What's The Big Deal With Carbon V?

C

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I've been breezing eBay lately and keep noticing Cold Steel knives with Carbon V blades for sale.

I bought several of them years ago and now the prices of the Carbon V knives seem a bit...steep, especially the Recon Tantos. The knives are made now of AUS8, which I've always had good luck with from CS. I also hear a lot of good things about Carbon V, but is it a super steel? Why the excessive prices? There are a lot of other great knives like the Ka-Bar Large, Heavy Bowies that are much more reasonably priced. It makes me wonder whether it's a collector's thing or is Carbon V really a great steel? And how does it compare to the SR-K carbon steel that CS is presently using?

Thanks!

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Carbon v knives were made in the USA. The current carbon steel cold steel knives are made in China.
 
But are the new carbon steel knives as good as the older Camillus steel? If no, I don't think the older knives are worth a whole boatload more than the new knives. If the Recon Tanto was available today in Carbon V, I don't think it would command $135. And I've seen it for more.
 
Hello Confederate. Haven't read a post from you for a while. Hope all is well with you.

Carbon V was a name coined by Cold Steel. The exact composition varied a tad depending on who was making the knives for them. IIRC, KaBar, Ontario, and Camillus all made Cold Steel Carbon V knives over the years. Essentially Carbon V was 1095 modified with small additions of Chromium, Vanadium, and a couple of other elements. (It was the additions which varied.) Good cutlery steel, not super. I once read a review which said that the Camillus blades were hardened to a 58HRC.

I understand the current SK-5 alloy is similar in composition to 1085.

Based on my own usage and testing, the edge retention of 1095 is similar to that of AUS8. I would expect Carbon V to have roughly the edge retention of 1095.
Can't comment on the SK-5 as I've not tried it.
I would expect both the SK-5 and the Carbon V to be tougher than AUS8.

Carbon V is expensive for the same price that land is: They stopped making it.:D
 
According to the steel FAQ here, "Carbon V (is) a trademarked term by Cold Steel, and as such is not necessarily one particular kind of steel; rather, it describes whatever steel Cold Steel happens to be using, and there is an indication they do change steels from time to time. Carbon V performs roughly between 1095-ish and O-1-ish, in my opinion, and rusts like
O-1 as well. I’ve heard rumors that Carbon V is O-1 (which I think is unlikely) or 1095. Numerous industry insiders insist it is 0170-6. Some spark tests done by a rec.knives reader seem to point the finger at 50100-B. Since 50100-B and 0170-6 are the same steel, this is likely the current Carbon V. 0170-6 - 50100-B These are different designations for the same steel: 0170-6 is the steel makers classification, 50100-B is the AISI designation. A good chrome-vanadium steel that is somewhat similar to O-1, but much less expensive. The now-defunct Blackjack made several knives from O170-6, and Carbon V may be 0170-6. 50100 is basically 52100 with about 1/3 the chromium of 52100, and the B in 50100-B indicates that the steel has been modified with vanadium, making this a chrome-vanadium steel." In other words, damn good steel to start with, plus Lynn Thompson put a lot of research into the heat treat, something not often mentioned. I have several blades in Carbon V and they all perform superbly.
 
Carbon V is high due to collector interest. I have an old, as in '95ish maybe, LTC in Carbon V. I LOVE it. It is exteremely tough, as well as an incredible design. I also have a Gurkha Kukri in SK-5. It's the old black blade version. I LOVE it. I haven't done near as much using and abusing of the Gurkha, but it has held up very well to chopping wood (seasoned oak) so hard it seems petrified, as well as clearing green mesquite and other brush. It stayed very sharp as well. In my experience, I haven't really been able to tell a difference between SK-5 and Carbon V. To me, they are both great steels. I'm a steel novice though. I don't know the details of various metals. I just know that basic carbon steels with proper treatment will perform plenty well for everything I've ever needed a knife to do. With SK-5, just as with ESEE/Rowen 1095, I can't imagine needing more performance than they offer. As for the country of origin, my Gurkha is stamped "China", but the quality is outstanding. I wouldn't hesitate buying a Chinese CS product in SK-5 for a minute. Take care.
 
Hi, Frank, and thanks for the well wishes. Hope you're doing well. Also thank you for the steel information (and you, too, Ed).

The only Carbon V knives I have are the Recon Tantos. I agree that heat treat can be great, even in China. It all depends on who's frying the egg roll! I've seen horrible Chinese products...atrocious...but then, I'm old enough to remember when "Made In Japan" was the kiss of death for products. Then I remember when no one would buy a car or electronics unless they were made in Japan. (My neighbor, who was also my girlfriend...long story...berated me once when I bought a Japanese Mazda whilst she, poor thing, bought an American car. Bottom line was that even though her car kept running, her electric seats stopped going back and forth and her windows stopped working, period!)

Lynn Thompson has always kept a strong control over the heat treat of knives regardless of where they were made. His AUS8 knives were vastly superior to my AUS8 CRKT knives, though I loved the CRKT folders (except the chisel grind knives, which were only good for defense as fer as I was concerned). As stated in other posts, I had CS 440A folders that were great. They were better in edge retention, in fact, than the CRKT AUS8 folders I had. I can only attribute that to the outstanding heat treat that CS knives employ.

That said, heat treat can only go so far, all other things being equal. Edge retention for Recon Tantos is bound to be more than adequate. From the ones I've seen and handled, they're attractive and the black finish seems to be very nice. I've just kind of grown out of them. I used to not have have much use for fixed blades -- kind of like rifles for a handgun man. Now I'm really getting into fixed blades. All the more to spend my $$$ for!

Anyway, everyone here has been very helpful. It's nice being around technically competent people. The move from the U.S., Japan and other nations to China hasn't been easy, technically or politically. I bought many of my knives before the change, but I've seen both decent and crappy knives come out of China. But with the state of the economy and the cutting of corners and a combination of it all, I have no idea what'll happen.
 
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