XHP or Cruwear?

[jdw]

I have heard XHP and Cruwear both described as a variation of D2. I was just wondering how close they are to each other in comparison and what folks thought of each? I own both and love both but I can't tell a lot of difference between the two. But I am not really a heavy enough user nor enough of a steel junkie to get it.

[ejcr98]

Jdw,

I don't own either steel but I am interested in both.

Since you have both, which one is more corrosion resitant and which one is easier to sharpen?

[ricechrispy]

I do know that XHP is stainless and Cruwear is not.

[jdw]

Jdw,

I don't own either steel but I am interested in both.

Since you have both, which one is more corrosion resitant and which one is easier to sharpen?

I haven't had any corrosion problems with either steel since I live in a pretty dry place, although I have heard others say that XHP is more corrosion resistant. I find both relatively easy to sharpen with a slight edge retention advantage to the Cruwear.

[dplafoll]

Why not both?

[bearfacedkiller]

They are two of my favorites.

Take a gander at the compositions. XHP is a powdered stainless. Cruwear comes in both ingot and powdered, so does D2. The Cruwear Mule was ingot, the other Cruwear Spydies have been CPM. Cruwear is an old steel that has gone by many, many names. To learn more read up on PD1, Vascowear, Z-wear and Spectrumwear. Those are all other names for it. Cruwear isn't supposed to be stainless but mine sure seem like they are.

In use they are in a similar class from my experiences. Cruwear has Tungsten and more Vanadium and should be more wear resistant. The other two have quite a bit more chromium. Different carbide formers.

I prefer Cruwear. I have a custom Puukko in D2 that I LOVE. It is used a lot. All three of these steels work well for me.

[toomzz]

They are two of my favorites.

Take a gander at the compositions. XHP is a powdered stainless. Cruwear comes in both ingot and powdered, so dwearoes D2. The Cruwear Mule was ingot, the other Cruwear Spydies have been CPM. Cruwear is an old steel that has gone by many, many names. To learn more read up on PD1, Vascowear, Z-wear and Spectrumwear. Those are all other names for it. Cruwear isn't supposed to be stainless but mine sure seem like they are.

In use they are in a similar class from my experiences. Cruwear has Tungsten and more Vanadium and should be more wear resistant. The other two have quite a bit more chromium. Different carbide formers.

I prefer Cruwear. I have a custom Puukko in D2 that I LOVE. It is used a lot. All three of these steels work well for me.

Capture1.JPG

Interesting, I have little experience with both; I had a mule in cruwear and still have theTechno in XHP. I do like XHP so far. I am looking forward to more experiences with both steels, both in cutting and sharpening/stropping.

[attila]

CTS XHP and CPM Cruwear are really not very similar in composition, but they are both improvements over D2, albeit with different goals.

XHP will be a true stainless steel (16% chromium), and CPM Cruwear is far from stainless in that it has even less chromium than D2 (7.5% vs 12% respectively). Both CPM Cruwear and D2 have enough chromium to be considered semi-stainless, but neither will tolerate corrosive environments well.

CPM Cruwear has a healthy dose of tungsten and far more vanadium than D2 or CTS XHP for noticeably better abrasion resistance. CPM Cruwear also is formulated for improved toughness.

Thus, CTS XHP is a stainless with otherwise D2-like characteristics, while CPM Cruwear is a tougher, more abrasion resistant alternative to D2 at the cost of corrosion resistance.

Of course, ALL characteristics of an alloy are subject to changes in heat treatment schedules and alloying variables, making statements such as my above discussion only really good for qualitative comparisons.

ETA: was typing when above posts written. Sorry for some redundant info.

[ejcr98]

Thanks for the replies to my inquiries. I was considering the Para 3 in Cruwear and still considering the Rhino if it ever gets released but I live in an island in the Caribbean and I rather have my knives not need too much maintenance on the corrosion department, so I guess the Para 3 is out.

[murphjd25]

These are definitely my two favorite steels right now. They are both fantastic and a joy to sharpen. I carry my XHP knives more often though.

