Under $50 - What is your favorite blade steel?

EatingSarma said:
You can't know that, but if your knives work well for you, does it really matter who made the steel?
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No, not really, it was just a question in case there is a way of knowing it.
‘BTW, Real Steel used to be Russian money and Chinese manufacturing. Not sure if it’s the same situation now but when they showed up for first time at SHOT, theyr rep was a Russian guy, didn’t even speak English. They fixed this next year.
‘Can I ask you personal question because I’m very curious ? What Sarma you prefer - grape or cabbage leaves ?
 
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POCEH KOCEB said:
No, not really, it was just a question in case there is a way of knowing it.
‘BTW, Real Steel used to be Russian money and Chinese manufacturing. Not sure if it’s the same situation now but when they showed up for first time at SHOT, theyr rep was a Russian guy, didn’t even speak English. They fixed this next year.
‘Can I ask you personal question because I’m very curious ? What Sarma you prefer - grape or cabbage leaves ?
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Ah, I didn't know that. But I will probably look into it. I did know they're popular in Russia though.

All I know is that I finally have brand that replaces Cold Steel for me when it comes to good price/performance ratio fixed blades. Not just that, but they also solve a lot of problems that Cold Steel has - like sheaths which dull knives, uneven grinds and often poor fit and finish (that was my experience with CS). And RealSteel is also way more affordable, and especially when you consider that you won't have to spend extra for custom sheath.

When it comes to sarma - always pickled cabbage. Either pork or beef or both pork and beef mixed... I sometimes also add an egg and then mix it. That's the way I do it. Spice as you wish, and you can add some rice if you like it that way, but I prefer more meat. Some people add dry cured meats in the bowl as it cooks, but I think that you ruin dry cured meat by cooking it, and it also can potentially ruin your sarma because of fat (I don't like it if it's too greasy with lots of oil floating on top) so I prefer to eat them separately.
 
Oh man, you’ve made me hungry… The small, grape leaves sarmi is Serbian thing, you open those up and put some plain yogurt on the top…. However, my favorites are the cabbage leaves… Ha ha ha, we should exchange recipies…
‘Yeah, the Real Steel had some interesting Plain Jane fixed tanto but later they came up with some good folders.
 
EatingSarma said:
Chinese D2 in general seems to be different, in the past it was simply worse, but today, seeing experiences of many people, and my own experience - I can say it's a really good steel.

RealSteel sells their knives for cheap, and people definitely aren't scared to abuse them, lots of reviewers or people commenting on youtube say they're their go-to beaters as they wouldn't cry a lot over them if they broke or got lost...

So I'm surprised I'm not seeing a lot of comments about D2 being brittle or Chinese D2 being bad, considering numbers of these people that bought these and what they use them for.

I guess it all comes down to manufacturer individually.
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LimpCroissant said:
Real Steel seems to have pretty dang good heat treating according to the cut tests I've seen 👍. I just bought a Real Steel Pukko folder in M390 to give them a whirl.
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Like Ruike, the Real Steel knives are made by Sanrenmu. They sometimes run a little on the softer side but tend to be decent.

Chinese D2 definitely has issues. That doesn't mean it is terrible. It's just worth understanding the benefits versus limitations. It can be a good choice for some people or at the right price. Speculation on why Chinese D2 performs the way it does include issues in mass heat-treating and variation in the vanadium content. I think this is why both Petrified Fish and Bestech have started importing K110. Both of those companies do a lot of work with Chinese D2 and are among the better choices for it. K110 is an Austrian analog of D2 and should have better quality control than the Chinese stuff. I haven't tried it but I'm curious to hear from people who have.

One thing for all of these steels is to get past the factory edge. Fatigued steel from factory grinding can cause a variety of issues. Depending on how bad it is, it can take several sharpenings to get down to fresh steel. It's amazing how some knives will both gain in edge retention and get easier to sharpen.
 
Under $50, best blade steel ... is the one with the best geometry for the job at hand.

Assuming proper heat treat & tempering, a blades geometry determines how well the knife is gonna perform so much more than the steel composition. Cliff showed us many times over the years how an inexpensive blade steel can out perform boutique steels time and again through comprehensive back to back trials and data analysis.

Geometry > Steel
 
Of the steels I see available in this price range I just avoid 3cr steel and things labeled “surgical steel”. I still roll with aus6
 
The civivi Brazen drop point is just under $50 right now running 14C28N. That 14C is going to run circles around D2, AUS8, 8CR etc. For my money 14C28N is about as good as you can get currently under $50 just go take a look at some of Larrin's testing here on the site to see how it stacks up against the rest. Really an incredible steel its a marvel it performs as well as it does given its a simple non powder steel.
 
