Which PM2 steel wins?- K390 vs. Rex45 vs.4v

Which steel wins in existing coated PM2- K390, Rex45, 4V ?

  • 4v

  • K390

  • Rex45

  • Just show me the results

Results are only viewable after voting.
Status
Not open for further replies.
S

stabbyshooty

Joined
Jul 2, 2020
Messages
3
Between these 3 steels, which PM2 would reign supreme?

Rex45, K390, 4v

Rules:

Hardness would be indexed to tested production hardness of the existing Spyderco PM2's exclusively.

Edge geometry considerations can be maximized to post-factory sharpening.

Corrosion is not a factor as blades are coated in this imaginary scenario.

Non-answers like "not noticeably different", "would be better in a fixed blade", and comparisons to other steels not listed in the question are disqualified.

This is a head-to-head-to head battle for which would be the overall champion with your rationale explained.
 
I have no experience with any of those blade steels, and I would be rather surprised if there are many here who have lots of real world use experience with all three steels.
 
stabbyshooty said:
That's 2 disqualified comments that add nothing to the thread. Thumbs up.
Click to expand...
This post is disqualified for not meeting the OP standards. :)

Supreme at what?

From what I’ve heard from a guy who says he knows stuff...because internet.
K390 has best edge retention and the best strength at high hardness.
Rex and 4v have best toughness and hold a good edge (like m4 - am I disqualified not too?).

In my very limited and highly irrelevant opinion, Rex is over rated, 4v is great all around and K390 holds a great edge but sharpening isn’t a walk in the park.
 
Last edited:
Based on what we've seen with the hardnesses on these 3 in the PM2, it should be REX45 and it wouldn't really be that close if we're talking edge retention. REX has come in between 65 and 67 pretty consistently, K390 has been a bit disappointing at 63 to 64 , and 4V has tested at 62.5 on a few samples. REX at 65 should perform kinda close to K390, but if you get one that's around 67, it's a whole different ballgame.
 
And a third:
If you bought bought them to flip, the best is the one that gets the biggest return... making all of the OP's criteria just that much more irrelevant.
 
I'd go with K390 for the wear resistance. The PM is a little knife, so toughness is less likely to be a big issue, except maybe at the tip, which is easy to fix.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top