Will S30V ever be an "outdated" steel to you?

Macchina

Macchina

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When I got into knives back in the late 90's 440C and 154CM were the king of steels for folders. VG10 and D2 were advanced steels (that I still love) and ironically 1095 wasn't nearly as common as it is now. S30V would be released in 2001 and was instantly the king of stainless for folders!

Now that S30V is 23 years old (holy cow)! It seems it should have faded away, especially since S35VN and S45VN are "improvements" on the steel. But it hasn't and is still available in many premium knives. It is easily sharpened with diamonds and ceramic and tends to hold a useable edge (in my use) as long as steels that go for a much higher premium. It is a powder steel and arguably quite similar to many of the more recent super steel releases.

Some people have complaints about S30V (I've never had a chip in 23 years, but others claim to), but it's still a very attractive steel to me. I'll happily buy a several hundred dollar knife in it and bring a knife with it as my only knife for week-long hunts. I can't say the same for 440C and 154CM! Sure, the new super steels are fun and I like some of them more, but S30V crossed a threshold in edge holding and since what we use our knives on doesn't change the usability of S30V will never change either. It definitely seems to be sticking around.
 
All the s30v blades I have are still great knives. They keep a good working edge for a very long time. It doesn’t seem to take as keen of an edge as s35vn or s45vn which I really like but for the tough, dirty work s30v stays with it longer after I put a micro toothy edge on it.

I think s30v will be around a long time as it has proven it’s ability as a cutting edge tool.
 
Lesknife said:
All the s30v blades I have are still great knives. They keep a good working edge for a very long time. It doesn’t seem to take as keen of an edge as s35vn or s45vn which I really like but for the tough, dirty work s30v stays with it longer after I put a micro toothy edge on it.

I think s30v will be around a long time as it has proven it’s ability as a cutting edge tool.
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I've noticed this too. S35VN and S45VN seem to do some things better but overall don't seem to not hold the edge that S30V does. My S30V blades just cut for forever. I normally carry a slipjoint in 1095 and a folder, usually in S30V. The distance between 1095 and S30V is magnitudes compared to S30V to something like Magnacut.
 
S30v has always worked just fine for me, and I don’t ever foresee myself being so discerning that I’d feel “disappointed” in it. Having gotten started getting into knives in the 80’s, I had plenty of cool looking knives with crap steel, so anything is better than those in actual performance.

Heck, I’ve never been upset at my knives in VG10 or 154cm, either, although they’ve fallen out of favor. I’ve got others in some newer steels, but I’m sure I don’t really use each of my knives hard enough, or to their fullest potential, to fully appreciate such differences.
 
It's fine I guess. I'd almost like to have a lesser steel that is easier to sharpen or a bit nicer steel like S35vn that could impress me a little more. It's never going to make me go "oh cool, it's got S30V". I've got no complaints with it though.
 
Not sure what you mean by "outdated". The industry h=seems to have moved on from
S30V in favor of S35VN and now Magnicut though . . .so maybe it is already outdated.

Interesting to note that 440C is still used by some premium knife makers. Its gotta be 60+ years old as a formulation. is a steel out dated if it is still used by semi-production shops like Randall?
 
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Personally while I no longer consider myself a steel snob, I value tougher steels that don't microchip on me and S30V just doesn't really attract me. I briefly carried a couple of folders in S30V and the steel performed as you'd expect stainless steel to perform, held an edge ok micro chipped kind of easy and was nothing really special even though it did rust in my pocket on one occasion after a few hours of sweating. It's in this weird position where if I'm going for a well rounded stainless steel I just may as well get S35vn or S45vn while it also doesn't have the rugged simplicity and raw toughness that make low alloy steels like 80CrV2 and 5160 so attractive to me even in higher end knives. That being said, it is far beyond anything our great grandfathers could have dreamed of steel wise, I'd say it's far from obsolete even if it's not my first choice given an option between two or more steels.
 
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