S90V Love ~

[TomAiello]

I've definitely had the same experience with toughness on Spyderco's s110v v. s90v. S110v also has an edge in stain resistance in my use.

Honestly, for a small EDC folder, I'm perfectly happy with s110v, because I rarely chip them. With larger blades, I tend to use them harder and end up with chips. I've chipped my s110v Manix multiple times, and never chipped any other versions of that knife (even Maxamet, which people tend to think of as chipping easily).

I prefer M390 in general to either s110v or s90v, but I'd rather have s110v in the smaller folders and s90v in the larger (especially fixed) blades.

[Tucson Tom]

:cool: Been a fan of S90V before it was a thing.

Are you a hipster? That is the stock hipster saying.

[5-by-5]

:cool: Been a fan of S90V before it was a thing.

Are you a hipster? That is the stock hipster saying.

LOL'd

Beard but no man-bun

[DukeNiemand]

Definitely in agreement on S90V. I didn't see what the fuss was all about originally, but after I got a PM2 in it, I've been blown away with the edge character, wear resistance and toughness. It's probably the best all-round EDC steel. I can see why Spyderco uses it on a lot of their high end models.
The performance of S90V has been head and shoulders above 20CV in my experience. 20CV honestly feels a lot closer to S35VN in edge character, wear resistance, and even how it sharpens

[JMM]

I wonder if the chipping is due to s110v being run a few points higher

I would encourage you (actually anyone & everyone) to check out the video that Michael Christy did on s110v

https://youtu.be/0W5PkdCMMI4

[Tucson Tom]

I doubt that I am the only one to notice that several Sprints have been S90V and CF. And my take on those was that Sal himself has a liking for S90V. I don't think I am misrepresenting him. Anyway that caught my attention and is significant I think.

A good steel, regardless of what the hipsters think or thought about it (just teasing 5x5!!). I have a liking for it myself and think it is more well balanced than S110V. I tend to view S110V as a "poor man's Maxamet". Extreme in its properties with extreme edge retention. Kind of interesting that Spyderco chose it for a production steel. If they had asked me, I would have chosen S90V in lieu of S110V -- but they probably did well not to ask me.

Like TomA, my interest in S110V and Maxamet is in small blades, like the Native 5. Those steels seem chippy and (dare I say) brittle and would make me nervous in bigger blades, but maybe you need to factor in the user and how the knife will be used.

Anyway, S90V is great stuff.