What stainless do you recommend?

arijer bite the bullet & order a fillet knife from phil wilson. he has worked in the super alloys for many years. he's a salt water fisherman & a hunter.if there is a finer fishing knife in the world i have'nt heard of it. you may have to wait in line but it's worth it. sal glasser had this to say of phil," i know something of alloys but when phil wilson speaks i listen"
dennis
 
Ray Ennis at Entrek knives uses 440C and it is outstanding! I have a companion, cobra, and jag and they hold an edge for a LONG time and are quite easy to touch up in the field on a small EZ-Lap diamond stone. They are very near custom and the grind, fit, and finish show this. The sheaths leaves a bit to be desired, but are functional. Check them out....
 
Bucks 420HC is no slouch in the edge holding department,gets lazer sharp,resists corrosion extremely well,and is pretty darn tough to boot.I was skeptical of it until about 2 years ago.Then got a 110,119,and a 102 made from that steel.I was very pleasantly surprised,they have their heat treat down pat for that steel.
 
Vanadium in AUS 8 is a grain refiner and does nothing for wear resistance. A8 from ontario and CS are nearly identical and I highly doubt you could tell the difference but IMO ontarios is slightly better.

VG-10 is a excellent steel that is easy to sharpen, is ductile so it rolls or deforms itstead of chipps, and takes a very keen edge. Tough too. Best used on softer materials, wood, meat......
 
i rekon just get a decent field whetstone and with a bit of practice, you'll be able to touch up that 3G F1 with ease.

i have no problem keeping my 3G WM1 sharp. the trick is not to let it get too dull before touching the edge up on a strop or the ceramic side of a DC-3.
 
2nd for CPM 154. Good stuff. Brian Fellholter recently posted that he made his diving knife from it.:thumbup:
 
CPM-154 is my favorite stainless I have tried so far... too bad there are not many "cheaper" ,as in not custom priced, production knives made with it. The only folder I have with CPM-154 is a buck 110, and the steel in incredible!!!
 
Not many years ago I stayed completely away from stainless steels.

However since that time I have had the pleasure of getting aquainted with many new stainless steels of exceptional quality.

F1 in VG10 would serve you excellently. I use a DC4 diamond/ceramic hone to field sharpen it and it easily takes and holds a razor sharp edge.

S30V is another steel which performs very well. It also takes and holds a very fine edge.

Bark River does a fine job with 12c27 as well.

154cm is very good and cpm 154cm is even better.

Haven't had a chance to try 3G yet but if I were you I'd get a Fallkniven DC4 hone and try touching it up with that. So far mine has made easy sharpening of every type of stainless I've tried.
 
Fallkniven VG10 is the BEST. Period.

Second choice would be 440C, as heat treated by Benchmade, and probably some good custom makers.

Third would be AUS-8.

Fourth would be 154CM.

Fifth would be S30V (but almost tied for 4th with 154CM).

Sixth would be probably 12C27, but only as provided by one of the Scandinavian companies. I've had at least two knives from Bark River in 12C27, and I will never have another. One was overcooked and I was never able to get sharp. The other was... I dunno. Maybe undercooked? Bad deformation of the edge while batonning, whereas a Mora M2K had no problems with it, despite being a thinner blade (albeit scandi zero-ground edge). Bark River does OK with A2, from my experience; however, from my experience, Bark River's 12C27 sucks.

First choice is always VG10, though, and it is just as good in Spyderco as it is in Fallkniven.
 
For a stainless woods knife I like AUS8 and 12C27.
Why? Because they're as close as you can get to carbon steel in terms of toughness, ease of sharpening, and edge retention.
 
How about BG-42? I have also had good luck with ATS-34 and N690Co. Just throwin some other choices out there for ya.
 
N690 is EXCELLENT as well. I forgot about that one.
Not as widely available as the others that are mentioned here, it seems.
 
S30v , 154cm, 440C, I dont know where people get the idea that 440 is not great steel, the stuff works well.

For me its a Buck knife on the cheap end, handmade on the high end with one of the super steels.
 
rockspyder said:
Sixth would be probably 12C27, but only as provided by one of the Scandinavian companies. I've had at least two knives from Bark River in 12C27, and I will never have another... Maybe undercooked? Bad deformation of the edge while batonning, whereas a Mora M2K had no problems with it, despite being a thinner blade (albeit scandi zero-ground edge).
Click to expand...
This is my experience as well. I'm thinking they just grind the blades too thin for the steel to handle batoning.
 
Terry Newton said:
In what way did they fail? :confused:
Click to expand...

Well I have a Bark River Fox River in A2. I fish with my friends on a open console here in Florida. We get sprayed on a regular basis, depending on the waves and the wind. I took it out with me one day, got sprayed, rode out to our spot, maybe 30 min ride. by the we stopped and i gut ready to chunk up the bait, my Fox river had rust spots on it. I was able to wipe them off but....

As for my O1 blades. Similiar story, I kayak fish on the flats and then take a break on some of the small isles around and cook some of the trout we catch. I dont slosh around in the water, but there is still some water in the kayak on a calm day. Lets just say O1 and brackish water... uhm... dont mix:D

I took out my 3G F1 monday Sunday night fishing. Ok litterally no maintanence the whole night of fishing, cutting bait, line, we grilled a sea trout. it did really well. Still sharp also after cutting up some wood for the fire:thumbup:

Hey Andy.... CPM 154 brother, come on I keep begging... Dont make me beg some more:grumpy::o:D
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top