Best steel?

[skcusloa]

what is the best blade steel for all around cutting?

[severedthumbs]

Imo S30v. .

[TheSurgeon]

s30v... indeed...
although... it's depend on purpose...

TheSurgeon :mad:

[OutofGum]

How does s30v compare with vg-10? Trying to decide which Native to get...

[severedthumbs]

For my daily use I have found s30v to be superior to vg-10 as far as edge retention.

[voxnaes]

All I´ll say is "chip..chip..", but then again, I do like my S30V Sebenza
The VG10 is a GREAT steel, but as said before, what´s your needs? :D
Vox.

[JDEE]

I have knives in both steels. Technically S30V should be the best and in reality I found it the best but when it comes down to the nitty gritty of day to day EDC use there is not much difference between the two. It is not only the steel that is different in the 2 Natives the "III" has a number of differnces inc. wire clip, thicker handle and blade etc. I would pick what is the most comfortable.

[Hellz]

Tricky one...

I've found VG10 to be easier to maintain.

I've found S30V has better edge retention.

So which do I use for EDC? Well currently VG10, but for my outdoor activities and heavy use it's an S30V Military.

Not much help, sorry :rolleyes:

Hellz

[skcusloa]

Wow, I thought VG-10 was the best available. I've been extremely impressed with it. I'll have to try something with s30 in it.

[Outlaw]

I have a PE S30V Native & a Combo Edge Military which are great. The Native being especially sharp & VERY easy to maintain. I was really sold on the S30V.

Then....

I got a VG-10 PE Goddard.
I don't know if it's the design of the blade or what, but the VG-10 Goddard is amazing.

To me S30V seems to cut very easily. The VG-10 seems to effortlessly separate whatever form of matter is placed in front of it.
I love 'em both but give a slight edge to the VG-10, but that's just me.
There's probably not a whole lot of real world difference & you should be very happy with either steel. I am!

BTW....
I bought a few items at the SFO a few years back. As I left the store I noticed the bag which held my items had something like... "Spyderco High Tech Matter Separators" printed on it. I thought it was cool!

[DAYWALKER]

Aloha!

This is gonna be weird, but for me, AUS8...BUT so far, VG10 has been very good to me as of late!

[downunder]

For me at the moment, I'm with Outlaw - VG10, but for all the wrong reasons. My favourite knife is the Goddard (I don't understand why this isn't Spyderco's most popular knife) and it just so happens that it's made of VG10. So I like VG10 because that's what the Goddard is made of. If the Goddard was made in S30V, guess what my favourite steel would be then. And yes, I do own other Spyderco knives, a military in S30V and also a Delica II in Aus6. Love them both, just not as much as the Goddard.

[Jimd]

S30V is a very good steel. I was cutting a lot of cardboard yesterday with my S30V Dodo (serrated). Upon finishing, I figured I'd go in and touch up the edge. I checked, though, and I seriously couldn't detect any difference from when I started, it seemed to be unaffected.

I've never tried VG-10 yet. I have a knife in BG-42 and like it a lot. I've had good and bad knives in ATS-34.

I agree with Downunder; I think the knife design is more important than the steel, for the most part, if we're talking about quality steels, which we are here.

[ricknhman43]

Ats-34 or 154cm(both are equal), are both great steels,just manufactured by Atachi and Cruciable. Most custom makers prefer them. They cut very well and are easy to resharpen, and are very good quality. Blade Magazine had an article just recently regarding this. The author of the article wrote about a hunting trip in which he skinned two mule deer and the knife(154cm) was still hair shaving sharp. The article mentioned that some people just want the newest steels. What do you want to cut, and how much of it? 52100 ball-bearing steel makes a terrific knife. Marbles knives are incredibly sharp, and cut wickedly, they were made out of 52100, but are now produced with another type. Dozier knives in d2 hold an excellent edge, especially when heat treated by the master(Bob Dozier). I guess it is all personal preference when you get right down to it. I have knives in all the steels I have mentioned, and they all cut fantastic.

[dialex]

Best steel for what? Knife, sword, axe, hammer (ok, let's forget about the hammer, it's a knife forum after all) Big, small knife, thin blade, broad one aso? Some steels are better at certain applications than others. I could easily say "S30V" and in many aspects I could be right, but I could as well be wrong. Be more specific please.

[Jimd]

The article mentioned that some people just want the newest steels. I guess it is all personal preference when you get right down to it. I have knives in all the steels I have mentioned, and they all cut fantastic.

Rick,I agree with you. I believe half of it is that we want the newest steel (myself included, in many cases). The other half is personal preference, as you said.

Honestly, I don't often see a dramatic difference in knife steel performance. Sharpening is another matter. Then again, I wonder if the differences in sharpening are more due to the particular knife design as opposed to the steel content. Or both.

As far as modern steels are concerned, it's tough to go wrong, unless we're talking about surgical steel. There are truly some awesome steels available to us these days.

[OutofGum]

I'm getting the Native as an EDC. As far as I can tell s30v and VG-10 are great steels, but there is some preference for VG-10. I plan to get a tri sharpener system and ease of maintanence is important to me right now.

While I would love to compare different knives in person, I don't know of any stores in the area that carry them. Looks like my next EDC with been the Native III Combo-edge. :D

[JD Spydo]

:) :spyder: I pretty much agree with most of the above opinions regarding the VG-10 and S30V blade steel analysis. I know some of you will want to throw rocks at me but I really like the ATS-55 in my :spyder: DYAD. For an EDC ( only on Sundays) I have had exceptional luck with that blade steel. Funny; you don't hear too much about it anymore. :confused:

[dialex]

ATS-55 is IMO a very underrated steel. You're gonna laugh, but I love it too. I had great results with it.

[JD Spydo]

ATS-55 is IMO a very underrated steel. You're gonna laugh, but I love it too. I had great results with it.

I have 2 of those Dyads ( the big one and the little micarta one) and both of them have ATS-55 and I find no fault with it at all. I do like S30V a little better, I must admit. JD Spydo :) :spyder: