What is your blade steel preference?

[littlejack]

Last Friday, I ordered a knife from Blade HQ. The knife being a Bear Ops Bear Swipe lll (long name) This is a sister company of the Bear and Sons Cutlery in Jacksonville, Alabama. I received the knife Monday the 16th. I had never heard of this company until I started my search for a decent EDC knife. Myself not being a knife junky, I did not know the great amount of many different steels that are offered as blade steel. My particular knife has 14C28N steel for its blade. The composition is such that it is fairly easy to sharpen, holds an edge pretty well, rather tough, and has enough chromium in it to be called stainless steel. This particular knife shows off the craftsmanship that was put into its manufacturing. Very nice assisted opening for EDC. So, with all that said, anyone want to comment on their expierience with this particular steel, or any other steels that you prefere?

[358429]

I like 1095 carbon for my gardening matchetes. It's soft and durable so striking rocks rolls instead of chips the sharp edge. I sharpen with a mill file and use the sun's reflection from the blades edge to guide my hand. I have also used sandpaper attached to wood with screws to do the same thing.

I do have a favorite little camp knife made with fancy chinesium steel called 9Cr18MoV. Takes forever to sharpen and need to use the diamond and ceramics if you value your patience. "Brow tine" made by crkt.

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[Chill Wills]

It is in the Budget category of the good knife steel. Budget does not mean bad, not at all. It means large batch size (foundry run) can be made for the knife industry and the cost is kept down.
14C28N steel is a very good balance of the four properties, edge retention, toughness, ease of sharpening, and corrosion resistance.
It is good EDC knife steel. It is not outstanding in any one area nor is it lacking in any one area either. In steel, everything is a tradeoff.

[echo154]

Your question is not easy to answer as you do not state intended use other than EDC. If you use the EDC for cutting all manner of garbage I would stay on the low price end. My EDC knives are from Benchmade and Microtec. I carry the Micotech for Dress carry...IE nice blue jeans and button up shirt.....I carry the Benchmade a very large percentage of the time it is the Benchmade. The Microtech has an S-30-V blade and the Benchmade is from ATS-34. I also have High Carbon steel bush knives. Carbon will rust quickly if not cared for. The stainless alloys are much more user friendly, though I would shy away from dirt cheap stuff...unless your gonna dig in the dirt while metal detecting. The other things to consider wether you want any serration on the blade.....great for cutting rope, cordage etc., or smooth edge......I have both I like a combo blade but must admit my main EDC is a Benchmade with straight edge. It sharpens well and is dependable. I prefer either AUS A 8 or the S-V-30 stainless FWIW.

[echo154]

By the way Chill Wills was one of my favorite character actors (my favorite was him in McClintock)! to address a budget EDC.....I would say that certain things are a tradeoff. My grandpa who was poor in his early days (self taught master machines by his 30's) spoke of Buying the best tools you can afford...you usually only buy them once! My first knife was a Buck 3 blade pocket folder, which I still have. Like I always tell my wife when she asks me if I have a knife...."I've got my pants on don't I".

[sharps4590]

Favorite, pattern welded, most owned, good carbos steel. Least favorite, stainless.

[GhostHawk]

I prefer good carbon steel but have learned the last 10 years that stainless if taken care of will hold an edge longer. It will take a little more work to keep that edge in good operating condition. But not that much more.

As to the particular knife you mentioned, it fails on a couple of points for me.

A I admit that I am a knife and gun ***** but I am a cheap one. Yours is about double what I would ever spend.

B Pocket clip is on the wrong end. Should be on the other end. So when you slide it out your finger falls naturally on the flipper to open it. The way it is at some point you have to give the knife a 180 degree flip to orrient itself to your hand correctly. Which is a point where Murphy can step in and cause a bobble.
Just at the point when you need it in your hand, open, ready for business.

C IMO the blade is a touch short. I'd of been happier with a 3.25 to 3.5 inch blade.

