what is the best blade steel in your opinion

There really is no best steel. There are very well rounded steels. Some steels excel in one area, but don't do as well in other areas. It is like Ankerson says, there are no free lunches with steel.
 
I think there are different steels for differents applications.

This is like the question "what's the best knife". It depend of the purpose.
 
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It has been a while since I have used anything other than AUS 8, Vic's Inox steel, 1055, etc. They all work good for the design - AUS 8 for beater folders, Vic's Inox for SAKs and kitchen knives, 1055 for machete and small axe. Even the cheapie Chinese slipjoints with 440 A/B/C/? will do some wood, cardboard, plastic packages, and then shave some hair.

To bump up in price would like to see a blade steel with 1055 toughness (or better) and twice as long actual "fine-edge" edge retention as AUS 8 combined.
 
For what purpose? As mentioned, there are always trade-offs in selecting steel.
 
It's very situational. These are the non-mystery-stainless steels I have had experience with thus far:
-AUS8 is kinda looked down upon around here, but I like it for beater knives. The edge will roll before it chips, and it takes a pretty good edge pretty quickly.
-8Cr13MoV is often said to be equivalent to AUS8, but I find it chips more easily. It does seem to take a finer edge, however.
-S30V and VG-10 have fantastic wear resistance, but are more prone to chipping on impact with tougher materials. It's a great steel for light cutting and slicing.
-13c26 Sandvik has proven to be a very good steel in my uses. In my opinion, it's a kind of compromise between AUS8 and S30V. It seems to keep an edge very well, but also has relatively good toughness for the price range such steel is used in. I've had a Kershaw RAM as a side-carry knife for some time now, and I've yet to put a chip or a fold in the blade.
-Elmax is one of my favorite steels, with high impact resistance, high wear resistance, and high corrosion resistance.
-204p is currently my absolute favorite steel that I have used. I have a Southard that I use every day, and without hesitation. After 90 days of use, which has included accidentally hitting the edge into some very hard materials (like a metal pipe with a lot of force), there is no noticeable edge damage and it still shaves hairs off of my arm without digging up skin.

I'm looking forward to using M4 in my (hopefully) soon-to-arrive Gayle Bradley, and I'm unashamedly giddy about the prospect of getting a Cold Steel Warcraft Tanto. DLC coated 3V fixed blade for (probably) ~$150-180... Yes please.
 
skidmark72 said:
what is the best blade steel in your opinion
Spyderco's H1
Benchmade SV30
Benchmade X15-TN
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m1st3r104s said:
I think there are different steels for differents applications.
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Brisket said:
For what purpose? As mentioned, there are always trade-offs in selecting steel.
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First of all, like the others posted. Best for what? No one steel does all things well. To have any hope of some sort of answer, you have to define the use.

Second, even if you were to identify a specific use, there are usually a half dozen alloys which work just fine for that application.

Every cutlery alloy is good for something. No cutlery alloy is good for everything.
 
I'm pretty sure ”surgical” stainless is the best and rostfrei is a close second.
 
I like CPM M4 best out of what I've tried.

Holds an edge better than s30v and the thin edges are still very durable against impacts in my experience. very easy to keep stropped or honed also.
 
These are my favorites
Folder - Spydercos and Bucks S30V (these two companies get the most out of this steel from my own uses)
Fixed nonstainless - 1095 and 3V
Fixed stainless - Elmax and CPM-154
Machete and ax - 1075
 
Rosta-Frei is #1!

As has been said, "best" depends on what attribute(s) you are considering. Edge retention? Toughness? Stain resistance? Value? Ease of maintenance? Or any number of other criteria...

My favorites from my EDC uses would probably be CPM-D2 and S30V. They sharpen up and hold their edges very well. VG-10 is a close runner-up - easy to sharpen and touch-up, takes an awesome edge, and retains it well. 154CM is also very good, and I've only recently gotten a blade in CPM-154. For high value steels, Sandvik 14C28N, AUS-8, and 8Cr13MoV are all very decent.
 
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As stated above, there's no real "best" steel for everything, but I personally am partial to 3V.
 
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