Chronovore said:
Like Ruike, the Real Steel knives are made by Sanrenmu. They sometimes run a little on the softer side but tend to be decent.
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I don't know where's this information from, but I know some people even claiming Sanrenmu produces Spydercos, Benchmades and whatnot, so I decided to take a look myself.

"Because of this, Realsteel Knives ensures the consistent high quality and high product safety through 100% self-production."

That quote is directly from their website. They claim to produce all of their products in same factory and to produce all of their products themselves.
 
EatingSarma said:
I don't know where's this information from, but I know some people even claiming Sanrenmu produces Spydercos, Benchmades and whatnot, so I decided to take a look myself.

"Because of this, Realsteel Knives ensures the consistent high quality and high product safety through 100% self-production."

That quote is directly from their website. They claim to produce all of their products in same factory and to produce all of their products themselves.
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I've heard this more than once but I don't recall exactly from where. Besides that, there are lots of little indicators such as the same sheaths, the same type of printing on the blades, those "beta plus" locks, and other similarities.

I only recently saw the claim that Sanrenmu was making knives for Spyderco and I think I saw it on Spyderco's forum. I'll start a thread over there and ask for confirmation. I know Sanrenmu is a major manufacturer and does OEM work for a bunch of other companies. The thing is that most companies outsourcing to China don't say which manufacturers are doing the work. That's why a persistent barb against some of the people denouncing Ganzo, Sanrenmu, etc. has been that those people might own knives made by those companies and not know it.
 
I have always been a fan of VG10. Great EDC steel that is very corrosion resistant and holds a workable edge.

A week or so back I picked up a little lock back with a thick sub-3" VG10 blade. It's been a solid little workhorse. While not a real test of the knife or the steel, I used it this whole weekend to cut open boxes of flooring. Lots of tape stuck to it, but even after sawing through a fair amount of cardboard the blade is sharp. With a little Goo-Gone to get the stickiness off and a bit of stropping, it was popping hair again in no time.

I think I paid $42 for it.
Even though VG10 is no longer a "super steel" (whatever that means), I think it's a classic and a really solid performer for most edc tasks.
 
Chronovore said:
I've heard this more than once but I don't recall exactly from where. Besides that, there are lots of little indicators such as the same sheaths, the same type of printing on the blades, those "beta plus" locks, and other similarities.

I only recently saw the claim that Sanrenmu was making knives for Spyderco and I think I saw it on Spyderco's forum. I'll start a thread over there and ask for confirmation. I know Sanrenmu is a major manufacturer and does OEM work for a bunch of other companies. The thing is that most companies outsourcing to China don't say which manufacturers are doing the work. That's why a persistent barb against some of the people denouncing Ganzo, Sanrenmu, etc. has been that those people might own knives made by those companies and not know it.
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Well I know that RealSteel and Sanrenmu both made knives for same designers, so they even produce virtually same knives, just in different size.

RealSteel sheath seems to be that same generic Kydex that even Boker Plus is using (and it's also made in China).

Maybe they use same technology for printings... or they all send their knives for that to be done at the same place.

RealSteel claims they produce all of their knives themselves at one place so I'll give them benefit of the doubt.

They also use Sandvik steel a lot, and even CPM or Bohler steels lately so that means they probably started importing steel.

What did they do with their D2?
- I have no idea...
I saw Manly Patriot in D2 get really small chipping after hitting into a bone and also when I hit a staple when cutting cardboard.
I heard about LionSteel M2 in D2 getting edge damage (light reflection) after contact with bones during skinning and meat processing, yet that D2 didn't even dull after cutting into a bone several times and it's Chinese D2 made in China, while other 2 are European D2 made in Bulgaria and Italy.
I never tested directly, but edge retention seems to be about the same.

I just wish I knew what they did? Did they just HT to different hardness? Did they lower the carbon content? Did they change composition?
 
EatingSarma said:
Well I know that RealSteel and Sanrenmu both made knives for same designers, so they even produce virtually same knives, just in different size.

RealSteel sheath seems to be that same generic Kydex that even Boker Plus is using (and it's also made in China).

Maybe they use same technology for printings... or they all send their knives for that to be done at the same place.

RealSteel claims they produce all of their knives themselves at one place so I'll give them benefit of the doubt.

They also use Sandvik steel a lot, and even CPM or Bohler steels lately so that means they probably started importing steel.

