Been trying to learn a bit more about the various steels used to make knives beyond the hype and marketing. This seemed like balanced article, but I’m not an expert on the topic. For those with the expertise, what say you? What’s another article to read on the topic that summarizes the various steels? Some of the “ultra premium” steels like CPM S110V sound cool, but not clear the $ is worth it beyond bragging rights and such. But, buy once cry once as they say. Sounds like the basics will cover most people most of the time in most situations.
I don’t consider myself an expert on the topic, but like you, have tried to learn as much as I can on the topic by browsing Bladeforums and learning from the experts who are th experts. Just like I do here.
As far as S110v goes, from what I know, it is ultra wear resistant so it has great edge retention. Likewiise, it is that much harder to sharpen because of it.
It also depends on your needs. S110v might be wear resistant due to the vanadium content but is not as tough as say something like CPM-3V or CPM-M4. So if you are looking for a survival blade, S110v is probably not your best choice.
These type of steels get expensive because they are all of the powder metallurgy world which makes them a whole lot more uniform , but due to their wear and toughness, harder on the tooling and manufacturing equipment. Heat treating them correctly is usually also a tricky and expensive process which add to the cost. Correct heat treat is one of the most important parts of the process. You can have the newest and greatest steel, but if it’s heat treat is wrong, it will perform sub par and be no better than an “inferior” steel.
From what I have learned through Bladeforums and personal experience is the same steel from two different makers will have 2 potentially different heat treats. It the proper heat treating of the steel that is WAY more important than the particular steel itself assuming the steel you choose has the properties you are looking for. I own a Paramilitary 2 in S110v and loved it for about a year and a half and it finally needed a touchup sharpening. The metallurgy in the S110V requires more work (wear resistance) to get sharp than other knives in my collection and this knife, while sharp now is no longer in my rotation. Just don’t want to deal with the effort required to sharpen it up.
I consistently carry my CPM-S35VN steel Chris Reeve Inkosi and my GEC 15 Beer Scout in 1095 Carbon Steel. 1095 Carbon steel is easy to care for, keep it oiled and/or dry after use and it will patina, which protects the blade from rust. The Reeve Inkosi is Stainless and requires no care but a cleaning 3-4 times a year and stropping every other month to get shaving sharp. For fix blades camping I use Carbon Steels like A2 and O1 along with CPM-S35VN steel knives as well. While I own dozens of supersteel knives, I rarely use them as the less “super steels” fit my needs perfectly.
Personally, I’ll take the overall outstanding performance of S30V and S35VN with their relative ease of sharpening over the more premium S90V and S110V. To a lesser extent, I’d also prefer 1095 and O1 over D2 and A2 if talking about non-stainless blades. For a large knife, 5160 all the way. Assuming all are properly heat treated, of course.
FWIW the bushcraft/outdoors world is pretty big in the hard carbon steels like 1095. They take an edge well, put up with a lot of abuse, and can be used to strike for combustion. The trade off is that they need a bit more care as for as oiling and such to prevent rust.
That’s not to say the stainless blades aren’t good, but I. Price they usually cost a lot more.
I have read tons of stuff but tend to lend more credence to my real world experience. S110v is great at getting a really keen edge, but is super chippy, s90v is similar. S30 tends to hold a working edge for a long time, but does not keep the very keen edge very long. S35 is a bit better than s30 at holding the keen edge. D2 is good, but can rust and is similar in performance to s30 imo. My only experience with 154cm is benchmade’s, and it is garbage…too soft to hold an edge for any prolonged use. I find, based on my limited experience, Elmax and m390 seem to have the best overall balance of edge retention (wear resistance) and toughness (resistance to chipping).
All of my experiences have been with either my own knives, or those of customers, so I have tested a good 3-4 dozen knives in various steels. I have experience with bigger knives done in higher carbon steels like 5160, 1095, 52100, etc. and I find all of these to depend on the heat treat (52100 gets chippy at around 60-61 RWH).
