 63 soon. Whatever spyderco did on the para3's for the CPM Cru-wear is quite good.

3. Zfinit/Lc200n
An exellent nitrogen stainless steel with very good toughness and edge holding. And it's super stain resistant, seems better than H1. And gets screaming sharp with very little effort. I've made a bowie knife in it and at 60HRC it was super tough!
(I would say vanax, but if never actually used any knives in it, but have made some!)
 
ShannonSteelLabs said:
My top 3 would be
1. CPM 3V
It's super versatile, and nearly indestructible. And I can get awesome cutting geometry with it for choppers. And has pretty good edge holding

2. CPM- cruwear. (Also Z-Wear)
I really love the edge holding and toughness. Relatively easy to sharpen to a very high degree. Edge holding is exellent at 62HRC for Zwear. May push for 63 soon. Whatever spyderco did on the para3's for the CPM Cru-wear is quite good.

3. Zfinit/Lc200n
An exellent nitrogen stainless steel with very good toughness and edge holding. And it's super stain resistant, seems better than H1. And gets screaming sharp with very little effort. I've made a bowie knife in it and at 60HRC it was super tough!
(I would say vanax, but if never actually used any knives in it, but have made some!)
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I want that Vanax superclean knife you made for Cedric on Youtube! You need to do a run of those!
 
ScooterG said:
Cruwear
Cruwear
Cruwear

Honorable mention:
52100
M4
20CV

Potential:
REX 45
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I haven't gotten to try Cruwear yet, but it is on my list. Can you elaborate on your obvious love affair with it? How is it compared to say M4 or 3V?
 
Big Fan of ZDP-189, s30v/s35vn is a good stable. And just recently picked up some knives in m390, so far impressed
 
I see these thread "the best three" or "your favorite three" or even the "which 3 would you take" ... I understand the purpose is to see what people would take given only three of all the possibilities ...

but unless I were in a situation like going on a tv show like Alone or surviving a natural disaster and had to lighten my load ... picking three knives of tools or types of steels ... is just unrealalistic and I would have to qualify my choices by what uses because for me at least my need and use is why I choose what knife type and steel and sometimes even grind of blade that I will pick for the day ... so I won't try to list 3 favorites steels ...
 
jstn said:
I haven't gotten to try Cruwear yet, but it is on my list. Can you elaborate on your obvious love affair with it? How is it compared to say M4 or 3V?
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It's easier to sharpen/maintain while holding a great working edge in my experience. It is also less prone to staining and doesn't chip easily. These thoughts are mainly in comparison to M4 as I have less experience with 3V, which I will say is not my favorite to sharpen/maintain.
 
Because the application isn't specified, I'll go with well-rounded steels for general purpose EDCs.

Stainless:
Vanax SuperClean -- Best balanced steel, with very good toughness and super stainless
M390 -- almost as good as Vanax, with slightly better edge retention
Elmax -- really well balanced steel. Used to be the toughest of the powder steels before Vanax

Non-stainless:
Vanadis 4 Extra -- well balanced with very good toughness and better edge retention than 3V
CPM M4 -- very well balanced
3V -- excellent toughness, with decent edge retention
 
440C/154CM
VG-10
CPM-4V/CPM-M4
Sandvik 12C27

Proven over many years by many different knife manufacturers, affordable, easy to sharpen!

If it was good enough for some of the great knife makers like Bob Loveless, etc. it is good enough for me!

 
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