What do you think: Shirogorov Steels?

Charr

Charr

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Just recently got my grail knife of a Shirogorov Mod 95 T in M390. I have been using it some and just wanted to get some talk going about Shirogorov steels, specifically M390, but others as well.

What are your experiences, opinions, and preferences in the steels Shirogorov uses, and how do you think they compare to the same steels by other companies?

Personally, I think the M390 is my favorite out of their steels, not because of edge retention, but because of the actual cutting ability of it. This stuff is insanely tough, and practically seems to glide through almost anything I cut, whether it's cardboard, wood, or paper (it honestly isn't the easiest slicer through paper, but it still eats it up).

Anyone else have a favorite, and if you do, why?
 
I have two in s90v that I love. But...I'll admit I haven't used them very hard at all. Mostly light camping chores (cord, food, opening packages)...but damn are they sharp. I have two in m390 (a 95T and the cannabis) that also perform as you describe. Gun to my head I'd pick the s90v knives...but there would be some hesitation ;)
 
M_Scout said:
I have two in s90v that I love. But...I'll admit I haven't used them very hard at all. Mostly light camping chores (cord, food, opening packages)...but damn are they sharp. I have two in m390 (a 95T and the cannabis) that also perform as you describe. Gun to my head I'd pick the s90v knives...but there would be some hesitation ;)
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Gotta love that S90V! I have been tempted recently by the S90V, but getting multiples of these is dangerous...and a little painful on the wallet. It was a pretty serious debate for me between the 2 for which one I really wanted, and honestly I took the M390 partly because someone actually offered it for sale rather than choice alone, but the M390 fits my needs more i think. I don't mind sharpening, but I do use all of my knives quite a bit, and I planed on having this be an EDC, so the versatility of the M390 was appealing.

I do want to ask what your opinion of the S90V is for sharpening and maintenance. I had heard it was a bit of a pain in the a$$.
 
I had one in bg42 for a little bit and it was great. Ive been intrigued to try their 440c. Ive always associated 440c with cheap knives so i think it would be interesting to see how it performs with shiros heat treat.
 
You know, I had completely forgotten that they use 440c. In my experience with it, heat treat matters immensely with 440c. It won't perform with S30V in terms of edge retention from my understanding, but it surpasses it in toughness and resistance to chipping. At the same time, I'm not sure how Shiro treats their 440c. I would really like to know if anyone has any knowledge of it.
 
Well...I've never let either steel get dull on them so maintenance hasn't been "hard" for either. I suppose if I had to re-profile the blade the s90v would take longer...but I find it fantastic for EDC. I guess I don't see how m390 is a more versatile steel...unless you really hate to spend a little more time to sharpen a knife and live right on the ocean. s90v hasn't showed any signs of rusting for me in wet Alaska.

Cheers
 
M_Scout said:
Well...I've never let either steel get dull on them so maintenance hasn't been "hard" for either. I suppose if I had to re-profile the blade the s90v would take longer...but I find it fantastic for EDC. I guess I don't see how m390 is a more versatile steel...unless you really hate to spend a little more time to sharpen a knife and live right on the ocean. s90v hasn't showed any signs of rusting for me in wet Alaska.

Cheers
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I suppose simply saying its versatile was pretty ambiguous. In my experience (which admittedly is somewhat limited), M390 tends to avoid chipping at high hardness more than S90V (I have to handle a lot of packages with hard plastic inserts and those terrifying hidden staples :grumpy:), and seems to be a more aggressive cutter, even though it does not get quite as screaming sharp. It's hard to explain, but even when the M390 feels like it's somewhat dull, it will still go right through cardboard and heavier materials like they're butter.
I must admit though that S90V is a steel that I haven't been able to work with as much as I would like. Some of what I have about it in terms of information is from other sources, and we all know how that goes with opinions of steel :rolleyes:

Thanks for the info though. I will have to give S90V a serious look soon.
 
Gotcha. For the amount of money a shirogorov costs...you probably wouldn't see much of a relative improvement. I think Ankerson (sp?) did a test with some rope and the s90v came out with 10-20% better edge retention...or something like that. But that was with spyderco's heat treat...which should be pretty good. I'm not even sure if I can tell the difference in actual use....and if s90v ends up costing a bit more than m390...well that would make it an even tougher call. My preference may just be from what I've read comparing steels...
 
I don't own one but had the pleasure of sharpening one in S30V. To this day I don't think I have sharpened a better S30V blade and to top it off the blade geometry was spectacular.
 
Jason B. said:
I don't own one but had the pleasure of sharpening one in S30V. To this day I don't think I have sharpened a better S30V blade and to top it off the blade geometry was spectacular.
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I've heard and seen wonderful things about how Shriogorov does S30V. A good friend of mine has a Hati in S30V and it blows my mind in how it performs compared to other S30V.
I have noticed that S90V and M390 seem to be the more rare steels.

I think you have a really good point as well the more that I think about it M_scout. I guess when it really comes down to it, it probably won't make a really noticeable difference. And considering the rarity of both steels (in my experience I've seen even less M390 than S90V), if you get either one it will probably be more than sufficient for just about anyone. I know this steel far surpasses my reasonable needs. I went through more than 100 cardboard boxes the day I got the knife, and it still sliced paper cleanly without any real noticeable wear. Absolutely blows my mind still.
 
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I got a s90v 95T. I flattened the edge once while cutting cardboard with some weird wire in between it. Was not very easy to remedy it.... Was able to fix it up a bit. Not the best paper slicing edge, but cuts through everything. Must be them large carbides.
 
I've got a hati in Elmax that's incredible. 2 months now. I touched up the edge to slicing phone book paper easy when I got it. Using nearly daily on food prep, opening packages, a few boxes cut up, stripped wire once with it, etc., and it still slices cleanly through printer paper. Phone book not so much. Holding an edge outstandingly. Better than microtech Elmax. Better than the s30v shiro hati I had. Both by a long shot.
 
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