Why so stainless?

[Jamesh Bond]

I like carbon. I would take 1090 over S30v any day.

Despite the advances in modern stainless, I still havent found any of it to even come close to the combined edge retention and ease of sharpening of simple carbon. This is unfortunate considering all but one of my knives are stainless. I do really love them, but they could be be even better. Why the predominance ???

The MAIN reasons i can see are:

Folders. Less worry about corrosion problems in the not so easy to reach parts. Weak argument. But i guess i can see it. And why even go there on a fixed blade?

Sales. Form over function. Shiny = better. And new formulas and super steels to pitch, along with justification of high cost.

Environment. If you live in a jungle by the ocean, i can understand choosing say, H1. Still a weak argument. Carbon steel machetes have been the go-to in these places forever. Take care of your crap.

Notice, the only reason i cant really argue with is the second one.

So yeah, while i get satisfactory performance from my stainless knives, there is always that nagging annoyance in the back of my head reminding me that i had to compromise to own a given blade. That they could be better. It would be awesome if i could get a spyderco, kershaw, or cold steel folder in 1095 or whatever.

To each their own, and its cool to have so many choices, but factories that dont offer the option are limiting themselves and their customers.

I would like to get my bias shifted. Hoping to see lots of reasons i havent considered.

Thoughts?

 

[AmosPaul]

Do you like traditionals? They are often offered in 1090. Check out Great Eastern Cutlery.

 

[ebidis]

I live in the south, and it gets VERY humid in the summer time. So much so that working outside for any length of time, even just mowing the lawn, can completely drenched you in sweat. I have had carbon steel rust on me after carrying it for just a few hours.

 

[Insipid Moniker]

Low alloy carbon steel just doesn't have anywhere near the level of abrasion resistance I want in my folders. I often cut a lot of cardboard, rubber matting, plastic ties and such with my EDC. Now if we're talking about higher performance carbon steels like CPM-M4 that's a whole different ball of wax. I'd particularly like to see more folders with Super Blue in the blades, but the list of stainless steels I'd take over 1095 in a folder is vast and extensive.

 

[kakefat]

Back when I was doing mandatory service in the army I had a blade rust on me like crazy. It was during the winter and I was moving in and out of tents and vehicles all the time. When snow and ice melts inside of the tent or car it gets very humid and your knife rusts pretty much no matter how well you try to oil it. Oil wont stay on it forever during use.

Edit: Also there are plenty of good stainless steels nowadays that will outperform many high carbon steels at certain tasks. Have a look at the new cold steel line for instance. XHP all over the place.

 

[collim1]

My outdoor knife needs are almost always met by a Carbon steel Mora or Becker. I really prefer carbon steel, but for a pocket knife in my area its got to be stainless. It would be an inconvenient amount of maintenance to keep a carbon steel pocket knife from rusting.

 

[Jamesh Bond]

The fact that Cold Steel is finally offering some nice stainless does have me pretty exited. That said, XHP, as well as many other high performance stainless steels, get that way with a ridiculously high RC hardness. Hard to sharpen and brittle.

 

[kakefat]

My experience with XHP is that its actually easy to sharpen and very robust. I only have one blade in xhp which is the spyderco techno. It sharpens very well and take a wicked edge. Cold steel usually does a fine job with their heat treatment so I think they should perform well.

 

[Russ Prechtl]

Rust resistance for me as well. I sweat A LOT and do jobs where I get wet a lot. I'd rather sharpen and hone than fight rust.

 

[marcinek]

The fact that Cold Steel is finally offering some nice stainless does have me pretty exited. That said, XHP, as well as many other high performance stainless steels, get that way with a ridiculously high RC hardness. Hard to sharpen and brittle.

If you don't like stainless, what about CS stainless is exciting to you? They use the same stainless steels everyone else uses.

 

[Franciscomv]

Most of my fixed blades have carbon steel blades. I really like O1, 52100, A2 and so on. But my EDC folders are mostly stainless. I live in a humid and warm part of South America. My stainless steel pocket knives need to be oiled often or they rust. And getting having to take them apart to reach pivot areas and stuff like that is a pain in the butt. I love carbon steel slipjoints, but they get very high maintainance in this environment.

In small blades like those on folding knives, I think modern stainless are excellent. Edge retention is very good and I think sharpening difficulties are greatly exaggerated.

 

[Skywalker31]

Low alloy carbon steel just doesn't have anywhere near the level of abrasion resistance I want in my folders. I often cut a lot of cardboard, rubber matting, plastic ties and such with my EDC. Now if we're talking about higher performance carbon steels like CPM-M4 that's a whole different ball of wax. I'd particularly like to see more folders with Super Blue in the blades, but the list of stainless steels I'd take over 1095 in a folder is vast and extensive.

Agreed. 1095, not interested. Been there, done that. CPM M4, 3V, PD1 - bring it on, I'm happy to use it, particularly in folders that get kicked around a little more and especially in fixed blades.

As another Southerner, though, it's really hard for me to argue with the combined performance and corrosion resistance of steels like M390, Elmax, and XHP. In my experience M390 in particular is pretty easy to do quick touch-ups on as long as you're not trying to take out any major chips. For most folders, that's my preference.

 

[Ankerson]

I like carbon. I would take 1090 over S30v any day.

Opinions are what they are and everyone has one.

Despite the advances in modern stainless, I still havent found any of it to even come close to the combined edge retention and ease of sharpening of simple carbon. This is unfortunate considering all but one of my knives are stainless. I do really love them, but they could be be even better. Why the predominance ???

Interesting, what knives are you using?

The MAIN reasons i can see are:

Folders. Less worry about corrosion problems in the not so easy to reach parts. Weak argument. But i guess i can see it. And why even go there on a fixed blade?

Not a weak argument at all.

Sales. Form over function. Shiny = better. And new formulas and super steels to pitch, along with justification of high cost.

Totally misinformed comment, don't even know were to start, sounds like someone needs a steel 101 lesson.

Environment. If you live in a jungle by the ocean, i can understand choosing say, H1. Still a weak argument. Carbon steel machetes have been the go-to in these places forever. Take care of your crap.

Machetes are a different topic and simple carbon steels are used to keep the costs down and are at very low hardness to easy maintenance and help with toughness as they see very rough use generally.

So yeah, while i get satisfactory performance from my stainless knives, there is always that nagging annoyance in the back of my head reminding me that i had to compromise to own a given blade. That they could be better. It would be awesome if i could get a spyderco, kershaw, or cold steel folder in 1095 or whatever.

Completely backwards...

To each their own, and its cool to have so many choices, but factories that dont offer the option are limiting themselves and their customers.

Completely wrong and backwards again.

I would like to get my bias shifted. Hoping to see lots of reasons i havent considered.

You need to read a lot more and post a lot less.

 

[jill jackson]

My Spydercos in S90V couldn't be any easier to sharpen on ceramic rods. I sure wouldn't swap that steel for 1090.

 

[Jamesh Bond]

Hmmm. It seems that corrosion resistance is a bigger factor than i have given credit. Keep em comin.

@marcinek, if you read what i actually wrote in both posts, you'll find your question was already answered.

 

[Ankerson]

My Spydercos in S90V couldn't be any easier to sharpen on ceramic rods. I sure wouldn't swap that steel for 1090.

Yep, S90V is very easy to sharpen on ceramics, the difficulty in sharpening is vastly overrated.

 

[Jamesh Bond]

Opinions are what they are and everyone has one.



Interesting, what knives are you using?



Not a weak argument at all.



Totally misinformed comment, don't even know were to start, sounds like someone needs a steel 101 lesson.



Machetes are a different topic and simple carbon steels are used to keep the costs down and are at very low hardness to easy maintenance and help with toughness as they see very rough use generally.




Completely backwards...



Completely wrong and backwards again.



You need to read a lot more and post a lot less.

Ankerson, you could have easily posted educational insights instead of fishing with random, useless comments. You haven't the foggiest clue how much i read. Someone does, indeed, need to post a lot less.

Thx to everyone keeping this benign and educational. Looking forward to hearing more of your opinions.

 

[Ankerson]

Ankerson, you could have easily posted educational insights instead of fishing with random, useless comments. You haven't the foggiest clue how much i read. Someone does, indeed, need to post a lot less.

You don't read much or are reading the wrong things from what you posted in that 1st post, haven't seen a post on BF that was that far off in awhile.

So what knives have you been using to base your opinions on?

That would explain a lot I am thinking..

 

[The Aflac Duck]

Ankerson, you could have easily posted educational insights instead of fishing with random, useless comments. You haven't the foggiest clue how much i read. Someone does, indeed, need to post a lot less.

Thx to everyone keeping this benign and educational. Looking forward to hearing more of your opinions.

Ankerson is very knowledgable about all things sharp and pointy, I wouldn't call him out like that...

I think you just don't know what you're talking about OP. It seems like you have been reading people's opinions about steel types, rather than factual evidence...

 

[Ankerson]

Ankerson is very knowledgable about all things sharp and pointy, I wouldn't call him out like that...

I think you just don't know what you're talking about OP. It seems like you have been reading people's opinions about steel types, rather than factual evidence...

Yeah it sounds like a bunch of BS and or a troll thread to me.

That's why I asked what knives he was basing his opinions on so maybe we could have some point of reference to start from.