[The Mastiff]

Pretty good stuff in this thread. I couldn't find anything to argue with here especially with Attila's description. XHP was a powder steel offshoot of 440XH ( stainless D2) just like Cruwear is a powder steel descendant of the original Vasco Pacific's Vascowear. That probably goes back even further but that is as far as I've traced it. Actual new alloys are fairly rare. 440XH was rare enough that I've never encountered it in my knife collecting. They (XHP & Cruwear) both sure make good knives IMO.

Joe

[Username827]

Thanks for the replies to my inquiries. I was considering the Para 3 in Cruwear and still considering the Rhino if it ever gets released but I live in an island in the Caribbean and I rather have my knives not need too much maintenance on the corrosion department, so I guess the Para 3 is out.

Just grab one that has a dlc coated blade. :cool:

[ejcr98]

Just grab one that has a dlc coated blade. :cool:

Username827:

I believe the DLC coated ones are in S30V. I already have the PM2 digi camo/dlc and the Sage 5 in S30V. If I get a Para 3 I don't want it to be in S30V just because I rather try a new steel.

[JRinFL]

Just grab one that has a dlc coated blade. :cool:

Username827:

I believe the DLC coated ones are in S30V. I already have the PM2 digi camo/dlc and the Sage 5 in S30V. If I get a Para 3 I don't want it to be in S30V just because I rather try a new steel.

There is always the Para 3 in s110v if you want to try something other than s30v.

[Doc Dan]

I actually like XHP. It has great corrosion resistance and it is easy to sharpen while holding a good edge. You will note that Cold Steel also switched to this steel for their hard use folders. It is good stuff. I am angry at myself for missing the KC Manix in this steel, but it could not be helped. Hopefully, we will see a steel upgrade to this steel.

[chuck_roxas45]

I have both steels in a military. I would prefer cruwear but won't be too sad with XHP.

[Slumblor]

I actually like XHP. It has great corrosion resistance and it is easy to sharpen while holding a good edge. You will note that Cold Steel also switched to this steel for their hard use folders. It is good stuff. I am angry at myself for missing the KC Manix in this steel, but it could not be helped. Hopefully, we will see a steel upgrade to this steel.

I like both, but use XHP much more, its a great all around EDC steel. I have the KC Manix2 LW and it's great, but I'm angry at myself for missing the CF Cruwear Manix2

[DougC-3]

I actually like XHP. It has great corrosion resistance and it is easy to sharpen while holding a good edge. You will note that Cold Steel also switched to this steel for their hard use folders. It is good stuff. I am angry at myself for missing the KC Manix in this steel, but it could not be helped. Hopefully, we will see a steel upgrade to this steel.

I like both, but use XHP much more, its a great all around EDC steel. I have the KC Manix2 LW and it's great, but I'm angry at myself for missing the CF Cruwear Manix2

I agree with BFC about both steels being great and Cruwear being stainless enough as far as I can tell. I don't think you'll go wrong with either steel. Cruwear has been very highly touted by The Mastiff, who was instrumental in getting Sal to use it in the Military in 2013. There was a lot of talk about it on the forum then which should be pretty easy to search if you (the OP) really want to delve deeply into it.

Slumblor and Doc Dan, I was lucky enough to snag both Manixes at KC before they were gone. Since they're exclusives and not sprints, it's possible that another run could be issued some time in the future... unless somebody has already indicated otherwise. Also there's a new-ish used cruwear CF on the bay for ~ $180 starting bid

[Nate]

I'm going to beat a dead horse for a minute, but again I think it's interesting that iirc B70P was described by Ankerson as an upgrade to XHP and by Spyderco as basically a stainless Cruwear... but questions went unanswered, nobody had heard of it before, and it's basically been ignored.

I'm still curious to know more about it, and why Spyderco compared it to Cruwear (other than the carbon content it isn't obvious). My experience with the mules has been great, but I'm just a sample size of one and there's still very little out there about it.

[DougC-3]

Thanks for the chart, Nate. So B70P has about twice the chromium of CruWear but less than half the carbide forming vanadium and no tungsten. On paper I think I like CruWear the best, but I've used my CTS-XHP very little and didn't get the B70P mule.