What Millie BG-42 or SV90?

H

hunten Man

Joined
Feb 5, 2008
Messages
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I am looking at getting a carbon fiber handled Military, and was wondering what if someone with some experience with these metals could offer some advice?
 
I don't have experience with either, but I'd love to have the legendary edge holding S90V super steel.
 
BG 42 was used in the sebenza from 96' till 02'
s90v is supposed to be harder, and more rare
anyway , both are good choices, from what i hear
tough choice man :D
 
I have both, I have used both, and the BG-42 is a LOT easier to sharpen. There just is no comparison in that department, the BG wins hands down. Nothing that sharpens that easily has any right to hold an edge, much less hold it like that steel does.

However, in edge-holding, the S90V beats anything I have tried, including BG-42 and ZDP-189. The S90V Military is my go-to knife for the tough and nasty jobs. So what if it takes longer to sharpen when I can filet the paint and texture off a two foot square of drywall, cut out the damaged sheetrock, cut a new piece to fit, cut the fibergalss joint tape for the repair and still be ready for the next job?

One word of warning. I do all my plain edge sharpening on diamond hones. I've heard that BG-42 may not be that easy to sharpen on regular stones, but it is a breeze on the DMTs.
 
I have the BG-42, CPM D-2 and CPM S90V versions of the Military.

Fit and finish on the BG-42 model is fantastic, the blade opens and closes smoothly and easily. Oppositely, the D-2 and S90V models don't open as smoothly, and the lock bar is much stiffer (which makes the lock more secure, but also makes your thumb sore if you sit there opening and closing the knife for more than ten minuets. If you're trying to smooth out the pivot, for example).
As for sharpening, Spyderco's sharpmaker rods do well enough touching up the edge on S90V, but if you need to do a full re-sharpening job diamonds are a big, big time saver.

If you have lots of cutting to do, I suggest getting the S90V Military and a course 6"x2" diamond hone (usually about $20). You will be surprised at how well S90V holds it's edge, and diamonds sharpen everything so much faster it's not even funny.

If you just want something for your collection, the BG-42 model is much nicer to handle, it just won't hold an edge nearly as long (but still better than your average steel).
 
If you plan on sharpening them yourself:
BG-42 if you're using ceramics or stones
S90V if you're using Diamond stones

If you plan on having someone else sharpen it, you might as well go for the S90v since it'll mean that you'll have it for longer periods between sharpenings.

I personally would go for BG-42.
 
Get both. I have the S90V and it is an amazing balde. The sound it makes when it locks up is deafening.
 
To be honest, BG-42 will get you through 99% of normal task and then some, easy to sharpen and looks great, takes a wicked edge, I love mine so much that I bought a back up so I have two.

I do not have an S90V and have made the choice not to worry about it because the sharpening pains are not worth the gains for me. I don't go around cutting very hard things that needs a super edge.

also the BG-42 version is about $30.00 dollars cheaper but I think they are getting harder to find.


RickJ
 
I'd say get the BG42 as it is a 2006 sprint run and I don't think it would be available for too long
I have both & use mostly the BG42, while the S90V usually sits in my bug-out-bag
 
I have the BG-42 and I like it because it's tough but you can still sharpen to a hair whittlin edge easily.
I love those knives, when you open them they sound like the slide dropping on an auto pistol.
 
I've got both but I haven't used the S90V yet. I've got some diamond stones, but I recall reading somewhere that plain old cheap carborundum stones will sharpen S90V too. Can anyone confirm this? :confused:
 
Yes, silicon carbide (at least some forms of it) is harder than the vanadium carbides in S90V, so your carborundum stone should work just fine.
 
yablanowitz said:
Yes, silicon carbide (at least some forms of it) is harder than the vanadium carbides in S90V, so your carborundum stone should work just fine.
Click to expand...

Thanks. That's good news since carborundum is a fraction of the cost of diamonds. An 8" 2-sided carborundum stone is about $8 at the local hardware store.
 
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