Which LW Manix is hi toughness and stainless?

[Bolster]

I'm not up to speed on the current metal formulations, can someone tell me which of the many lightweight Manix models has the lead for toughness? I want a tough stainless steel LW Manix. Edge holding is secondary (I have the 110V LW Manix for that!) Thanx.

[SG89]

CTS-XHP? But they are pretty hard to find. Brown knifecenter exclusive.

[TkoK83Spy]

Are you saying in general, or what's currently available through a distributor or secondary market?

[SG89]

Or BD1 is readily available

[Bolster]

Are you saying in general, or what's currently available through a distributor or secondary market?

I'd like to know both, but I may need to purchase from what's currently available if this turns into a grail search.

BD1 is high on toughness? Is there a SPY-27 LW Manix? S35VN?

One of Larrin's graphics:

[crow2071]

The SPY27 Manix is available. I think that would be the best choice of the current available Manix.

[TkoK83Spy]

Rex45, but may have to pay a few bucks more for it.

[Catamount123]

Might want to look into one of the CPM Cruwear versions. It has the toughness you’re looking for, and, although it's not technically stainless, it's still pretty corrosion resistant.

[SG89]

Forgot about spy27. You will probably want to go with that one.

[The Meat man]

I'd say SPY27, with BD1N a close second.

[Bolster]

Rex45, but may have to pay a few bucks more for it.

Rex45 is stainless? Thought it wasn't?

Might want to look into one of the CPM Cruwear versions. It has the toughness you’re looking for, and, although it's not technically stainless, it's still pretty corrosion resistant.

I have a cruwear mule which lives in a file drawer and the other day I pulled it out and was surprised to see oxidation on it. For this application, which might get damp and not noticed immediately, I need to go with a bona fide stainless, 11% chromium and all that...and I want a Manix, not an H1 or an LC200 blade...chances are it will stay dry but just in case, I want to go with stainless.

[The Meat man]

Rex45, but may have to pay a few bucks more for it.

Rex45 is stainless? Thought it wasn't?

No it's not - I'd rank it similar to CPM M4 in that regard. Would definitely be the strongest Manix steel, though.

[GarageBoy]

What do you mean by toughness? I highly doubt anyone's going to be batoning with a manix lw
https://youtu.be/A2A-m2nIVvo
here's what s90v looks like after being used to whittle aluminum and brass (thanks to outpost 76 for abusing his knives for us)

[TkoK83Spy]

Rex45, but may have to pay a few bucks more for it.

Rex45 is stainless? Thought it wasn't?

No it's not - I'd rank it similar to CPM M4 in that regard. Would definitely be the strongest Manix steel, though.

My bad, totally missed the stainless part! Was thinking so hard about the LW models I skipped right over that.

[Bolster]

What do you mean by toughness? I highly doubt anyone's going to be batoning with a manix lw
https://youtu.be/A2A-m2nIVvo
here's what s90v looks like after being used to whittle aluminum and brass (thanks to outpost 76 for abusing his knives for us)

By toughness, I'm referring to the area beneath the stress-strain curve, in particular, resistance to chipping/fracture. Correct, I don't intend to baton with a LW Manix. Thanks for the video link...!

[Wartstein]

I´ve had the BD1 Manix LW for about a year and do have the BD1N now.
Both get/got used for any more or less sensible knife task (so also "hard", but not "crazy") and seem to be tough enough, no chipping issues.

It is hard to find reliable data on the toughness of BD1/BD1N though. Larrin did not test those in his articles, but here is one that somehow indirectly refers to the toughness of BD1N: https://knifesteelnerds.com/2018/09/17/ ... fe-steels/ It says (quote): "Depending on the type of toughness test, the powder metallurgy process may give Vanax superior toughness to BD1N despite its higher carbide/nitride content because the carbide size is refined by the PM process. I am not aware of any toughness testing comparing the two." - Now Vanax is pretty high on Larrins toughness graph (you posted it above), a bit over S35VN or XHP - if it only may be tougher than BD1N, that could mean that BD1N is pretty tough too - ?! (A total laymans (my) assumption though)

Another thing to consider should you look into the BD1 / BD1N models specifically for toughness: I think there are still old BD1 models out there (this steel became replaced by BD1N some time ago in the Manix), perhaps BD1 is tougher than BD1N?! I don´t know, but just that BD1N is probably run harder (see the above linked article, below is a graph from it)

[BornIn1500]

Best bet is probably the standard BD1N

[Doc Dan]

I wonder if we will ever see an AEB-L model?

Anyway, I think BD1 or SPY27 are your best bets, now. I cannot imagine being able to do anything serious to these that might not also damage the knife itself. As Wartstein said, this steel I have used to do things I did not want to admit and it is still okay.

[Bolster]

Now Vanax is pretty high on Larrins toughness graph (you posted it above), a bit over S35VN or XHP - if it only may be tougher than BD1N, that could mean that BD1N is pretty tough too - ?!

That's some excellent sleuthing, Wartstein! Thanks! And BD1N is the inexpensive one, I think. So now it's down to the BD1N vs the SPY27. Decision time.

[Wartstein]

Now Vanax is pretty high on Larrins toughness graph (you posted it above), a bit over S35VN or XHP - if it only may be tougher than BD1N, that could mean that BD1N is pretty tough too - ?!

That's some excellent sleuthing, Wartstein! Thanks! And BD1N is the inexpensive one, I think.

Thanks!
But keep in mind: It is a risky thing when a total layman like me takes a master like Larrin Thomas perhaps out of context! It could very well be that he meant in the passage something along the lines: While 14C28N, Nitro-V, and Cronidur are certainly tougher than Vanax this is not clear concerning BD1N (here the full quote: "Depending on the type of toughness test, the powder metallurgy process may give Vanax superior toughness to BD1N despite its higher carbide/nitride content because the carbide size is refined by the PM process. I am not aware of any toughness testing comparing the two. 14C28N, Nitro-V, and Cronidur 30/Z-Finit have significantly better toughness due to the small volume of very small carbides/nitrides. 14C28N is likely similar to AEB-L which is the highest toughness stainless steel I have yet tested"i]