D As to steel, only way you know that for sure is time and experience.

https://www.amazon.com/Eafengrow-Cle...7K9NG6MF&psc=1

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

https://www.amazon.com/KCCEDGE-BEST-...9375356&sr=8-1

Bought my first 2 from BudK for 20$.
The Damascus black takes and holds and edge well.

I see with this one they got the pocket clip fixed. So ordered one to test it out. If it makes the grade its my new EDC.
17.15 with tax from Amazon.

[Dom]

What ever Buck knives uses. They have not failed me for decades.

[Chill Wills]

By the way Chill Wills was one of my favorite character actors (my favorite was him in McClintock)! .

Me too - he was able to put a lot of color into his supporting roll in McClintock.
To keep it on topic, I am sure they carried high carbon blades in those days.

[Buck Shot]

I've been a fan of certain SS steels used by Case XX knives...I think they might call it "surgical stainless" or something like that. Takes a scary-sharp edge and holds it very well (at least for SS), in my experience.

I've also had good results with the Frosts Mora (non-stainless) laminated steel, with a layer of very hard steel sandwiched between tougher, more ductile steels. Takes a super-sharp edge, and holds it very, very sell, so long as you don't drop it and nick it.

[megasupermagnum]

What ever Buck knives uses. They have not failed me for decades.

There's more than one, but the standard is 420HC. I have a hard time finding any other alloy that is truly better overall.

[littlejack]

358429:
That Brow Tine is a really nice lookin knife. From what I have read about the d iui fferent steels for blades, the 9Cr18MoV is a pretty good. As far as Japan and Chinese steels go, they can match any metal makeup made anywhere, as can other countries. Way back, when I was a kid most anything made in Taiwan, or China and some Japanese items, was junk. I guess it all depends on how much quality they want to put into a product.
Chill Wills, I did look up the strong and weak points of the 14C28N steel in my search, and it did look like a good combination of the properties for a knife steel.
Echo 154, I tend to treat my EDC knifes with care, as with most everything I own. I guess I've learned during my life, if you're gonna shell out your hard earned money for an item, it's worth taking care of. I don't use them for screw drivers or scrapers, hacking on wood, try to pound it through a tree limb, etc. If in an emergency scenario, it would be a whole different story. So, I guess whittling, cutting rope, cardboard, jerky, pepperoni, cleaning fish, dressing game, slicing fruit, castrating calves, would be my EDC usage. Even if I carried an old junker knife, it would still be against my grain to abuse it. I can't help myself.
Sharps 45-90. I've never owned or used a welded, and or Damascus blade they sure purty though. Some a down right beautiful.
I have a couple carbon blades. While in Germany many, many years ago, my bil bought me a Puma Hunters Pal with the high carbon steel blade. It is a very fine knife.
Ghost hawk, I have a carbon steel Schrade Old Timer two blade folder. It's a big'n, 5.375 folded up. I tend to like bigger blades. Maybe from Dundee's holding is up and saying, That's a knife". Great line. Anyway, carried the Old Timer in its sheath under my coveralls for years. I worked in the steel fabrication trade. My coveralls eventually wore a hole through through the leather on the bottom outside corner. The blades on this knife are razor sharp. I really like carbon, but my stainless blades will also shave my arm with ease. My new Bear Swipe lll removed 39.99 from my wallet, but I think it was money well spent. It too has a 3 5/8"blade.
Dom, my dad bought my brother and I Buck knives one year for Chriatmas. It has passed many years ago. Although I carried it for a decade, I wasn't very happy with its edge holding capabilities. It would sharpen very well though.
Buck Shot, I have never owned a Case knife, but have never heard anything bad about them. I don't know if they changed their type of steel over the years, but others years ago used to swear by their quality.
Sorry for all the rambling fellas. I figure if someone takes the time to post a reply, it's worth my time to reply back.
Regards

[beemer]

I have a good many knives from old to new, stainless and carbon, higher end and cheep. Most any reputable brand make good serviceable knives, you just have to find the style, features and steel that fit your needs and all is well.

I am pretty picky about my EDC, A Buck with the clip on the back end and a Victorinox with a phillips screw driver, don't need no stinken' cork screw. The Buck 420HC is a good trade off for me, easy to sharpen and holds a decent edge.