What did they do with their D2?
- I have no idea...
I saw Manly Patriot in D2 get really small chipping after hitting into a bone and also when I hit a staple when cutting cardboard.
I heard about LionSteel M2 in D2 getting edge damage (light reflection) after contact with bones during skinning and meat processing, yet that D2 didn't even dull after cutting into a bone several times and it's Chinese D2 made in China, while other 2 are European D2 made in Bulgaria and Italy.
I never tested directly, but edge retention seems to be about the same.

I just wish I knew what they did? Did they just HT to different hardness? Did they lower the carbon content? Did they change composition?
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Coincidentally, Sanrenmu also makes a bunch of knives for Boker.

We now have confirmation from Sal himself that Sanrenmu has made knives for Spyderco in the past. I don't know if they still do.

As far as their D2, I don't think they can do things like change the carbon content (etc.). It is possible that they are doing something different with their heat treatment. Just like not knowing much about which Chinese manufacturers make knives for which non-Chinese companies, we don't know the story of Chinese D2. Like I said before, speculation about why Chinese D2 consistently fails to match the D2 used by companies like Benchmade could be problems with mass heat treatment but it could also be issues with the D2 itself.
 
Steely_Gunz said:
I have always been a fan of VG10. Great EDC steel that is very corrosion resistant and holds a workable edge.

A week or so back I picked up a little lock back with a thick sub-3" VG10 blade. It's been a solid little workhorse. While not a real test of the knife or the steel, I used it this whole weekend to cut open boxes of flooring. Lots of tape stuck to it, but even after sawing through a fair amount of cardboard the blade is sharp. With a little Goo-Gone to get the stickiness off and a bit of stropping, it was popping hair again in no time.

I think I paid $42 for it.
Even though VG10 is no longer a "super steel" (whatever that means), I think it's a classic and a really solid performer for most edc tasks.
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VG-10 isn't a super steel in the modern market but I like it. Unfortunately, knives in VG-10 have gotten more expensive. I think I paid almost $70 to get a back-up for my Wharncliffe Dragonfly and that was before Spyderco's 2022 price hike.

Steels like VG-10, N690, and 154CM seem to hang out on production knives in the $50-100 range these days.

Corollaries to the thread topic could include "what steels are good for EDC under $50" and "what are the minimum steels you'd consider for EDC". I certainly consider VG-10, N690, and 154CM to be acceptable for EDC. I think 9Cr18Mov and 14C28N ring both bells.
 
Chronovore said:
As far as their D2, I don't think they can do things like change the carbon content (etc.). It is possible that they are doing something different with their heat treatment. Just like not knowing much about which Chinese manufacturers make knives for which non-Chinese companies, we don't know the story of Chinese D2. Like I said before, speculation about why Chinese D2 consistently fails to match the D2 used by companies like Benchmade could be problems with mass heat treatment but it could also be issues with the D2 itself.
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Them not matching Benchmade in edge retention is probably very true.

But, I'm yet to see D2 that's tougher than Chinese D2. But lower edge retention and higher toughness do make sense.

That might be the reason why they can get away with it on large fixed blades without numerous failures...

I'm just speculating here tho. And Chinese D2 mystery will likely remain unknown for a while. I'm just glad that those knives perform for their given tasks
 
A couple years back I picked up a few Kershaw Links in S35VN for $39 each. Probably the best value I ever got.
 
D2, as in the Ontario Rat 2 D2 or the Esee Avispa D2. Though there’s actually nothing wrong with Victorinox’s Rostfrei as in the old Spartan that’s with me most days, 😆
 
POCEH KOCEB said:
‘How do you guys know if it’s a Chinese D2 or other… ? I got plenty of D2, marked as Bohler brand steel/blades and I do trust the manufacturer that they are using the right steel but how you’re determine if the steel is Chinese and not something else when it isn’t marked ?
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Meant to come back to this earlier!

Not sure about others, but I am making the assumption that knives made in China that are labelled D2 are using D2 steel manufactured in China for two major reasons. First, it would make good business sense to keep costs down on the production side of things as much as possible, and using locally manufactured steel would probably be much less expensive than buying equivalent steel from the US or Germany, for example. Second, the final price of many knives being made in China using D2 are relatively inexpensive. Additionally, you can find websites of Chinese companies who produce AISI D2, so it would stand to reason that such material is readily available.

However these assumptions do fall apart if it is actually less expensive for a company to import D2 stock than buying it locally. Given the level of industry in China though, I think this isn't as likely.
 
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