If heat treated correctly, S110V or S90V should not be super chippy. Now, saying that, compared to 5160, CPM-3V, and CPM-M4, S110V will be more chippy in hard conditions. It just doesn’t have the same toughness as these steels do, but a well known and respected Bladeforums steel tester, commented S110V as not chippy if the heat treat was done correctly.
I agree, M390 is great, Elmax too, as well as CPM-20CV, and CTS-204P. (all similar) My edc is S35vn (an old ZT0550). It does a decent job at holding a working edge, but keeping it hair popping, takes time and effort.
Most of my knives are either Elmax or S35VN, have great edge retention and haven’t had problems with chipping. I have one in S90VN and it is great so far but wat a bitch to get sharp (beyond factory edge).
I have a Fallkniven F1 in 3G. I did not see that steel on this list. That said, i have been very pleased with the knife so far in basic camp site use and minor food prep.
This is helpful to understand the composition differences of various knife steels…
3G is a layer of SGPS (more commonly known as SG2) layered between two pieces of VG2. I have an older Shun kitchen pairing knife that uses SG2. It is one of the earlier powder metallurgy super steels back in the day. It holds an edge pretty well for the kitchen but a lot trickier to sharpen than VG10 is.
It seems the more reading I do, the more confusing the topic gets. You also have steel snobs that claim X steel is garbage, yada yada, when it has a generally good track record. Seems just as important, if not more so, how the steel is heat treated. You’ll read 440C is a good all around steel and keeps price points down, followed by someone claiming it’s total crap.
Well even well heat treated 440c will not retain a keen edge anywhere near as long as some the “super” steels. Heat treat is very important, as each steel has a sweet spot where it gets as hard as it can get without getting brittle. 440c hits that point between 55-58 rc, whereas m390 hits it at 61-63 rc. There is no physical way for a 58 to retain an edge as long as a 61, so yes 440c is inferior…not to say garbage.
I would say the steel should meet the task. I prefer certain steels, but if the best steel costs more than you want to pay and is overkill for the tasks you will use it for, then I can see how someone telling you that x steel is garbage and y steel is what you want…that seems absurd. With how many knifemakers are now producing d2 knives in the $50 and less range, it is easy to get overkill for a good price, and yes properly heat treated d2 will retain an edge longer than properly heat treated 440c. I see a ton of people piss on 440 mostly due to terrible knives made with terrible heat treats have given it a bad name. It is fairly inexpensive to produce, and easy to obtain, so a ton of discount knife makers use it and produce garbage knives…not always the fault of the steel.
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Good info, thanx. You’ll read about some knife made to fit a purpose and price point, perhaps made of 440c, or 1095 and someone invariably says “…it would be perfect if it were only made with X steel”
My problem is, if I buy a higher end knife, it sits in the safe cuz I don’t want to scratch it! $50 for a knife made from d2 sounds great.
Well, the steel will mini cutjack is like $40 and Bestech has a buncha knives with bearings, g10, and d2 steel all around $50.
I have a number of knives ranging from $100-300, and I use them all without fear. In the event you want a good knife and are still worried about scratches, send it to me and will stonewash or acid stonewash the blade for you.
One pic is a ferrum forge Crux that I modded and the other is a Bestech lion that I acid stonewash, sharpened, tuned then gave away.
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Nice. Like the mirror edges on them as well. Overkill on an edc knife cuz they don’t stay that way, but nice nonetheless. Even Brous is now selling his import D2 lines in the $70 and less range.
They look great. 
What steel do you prefer for large fixed blade survival/utility/SHTF knives?
M390/20CV has pretty much made other steels obsolete for me.
For larger survival type knives I would prefer something like 3V. 20CV (M390) for smaller ones. The 20CV will hold an edge better than 3V and more corrosion resistant, but can’t take the abuse like 3V can.
The 3v fits me just fine. Just depends on what you’re using it for.
3v and 5160 are my fav fixed blade steels, but 1095 isn’t bad when heat treated correctly
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