The last Buck pocket knife I bought had the higher end steel, should have bought three of the same pattern with 420HC.

Dave

[tazman]

I have an early Cold Steel Tanto made with their San Mai steel. It is more useful as a skinning knife on large game than you would ever believe unless you tried it. It holds an edge as well as any knife I have ever used. I also have one of their early Ranger Tanto knives in coated carbon steel. It does really well also. A good combination of easy sharpening and edge holding.
I once skinned and cut up six whitetail deer over the course of two days without ever re-sharpening either of those blades and they had sections of the blades that would still shave hair off your arm after I finished.
Whatever steel they are/were using was really good stuff.
When I am in the woods, I carry lighter and less expensive Buck knives because I don't need that kind of capability in a woods knife. I also don't want to lose either of them.

[littlejack]

Dave, quite a few years ago, I bought two Kershaw Whirlwind assisted opening knives. I gave one to my brother. I carried mine for a few years then one day I found it was no longer clipped in my pocket. Yep, the clip hooked on something and it was gone. This had been my favorite EDC knife. I found out later that the blade steel was the 14C28N. It Sharpened easily and held the edge pretty well. I never did get around to replacing it. So now they've stopped making them and the survivors are sky high. I'm with you on the corkscrews.
Tazman, wow, that sounds like good steel.
What is "coated carbon"?

[poppy42]

I have an early Cold Steel Tanto made with their San Mai steel. It is more useful as a skinning knife on large game than you would ever believe unless you tried it. It holds an edge as well as any knife I have ever used. I also have one of their early Ranger Tanto knives in coated carbon steel. It does really well also. A good combination of easy sharpening and edge holding.
I once skinned and cut up six whitetail deer over the course of two days without ever re-sharpening either of those blades and they had sections of the blades that would still shave hair off your arm after I finished.
Whatever steel they are/were using was really good stuff.
When I am in the woods, I carry lighter and less expensive Buck knives because I don't need that kind of capability in a woods knife. I also don't want to lose either of them.

San mai is not a steel, It’s a technique to make a type of Damascus steel. San mai technique sandwiches a layer of high carbon steel between two layers of mild steel forge welded together. The mild steel on the outside is ground away exposing the high carbon steel for the edge of the blade. The mild steel gives the blade strength and flexibility well I carbon steel allows it to maintain a superior edge!

[tazman]

San mai is not a steel, It’s a technique to make a type of Damascus steel. San mai technique sandwiches a layer of high carbon steel between two layers of mild steel forge welded together. The mild steel on the outside is ground away exposing the high carbon steel for the edge of the blade. The mild steel gives the blade strength and flexibility well I carbon steel allows it to maintain a superior edge!

The fun part is, it works really well.

[littlejack]

Thank you for that information Poppy. Interesting technique.

[444ttd]

mine was made in WV by marvin wotring (RIP). he used steel banding in my damascus knife. it holds the edge better than any of my buck and schrader knives.

[jonp]

I started a similar thread some time ago and am happy to see a few knife steels i have not heard of. Ive bought several knives from Blade HQ and highly recommend them for selection amd price. I even bought the wife a new EDC for her birthday and had it personnalized for a nominal fee.

Ive gone to 8Cr13MoV as the more highly priced steels are too expensive considering the rate I lose EDC which is at 4? Spyderco's and counting. It has a good edge retention and is not hard to sharpen. 10 strokes each coarse and fine on a ceramic pocket sharpener and its ready to go. After a few Spyderco partial serrated edges I wont carry anything else.

Current carry is either a Byrd Harrier 2 or a Meadowlark (Byrd is Spyderco with cheaper steel made in China) bought from Blade HQ. Ive bought 4 Meadowlarks as they fit my hand and are slim enough to clip in my front left pocket keeping out of the way but large enough for tasks not requiring a fixed blade which are mostly covered by a few Mora.

Deer hunting i carry a bone handled fixed blade my Grandfather brought back from Germany after WW2