Which steels are most important to YOU?

I'm a fan of Elmax and 154CM for folders. S30V is nice too... but perhaps a little over hyped (to me).

When it comes to larger fixed blades, I've no experience with anything other than ESEE's 1095.
 
Heat treat, heat treat, heat treat.....

I think one reason people who go for carbon go for 1095 is that it's been around a while and is hard to screw up.
 
Cruwear/PD#1
3V/4V
O-1
52100
CPM M4
M2/M3-2
L6
5160
super blue
D2
S110V
BG42
VG10
CPM 154

A11 class
 
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I find super steels to be a rabbit hole for knife nuts. In actual users, some of the best steels I've come across are fairly humble. Rough Rider's 440A, 12C27 especially in the hands of Eka and Mora, plain old carbon steel, whatever Svord uses for the Peasant (reputed to be L6 but usually just described as tool or saw blade steel).

I'd rather pay for a boutique heat treat than a boutique steel. Interesting story. When I visited GEC, Bill Howard seemed a teeny bit disappointed/regretful about the use of O1 on the Farm & Field line. He found the end result after their heat treat spec between O1 and 1095 was, at best, negligible, yet the cost for O1 was significantly higher. Which ends up being counterproductive for the "budget" Farm & Field line. Then again, as I've said before, knife nuts are obsessed with "exotic" steels that have unusual letters and numbers ascribed to them, even if there's no actual advantage, so the use of O1 may have been as much of a selling point to compensate. And the power of suggestion means knife nuts can find advantages wherever they (don't) exist.
 
Fixed Blades--I like carbon steels, 1095 especially.
Folders--I really like tool steel. D2, CPM-M4. Been wanting to try 3v.

I have several stainless knives, but except for CTS-XHP I've found I'd rather have tool steels.
 
52100 and S35Vn. However, I could pretty well get by with any decently heat treated blade with the right geometry.
 
While I think the heat treat is the most important aspect of any knife steel, I do have some current favorite steels.

D2 - discovered by accident when purchasing a Queen sodbuster. I loved it from the first. Easy to sharpen, holds a fine edge very well, and is very rust resistant. Since I always carry a traditional (as well as a "work" knife) this is a favorite now. It is affordable, touches up well, and is a very solid performer. I have D2 bladed Ontario knives, Kershaw knives and Queen knives. Like them all.

8cr13mov/AUS8 - I can hear the gasps of despair from here! I bought a larger work knife (I am in construction) to do daily, ugly chore I didn't want to use a less robustly built, more expensive knife to do. I bought a RAT1 after a lot of conversation here on BF. The AUS8 was pretty soft, but even after it lost its razor edge it kept cutting. Both steels are easy to touch up (on sandpaper if needed!), don't rust easily, and make a completely affordable work knife blade. After cutting a couple of shingles, some sheetrock, scraping some caulk or whatever task comes along I can clean up my knives with either of the steels and put a fresh edge on in a literal minute, and it is back to work. Replacement of this type of knife is affordable, too. Since they aren't an arm and a leg to buy, I am not afraid to really put them to work. My RAT1 (AUS8) and my Kershaw Tremor (8cr13mov) are my favorite clip on workers

I have S110V, 154cm, 12nc27, VG10, AUS6, and a couple of others. All are good steels when matched to the right knife design, none would I see out because I like the steel so much I had to have more of it. The two stand outs would be the AUS6 that has come my way on a couple of Remington branded Pacific Rim traditionally patterned knives and the VG10. The AUS6 is as good as any steel I have ever had in a traditional pocket knife, and better than most. The VG10 is on a Kershaw "Crosslock", and it is superb. It is ground flat and thin, and it takes an edge that is very fine and holds it a very long time. To get it back to a razor, a few passes on a strop loaded with green compound and you are back in business.

I rarely carry carbon anymore. Although I have about 30-40 carbon bladed knives I have collected over the last 50 years, I don't miss rust prevention and soft steels at all.

Robert
 
I usually prefer steels that I can easily sharpen and that can take a nice edge (fine grain). 154cm is IMHO the best compromise between sharpenability (is that a word) and edge retention. Also quite tough for a stainless. Oddly I have take a liking to D2 lately as well...

As for carbon steels, I haven't found one that I didn't like :D Would love to try 52100 one day
 
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