Favorite Military Steel

[sharpguitarist]

Hey guys,
I voted CPM-D2, because that's the only one I have.
It's performed well for the edc tasks that I've used it for.
Later,
Don

[3rdGenRigger]

I'm voting for CruWear...it's the only Military I have, but I have a PM2 in S30V (Which has similar blade geometry, as well as lots of other knives in S30V) and I've tried a number of other steels in similar blade shapes, but my CruWear Millie and CruWear Manix have both been really great performers for me. They'll get a few surface rust spots if I get them sweaty or wet and leave them be overnight, but nothing that won't work off with some finger scrubbing, and their edge holding is very good given the ease of sharpening...and not much seems to be able to cause significant damage to the edge...very tough steel that's always easy to get back to what I'd call "Sharp", but what my friends like to call "Crazy sharp". The more I use CruWear, the more I like it...if there was a K390 Military I'd vote for it, but until then...

[xceptnl]

... The more I use CruWear, the more I like it...if there was a K390 Military I'd vote for it, but until then...

Agreed. Bring it on

[JNewell]

I hope that I am not hurting your feelings, but this is funny :D

Not at all!

I am struck by the number of responses that basically say: "I only have X, so I voted for that." I think that validates my point that there is no such thing as a bad Military. :spyder:

[bh49]

I am struck by the number of responses that basically say: "I only have X, so I voted for that."

This is the reason why I change my mind and voted, even I didn't use the knife.

[Evil D]

I don't think you have to own one for it to be your favorite, or even to have used the steel in question. If you're aware of the steel, it's properties and how it performs, that can easily be what you want the most and so that's your favorite. I don't own the S90V version but I'm aware of that steel and how it performs, I've owned a Military and so I know the two combined is an amazing package.

[Donut]

My vote goes for K390. :)

[Donut]

I'd rather have more m4 Millie's before s90v or s110v but I'm probably in the minority on that. I want more m4 ANYTHING!

M4 in plain jane G-10 would be nice.

[RadioactiveSpyder]

I voted for CPM S90V, although it was a tough choice with M4 as an option. I like Cruwear, and my EDC Millie is a Cruwear sporting Micarta scales, but it's chipped on me several times (minor chips). I've never chipped a S90V or S110V blade under similar use conditions. I would love to see a K390 or S110V Millie as the next offering.

[Fancier]

I voted for CPM S90V, although it was a tough choice with M4 as an option. I like Cruwear, and my EDC Millie is a Cruwear sporting Micarta scales, but it's chipped on me several times (minor chips). I've never chipped a S90V or S110V blade under similar use conditions. I would love to see a K390 or S110V Millie as the next offering.

Your Cruwear is MORE chippy than your S90V or S110V? Intriguing!

[xceptnl]

Your Cruwear is MORE chippy than your S90V or S110V? Intriguing!

This is intriguing.

Radioactive, I assume they are all sharpened to the same angle. And assuming that, what angle are you sharpening at and seeing those results?

[RadioactiveSpyder]

No, the very limited experience I have is with a Cruwear Millie, a S90V Millie and the S110V Manix 2. With my rather limited sharpening skills and no diamond stones for my Sharpmaker, all my experience is based on factory edges and bevels. It is set much steeper, lower DPS on the Cruwear blade, which may very well be the cause of the several small chips I've generated, including at the tip. Mainly from the blades accidentally bouncing off rocks, etc doing yard work. So a very non-scientific, unbalanced comparison. But that said, the Cruwear has chipped and the others have not (heck I've barely dulled the Manix after months of hard use).

[JNewell]

I was curious how the poll results correlate to Jim Ankerson's coarse edge testing. The results (# of cuts) below are from his mega-thread at BF:

S90V - 460 - Military - 60 RC
M390 - 380 - Military - 61 RC
S30V - 300 - Military - 60 RC
Cru-Wear - 260 - Military - ? RC
CTS-XHP - 240 - Military - 60.5 RC

Results obviously vary with sharpening technique, edge bevel geometry and what's being cut. :spyder:

[BatCountry9]

S90V is my favorite. The blue Bentobox version. A bit overpriced, IMO, but it has the best fit and finish of any of my Millies. It's much smoother than my s30v millia as well. I'd like to get my hands on an M390, but they're really expensive at this point.

[Waco]

S30V is my fav because it is the only left handed version I know of. What choice do I have.

+1 I've never been particular about blade steel, as long as it has decent edge retention.

[Brock O Lee]

Cruwear is the only military I own. It got my vote.

This poll results will be scewed because my guess is most voters do not own the whole range of Militaries, so most guys can only choose between the few they actually own.

[xceptnl]

This poll results will be scewed because my guess is most voters do not own the whole range of Militarys, so most guys can only choose between the few they actually own.

This was my thinking as well. Though with the poll left up long enough to get some of the long term Military users by to vote the results could shift.

[Laethageal]

Well let's make some extrapolation concerning k390 from jim's test:

What we have here, even if all steel doesn't react the same to difference:

S110V - 600 - Mule - 60 RC - .015" -.018" behind the edge.
S110V - 720 - Manix 2 - 62 RC Pretty similiar thickness from all I know, hardness of 2HRC higher gave a 20% increase over the mule
S110V - 1120 - Manix 2 - 62 RC - Regrind to .005" behind the edge. Same manix with the 2HRC increase, seeing a thin regrind gives another increase over 50% in number of cut. Overall it's a 86.6% increase over the mule runned at lower hardness and thicker.

Cru-Wear - 260 - Military - ? RC
Cru-Wear - 700 - Phil Wilson Custom Bow River - 63 RC - .005" behind the edge.
This time, Cru-wear get close to 3x increase in number of cut from what I guess is close to optimal HT from Phil, and a thin grind.

K390 - 820 - Mule - 62-64 RC
K390 - xxxxx - ?Military sprint? - optimal HT with thin grind

Who wanna see that mysterious number?

If you wanna make a k390 test military, I'm ready to test it for you Sal!

[shunsui]

I voted for the S90V. In my limited experience, it does seem to be the real deal. Holds a good working edge for a long time.