why have custom hunting knives migrated to carbon steel?

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bdmicarta

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Feb 16, 2012
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I was into collecting custom hunting knives 10-15 years ago and at the time ATS34 was the popular steel. Now when I see custom hunting knives for sale here it seems that the majority of them are carbon steel. I know the advantages and disadvantages of each steel and it would seem to me that for a pure hunting knife a good stainless steel would be preferred, while for a survival knife or bushcraft knife carbon steel has the advantage. I'm saying this because a hunting knife isn't as likely to be used for chopping but is used in an environment conducive to corrosion and will benefit from better edge holding while a survival or bushcraft knife will be used in a way that benefits from a tougher steel. Is the current use of carbon steel just a fad? Are buyers preferring carbon steel now?
 
Thomas Linton said:
One relevant word in your first line is "here."
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Yep.
Most of the top makers of hunting knives use a stainless, or D2 which is as close to a stainless as you can get.
My favorite three makers of hunting knives are, Gene Ingram, Charles May, and Bob Dozier.
Gene, and Charles use mostly S30V, and D2. Dozier mostly D2, though he does use other steels.
 
Could be that a bad economy has made bushcraft and survival more popular, people see a knife that can do double duty as a better investment.
 
bdmicarta said:
I was into collecting custom hunting knives 10-15 years ago and at the time ATS34 was the popular steel. Now when I see custom hunting knives for sale here it seems that the majority of them are carbon steel. I know the advantages and disadvantages of each steel and it would seem to me that for a pure hunting knife a good stainless steel would be preferred, while for a survival knife or bushcraft knife carbon steel has the advantage. I'm saying this because a hunting knife isn't as likely to be used for chopping but is used in an environment conducive to corrosion and will benefit from better edge holding while a survival or bushcraft knife will be used in a way that benefits from a tougher steel. Is the current use of carbon steel just a fad? Are buyers preferring carbon steel now?
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If I was out hunting, I'd want a knife that was tough as nails, holds a decent edge, gets ridiculously sharp AND was dead easy to sharpen. Tool steel fits the bill. A lot of the stainless steel knives won't take as fine an edge as a carbon steel will. This means less clean cuts. The stainless steels tend to be more wear resistant as well, which means harder to sharpen. Corrosion isn't an issue when using 02 or D2. Get a nice patina on it, clean it and wipe it with an oily rag. No rust issues.

You will notice that the trend isn't just in customs. Some 'higher end' production hunting knives made with carbon steels can be seen from blind horse knives and Bark River Knife and tool.

There is also the whole retro thing and what is in 'fad'. You just watch, the entire industry will take an about face towards stainless again.
 
Most of my users are not SS.

Can't beat non-SS for tough, but sharp? Try finding a razor blade that is not stainless.
 
timbit said:
A lot of the stainless steel knives won't take as fine an edge as a carbon steel will. This means less clean cuts. The stainless steels tend to be more wear resistant as well, which means harder to sharpen.

Corrosion isn't an issue when using 02 or D2. Get a nice patina on it, clean it and wipe it with an oily rag. No rust issues.
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S30V, and many other stainless steels will take an edge just as well as a carbon steel. You are right about the sharpening though as most carbons are somewhat more easy to sharpen. Though I find most stainless steels easy to sharpen as well.

Also D2 won't take a patina like other carbon steels. Its as close to a stainless as you can get, and about like ATS-34 in this regard.
Most custom maker won't do an acid etch on it because it is so hard to get it to take one.

Price is another factor why many go with a carbon.
 
I work about equally with carbon, tool and stainless steels. There are outstanding choices in all three areas. It just depends on what the client needs.
 
My suspicion, based on watching the "for sale" section, is that appearance is trumping corrosion resistance and wear resistance, and it is simpler to grind and heat treat a simple low alloy "carbon" steel knife than it is a modern high alloy (higher abrasion or corrosion resistance, or both) steel knife. If low alloy knives with pretty handles at the $200 price point are popular then makers will produce "carbon" steel knives with pretty handles. If a completely functional stainless knife at $250 won't sell but a 1095 with stabilized wood burl handles at $200 will, then a lot of makers are going to jump on the carbon steel bandwagon.
The preference could be due to nostalgia, the economy, the desire to have something new to show off to your friends at an affordable price, or simply the opinion that "stainless" is hard to sharpen or the edges aren't stable.
 
From what I have heard the most from personal experiences most hunters always say they want a blade that touchs up very easy. Also I'm sure some hunters are steel aficionados however I don't know any personally. While many of us know there are now some very good stainless out there many do not. My father would never buy a hunting knife in stainless and personally loves Case CV. I think you hit the nail on the head when you suggest nostalgia.
 
cost, ease of heat treat, rise of bushcraft, more non-stainless options that are not actually carbon steel, sharing of techniques for hamon/differential heat treat/quench lines

I would also think the more time passes from Bob Loveless' taking the knife world by storm, the less influence his steel choice has.
 
timbit said:
What is harder to heat treat and grind. Stainless or simple carbon steels?
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Stainless are supposed to be hard to grind things like s90v
And IMO sense most makers want to keep the cost down some do are doing the heat treat there self.
A lot of high end super steels Need cryo treat. Taking a steel up to I forget how high of a temp they have to get it up to but I know they have to dunk it in liquid nitrogen wich can not be cheap
 
The LN is very inexpensive when buying in bulk. For 1 gallon of LN it cost .45cents. Using it is the easy part, to buy in bulk u need a lisence. That's why you see mostly the big names use it.. My dads cousin work at argon national lab in Illinois, he told me the price for it 2 years ago. It could have gone up for all I know....I'm sure a custom 1 man knife maker can get his knives cryo if they looked around.they can send them off to get it done, but then it's cutting into there profit...because using it is more expensive than buying it...

Not to get off topic but he showed me some cool stuff with it, he made iced cream, we froze an apple and a watermelon.... Then we shot em with a 12G...all I can say is AWESOME!!!
 
Once upon a time a maybe 50 deer ago.. All I used was D2.. Then kinda by accident, I tried a Buxton in 52100.. That's all I use now.. The carbides are smaller on 52100 and it slicing flesh like butter.

Nothing wrong with D2 at all.. But 52100 for me.. Is what I prefer.
 
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