What’s the hype about D2?

D2 is a good steel, but the heat treatment standards seem to be all over the place depending on who does the work.

I have zero concerns with many companies, but any concerns I have are mostly with the cheaper ones. Just being cheaper or made in China doesn't mean it's badly heat treated D2. My Real Steel Luna Lite is a good knife that I've gotten a lot of use out of.
 
I didn't know D2 was being hyped. I have no problem with it at a certain price point. At a much higher price point, I have seen D2 for some reason, and there I would expect a much better steel. But, I think D2 is not bad at the lower levels. I have not really seen it rust, seems to keep an edge. Honestly, the "stainlessness" of a knife doesn't really bother me.
 
y53p said:
Bought my first knife in d2 (Ontario rat 1), only used it once, to cut some sausage and bread, got completely dull, the next day it also had some stains starting to form on it and at the end of the day it wasn’t the easiest knife I’ve ever sharpened either.

What’s the deal with it? I’ve had way better experiences with lower end steels.
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Shouldn’t dull from that, but it will rust and can be hard to sharpen. I don’t like d2, and for budget steels I vastly prefer 14c28n or Nitro v. You lose some edge retention, but they are FAR tougher, stainless, much easier to sharpen, and you can take the edge thinner since they are so tough, which in turn improves edge retention. I think the reason d2 would be used over these is just name recognition.

In fact, I prefer those steels over m390 or s30v too. I think edge retention can be overvalued by many, and toughness undervalued, even in folders.
 
jstn said:
Shouldn’t dull from that, but it will rust and can be hard to sharpen. I don’t like d2, and for budget steels I vastly prefer 14c28n or Nitro v. You lose some edge retention, but they are FAR tougher, stainless, much easier to sharpen, and you can take the edge thinner since they are so tough, which in turn improves edge retention. I think the reason d2 would be used over these is just name recognition.

In fact, I prefer those steels over m390 or s30v too. I think edge retention can be overvalued by many, and toughness undervalued, even in folders.
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Comparing sub-$100 knives in 14C28N and D2, sharpened to 15dps, the 14C28N knives will outcut the D2 knives a lot more often than people might expect.
 
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