What are your favourite knife steels?

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SurvivalKnives

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Jan 6, 2015
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Hey guys not sure if this has been asked before (I am relatively new :/) what is your favourite knife steel? My absolute favourite is S30V and now everyone's convinced me that I like 1095 CroVan. I especially hate the junk steels from the Land of Oriental Plastics. :D What do you think?
 
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SurvivalKnives said:
Yep I like that too, its similar to S30V?
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I'd say it's pretty close to the opposite, since it's a high-carbon steel and S30V is a high-stainless steel. S30V has high wear resistance on the edge, 1095 has overall strength/flexibility and easier sharpening.
 
KingMC said:
I'd say it's pretty close to the opposite, since it's a high-carbon steel and S30V is a high-stainless steel. S30V has high wear resistance on the edge, 1095 has overall strength/flexibility and easier sharpening.
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Ok thanks I like S30V because of its stainless properties in wet environments. If I lived in a dry desert then yes, I would prefer 1095 for its hardness.
 
It really depends on what your using it for. for my out door fixed blades i prefer 1084,5160,1095. all of which are carbon steels. For my folders i have i some of my best results with cold steel's AUS-8 and Benchmades 154cm. :)
 
Bnum3 said:
It really depends on what your using it for. for my out door fixed blades i prefer 1084,5160,1095. all of which are carbon steels. For my folders i have i some of my best results with cold steel's AUS-8 and Benchmades 154cm. :)
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I agree, it depends on your environment and what your using it for.
 
Of all my knives I have a selection of steels, so far the ZDP-189 in my Delica is my favorite, it held its edge about 3x longer than any of my other knives during their trial period, and then when I resharpened it (took more effort to sharpen than the rest) I managed to put a killer toothy edge on it, it's even sharper than before when it had the factory edge.
 
I'm very happy with Elmax or CPM S30V, but I loooove CPM S35VN. For my purposes, the balance of properties in those steels works great.
 
SurvivalKnives said:
Ok thanks I like S30V because of its stainless properties in wet environments. If I lived in a dry desert then yes, I would prefer 1095 for its hardness.
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I am a Butcher and my knives are always wet. I use a Becker BK15 daily, it is 1095 crovan. I have yet to see any significant patina show, no rust, and no pitting. That is at near 4 months daily use, 6-8 hours a day with a light rinse about 3 times a day with a light coat of mineral oil before lunch.

That knife has shown me that I can trust 1095 crovan Much more than I had thought I could, being that I live on the NJ shore.

That being said, I love
s30v for ease of sharpening while taking a pretty good edge,
s110v for the fact that it just doesnt die,
01 takes a great edge, is a fantastic woods knife, and takes a Great edge
 
I am getting a Freeman Outdoor 451 fixed blade soon and it is made of S35VN steel. I think I might like it.
By the way this knife retails around $200, but its FREE for me. And no I am not stealing it! :D
 
NJBillK said:
I am a Butcher and my knives are always wet. I use a Becker BK15 daily, it is 1095 crovan. I have yet to see any significant patina show, no rust, and no pitting. That is at near 4 months daily use, 6-8 hours a day with a light rinse about 3 times a day with a light coat of mineral oil before lunch.

That knife has shown me that I can trust 1095 crovan Much more than I had thought I could, being that I live on the NJ shore.

That being said, I love s30v for ease of sharpening while taking a pretty good edge, and s110v for the fact that it just doesnt die.
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Thanks for all that info - especially from a butcher. I am sure learning a lot about 1095 steel. I don't own a knife made of 1095 steel YET. I think I need to get one - maybe a Becker BK 2?
 
I buy more based on style, egros, fit/finish, price/value and materials as a whole than looking for specific steels. My EDC is 1095 carbon and it does not let me down. Swipe, swipe, swipe, swipe and it's a razor again. I prefer a broad spectrum of steel b/c if all I purchased was M4 knives, I would have limited options and miss out on some great designs.. that actually still cut stuff.
 
I'm carrying S110V today, I also like M390/CTS204 and M4. I have other knives that I carry in 154 and S30V but I consider them to be just average steels.

Actually there are a lot of knife steels that I like the sound of, including A2, S3V, O1, S90V, that I don't use. Really this is just scratching the surface in popular knife steels. When I said I like the sound of various steels, that is pretty much it. I don't actually have experience with them and it would be hard for me to tell the difference anyway.
 
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