Why doesnt spyderco use H1 steel on everything?

eyeeatingfish

eyeeatingfish

Joined
Dec 9, 2003
Messages
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I have a spyderco salt series knife made with h1 and i took it for three months of kayaking in the ocean. Never once rusted, and seemed to hold up just fine.
Ive read through some stuff on this website too, and all i find is praise of the H1 steel. So my wonder is this, why would spyderco use it on only a few knives? I just bought a delica with vg10 steel and im wondering if this was a mistake. Wearing it inside a police vest that might get sweaty and get wet in the rain.
Is vg-10 better than h1 in other areas? If they have a good performing steel that will never rust why isnt it being used in every knife out there? I do understand that it is a new steel and that may play some part though.
 
First reason:
H1 performs like AUS8 in terms or edge retention and sharpenability, VG10 holds an edge longer and sharpens about the same.
Second reason:
H1 has not been around near long enough in the spyderco line long enough for every spyderco to be made of H1. Also, H1 is not available everywhere that Spyderco is making knives, so to change their ENTIRE line would be EXTREMELY costly, and in lieu of our govt's action, Spyderco probably doesn't need anymore costs.
Third reason:
I like my S30V and VG10 quite a bit thank you. H1 is nice and a Tasman is my current edc but it doesn't hold an edge particularly well (but can get nice and sharp) and scratches VERY VERY easily.

I hope this helped answer your question
:)
Phil
 
That does help some, thanks.
How does vg-10 stand up against rust though?
Ive seen a guy use a normal spyderco diving before and it looked quite clean, so my guess is it cant be that bad.
 
H-1 is a great stainless, but it is no VG-10, ZDP-189, or BG-42.

One thing I'd like though is for all of the nested liners to be made of H-1 except the blades.

420 is pretty rust resistant but if the liners were H-1, I wouldn't ever have to think about it.
 
I've never had a Spyderco knife rust. I've never had any knife that I regularly carry rust. There was a similar discussion in another thread and the discussion was about different steels and rust. The short answer to the thread is that even if you use carbon steel in a salt water environment, a quick freshwater rinse and a drop of oil will keep your blade rust free. You'll get a nice patina on Carbon Steel after a while, but no rust. Quick and easy maintenance is all you need.
 
Another reason for not using H-1 in everything is that it is a work hardened steel. Sal posted elsewhere that hollow grinding is done on both sides simultaneously, so the hardening from grinding isn't a problem. Flat grinding is done on one side at a time. After grinding one side, the other can't be properly ground due to the hardening which took place when the first side was ground.

I live too far from salt water and like full flat grinds too well to want H-1 in everything ;)
 
And, yet another reason is that in order to maximize the benefit of it being rustproof, all other metal parts on the knife must be H1, titanium, or specially treated steel. For knives with liners, that would raise the cost. Even more so for models with bolsters and scales. But unless that were done, the number of complaints about rust would increase as folks became more careless about the way they treated their knives.
 
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