Top 3 Steels

Folders:
M4
cts-204p/20cv/m390
s35vn
Cruwear

Fixed:
D3V
3V
1095
52100
 
Cpm 3v
4v/vanadis 4e
Cpm M4
These are my favorites so far, awesome toughness, and very good edge retention. Perfect for hunting or outdoor blades in my opinion. Also M2, that’s better than most people would guess.
 
Piano wire (drawn pearlite with extreme strength)
TWIP steel (austenitic steel that transforms by twinning for extreme ductility)
AEB-L (very fine carbides, high hardness, and good corrosion resistance for extremely sharp razors)

I used the word extreme a bunch of times because I'm just an extreme guy.
 
Well I think mine will likely rapidly change as I'm just starting to get into different steels now. Before I would've only said one, 440C. It's just hard to beat as an all around steel, but since my discovery of some other stuff I'll have to say it may not even make my list now, let alone a few months from now. And my lists will differ between EDC folders and camping fixed blade. For my fixed blades the only property I care about is corrosion resistance, because while camping I've got all kinds of sharpening tools to quickly slap a fine edge on something soft, I just don't want it to rust, so I stuck with tradition Buck 420 and similar. As for EDC, and of now...

1. VG10, on paper and in action it just fits perfect in the bottom of the higher end steels, having solid properties to make it hold an edge well, be corrosion resistant, have a solid hardness and maintain a relatively good wear resistance as well. It's like 440C on steroids without the steroidal side effects. Lol

2. 14C28N, for exactly the same reasons as VG10, just not quite to the degree of high marks, though not far behind it.

3. D2, although nowhere near where I want the corrosion resistance to be, it's just a solid performer across the rest of the spectrum. It's supposedly got it's issues with potential chipping because of the hardness, but, as an EDC blade, I'm not at all worried about the kind of abuse necessary to see any blade damage, and I wipe mine down pretty regularly.

As for what I think I'll fall in love with soon, even though I think they'll come to prove to be a real PITA to sharpen...

1. S35VN
2. S30V
3. 154CM
 
M390/20cv/204p for its edge retention and stain resistant nature.

3V for its mega toughness

Cpm154 for general/all purpose qualities

I could get by with just these 3 forever.
 
The third one for me is pretty tough to decide.
First two though are very easy : M4 and CPM-3V respectively
Third would normally be M390 but the steel in my Pattadda still has me doing a double take. I thought it was going to disappoint me but I wanted the dambed Pattada so much that I was going to go for it.
And the steel in the Pattada is . . . . N690

OK, ok, ok M390 is nu 3
(sorry CTS-XHP and ZDP-189 (they're calling for only three)) :rolleyes:
 
Insipid Moniker said:
The more I learn about steel the more satisfaction I take from matching the right steel to the job, rather than spending the cash to get the latest and greatest. Not that there's anything wrong with that.
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that's partly what I was thinking when I wanted to add 1095 / White Paper steel at the end of my post. Id Est my "Little Monster" Japanese kitchen knife that can go a year or more with no touch up and still be very . . . verysharp and practical.
 
NapalmCheese said:
In general I'd rather spend a little bit of time sharpening a little more often with a cheap/simple system over spending a potentially lot of time sharpening once in a blue moon on some 'specialized' system because I'm using some super hard, super abrasion resistent cru-max 390pmsv wonder steel.
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Give it time . . . I'll check back in a thousand more of your posts and see what you say then.
(the wonder steel doesn't take longer on the specialized system and the specialized system is fun and interesting to understand and use)
PS: and very often I touch up my ultimate alloy (M4) on my least expensive stone (Spyderco Ultra Fine Ceramic triangle rod (I don't own the holder for it). The stone is only about $11. See photos.
But I know what you are saying.
At work I actually need this high wear steel and it's highly desirable edge stability characteristics and take it to it's limits.
Other lesser steels just fail too fast and loose their staying power and so I loose control of the cut.
IMG_5217.jpg
IMG_5221.jpg
 
Therom said:
CPM S110V
CPM M4
CPM S35vn

Honorable mention to M390, Elmax and H1 that I like a lot.
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You certainly get the award for widest spread of alloys. All the way from "only sharpenable on diamonds" to "playdough".
 
420j2 cause it's better than all those fake steels like s35vn and m390 that are lying to everyone.
 
Of the ones I own:
Hitachi Blue #2
SG-2
VG-MAX
 
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