What to expect from S45VN?
Re: What to expect from S45VN?
I see some similarities between Spy27 and S45VN from properties standpoint, but I don't do much sharpening myself, so I'll take BBB's word for the difference between the two.
Re: What to expect from S45VN?
Wasn't expecting Disappointment, but that's what I got! 45 minutes late in trying to order...
Re: What to expect from S45VN?
Received my Mule Team S45VN blade last week.
Decided to do a quick paracord-wrap so I can start using it on the weekend.
Even like this the blade sits secure in the leather sheath, because of that big index finger guard:
Started on Saturday with some work in the backyard: cutting up young branches on trees I do not want to grow larger.
I was using the tip a lot for the small ones; even with some twisting and scraping motions.
This is were I feel more comfortable using a small fixed blade compared to most folders.
Went on a hike on Sunday. Needed some wood stakes for a project in the garden,
so I whittled a bunch of pointy stakes. Applied a lot of pressure during push cutting with the plunge to mid-blade area. Tried not to gentle on the edge to see what happens. Was pull-cutting with the blade tip to have finer control to produce pointier stakes.
No chipping after that at the plunge and mid blade: still push-cutting thin phone-book paper in that area.
The first inch of the tip has some really small chipping and rolling which you almost can't see and just feel with the finger nail. So the edge will probably last some more weeks for EDC until I need to sharpen it.
I am really satisfied with the performance considering it is a factory edge.
For these kind of tasks my VG10 blades get dull quicker and with S30V I got some chipping in the past (which is not unusual on factory edges especially on thin BTE Taichung models).
I think the edge stability is better than S30V.
Spyderco made a good decision to upgrade some base models from S30V to S45VN.
For some steel junkies it might be a mid-range steel. For the average user it might be a high-end steel.
I think it is more suitable for >150$ (or €) knives like PM2 / Para3 than S30V.
Me personally: I can not mentally justify spending more than 150€ on a knife if it is S30V.
Decided to do a quick paracord-wrap so I can start using it on the weekend.
Even like this the blade sits secure in the leather sheath, because of that big index finger guard:
Started on Saturday with some work in the backyard: cutting up young branches on trees I do not want to grow larger.
I was using the tip a lot for the small ones; even with some twisting and scraping motions.
This is were I feel more comfortable using a small fixed blade compared to most folders.
Went on a hike on Sunday. Needed some wood stakes for a project in the garden,
so I whittled a bunch of pointy stakes. Applied a lot of pressure during push cutting with the plunge to mid-blade area. Tried not to gentle on the edge to see what happens. Was pull-cutting with the blade tip to have finer control to produce pointier stakes.
No chipping after that at the plunge and mid blade: still push-cutting thin phone-book paper in that area.
The first inch of the tip has some really small chipping and rolling which you almost can't see and just feel with the finger nail. So the edge will probably last some more weeks for EDC until I need to sharpen it.
I am really satisfied with the performance considering it is a factory edge.
For these kind of tasks my VG10 blades get dull quicker and with S30V I got some chipping in the past (which is not unusual on factory edges especially on thin BTE Taichung models).
I think the edge stability is better than S30V.
Spyderco made a good decision to upgrade some base models from S30V to S45VN.
For some steel junkies it might be a mid-range steel. For the average user it might be a high-end steel.
I think it is more suitable for >150$ (or €) knives like PM2 / Para3 than S30V.
Me personally: I can not mentally justify spending more than 150€ on a knife if it is S30V.
Re: What to expect from S45VN?
-Worm-
Awesome experience! Thanks for sharing!
Awesome experience! Thanks for sharing!