What's up with 440c

I made and sold a bunch of my first knives out of 440C around 30 years ago when it was still a super steel. Had to order it from a company out in California that developed steel for the space program. It was and is a great steel, but like a lot of guys have stated, the heat treat is critical. Edge retention, toughness and ease of sharpening can be had, but 99% of off the rack stuff just doesn't do it for me.

Oh yeah, there was only 1 atmospheric controlled oven within 90 miles of me at the time. Man were those knives expensive to heat treat.

chiger,
 
I have several knives in 440C from Benchmade, all of which perform exceptionally well. I have one in that steel from Spyderco that, although I haven't used it as much, still performed quite well, too. Done right, it's an excellent steel.
Jim
 
To add to the above, there's a cadre of posters on here who prefer Benchmade's 440c over the newer "upgrade" 154cm.

I'm a fan of 154cm myself, but 440c is an all-around good steel.

It's just that with all the "higher end" steel available, "All Around, Good Using Steel" ends up near the bottom of the list!
 
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