Advantages of S30V?

[catamount]

I currently do not own any S30V :spyder: s (or any other knives). Most of the current Golden models either don't appeal to me, or are not lefty-friendly (I'd love a fully ambi Military). My only experience is with a Walmart Native I had briefly before giving it to a friend.

The P'kal does appeal to me, and I am thinking of getting one. Having read various reports of problems with S30V (mainly chipping), I am a little nervous, though.

I understand that S30V will hold an edge longer than VG-10. What other advantages does it offer? Does it stand up better to hard use? What about the chipping issues? I'd like to hear from all you S30V fans out there.

[Michael Cook]

:spyder: The chipping can be minimized by giving it a run on a sharpmaker before using it. S30v also resharpens wonderfully, really quite easy to get zuper sharp :spyder:

[yablanowitz]

My personal experience, which I grant you is NOT typical since my use isn't typical, is S30V is a more durable edge than VG-10. I have not experienced unexpected chipping, and I get less edge rolling than with VG-10, as well as better abrasion resistence.

Note that I said unexpected chipping. I have chipped edges on S30V, VG-10, BG-42, ZDP-189, ATS-34, 154CM, AUS6, AUS8, Gin1, 440V, 440C, 420HC, D2, 1095 and a few others that I can't even identify at the moment. Demolition/renovation/construction work can bring an edge into contact with things that it shouldn't be used on, and chipping will result. I have yet to find a steel that won't chip unless it is soft enough to roll if you look at it hard.

I also do not run extremely thin edges on my work knives. Some people say that there is no point spending more for a premium steel if you are going to put the same edge angle on it as you would on a cheap steel. WRONG! I use my knives hard enough to tell the difference between steels without thinning them down to nothing. I do love a shaving sharp edge, but I need an edge that still cuts after using it on plywood, wafer board, particle board, mastic, drywall, etc. S30V at 30 to 40 degrees included does that quite well for me.

[The Deacon]

Tom, no matter what the steel, SOMEONE is going to find some "issue" with it they can whine about. I've got an S30V Native that is probably the most "abused" Spyderco I own. Have leant it to a friend to cut up old carpet. Have scored and cut holes in drywall with it. Left it in the pocket of a pair of jeans that were soaking wet. No rust, no chips. Can it chip, sure. So can VG-10, ZDP-189 and proably any other similar steels. Pushed past its limit, steel will either chip or roll and, from what I understand the "premium" steels don't roll. Will it chip - depends on how you use/abuse it.

[shu]

Speaking as a lefty, I find the compression lock on the Para to be decidedly 'lefty-friendly'--it is also a great all-around knife.

RE S30V, I own several knives from a couple different manufacturers with this steel and have experienced zero chipping. A couple of these have seen hard use, maybe I have just been lucky. I also run them across a stone when I get them as Michael mentioned.

[jujigatame]

While keeping in mind what Deacon and yablanowitz said about how and what you cut (because you could find circumstances where any edge would chip) I feel that as long at the heat treat is properly done there is not, and should not be, more of a problem for S30V chipping than any of the other higher-end knife steels currently in wide use for folders. S30V is quite tough.

People that had their outcries about S30V chipping were probably fueled, at least in part, by the deflation of some of the unrealistic hype they bought into that S30V was the super steel and how could that possibly fail in any way if it's so awesome? Well, it fails for the same reason all others do -- because no material is perfect under all possible conditions. I'm not saying folks had no right to be upset about the issues they had, but I think it got blown way out of proportion, as things often do on the one and only internet.

[bh49]

S30V can chip. My first Native was chipped badly and I was not able to sharpen it, the more I sharpen it is became duller and duller. Probably it was HT issues. I exchanged it for my second Native. It is chipped on the very first day of use; I just cut two hollow plastic rods. I resharpened it, put microbevel and it never chipped after. Last weekend, I cut vines on my yard for about an hour (it was many vines) and Native was still shaving sharp. S30v is a good stuff, especially if it is Spyderco.

[JohnyKwst]

Here's a post I posted over at bladeforums. The point of the post being to not judge s30v or any steel for that matter by its factory edge. I bet the majority of negative s30v posts were from people judging the steel by its factory edge.

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I bought an S30v Native from Walmart not too long ago specifically to test S30v with a factory edge. It seems to be that in the vast majority of cases with S30v, it is with the factory edge that the chipping occurs. I tested the Native side by side with my Byrd. They both cut the same things. The first thing I cut was the paper cover off a water bottle with my Native. I did this lightly, the knife is sharp afterall. I noticed that the knife almost immediately went much duller. Cutting through a fair amount of cardboard with both knives, the Byrd stayed noticably sharper than the Native. At this point, both knives had moderate difficulty slicing printer paper the Native having greater difficulty. I stopped the test here.

Under 60x magnification there was some microchipping on the Native, none on the byrd.

I touched up both knives with the fine stones on my sharpmaker. I gave both 25 strokes each and they were both shaving sharp. I am in the process of testing them again but even with the little bit of sharpening, there has been a big difference in the S30v's performance. They are both about as dull as they were when I stopped the first test and the S30v is outlasting the Byrd. The first cut with the Native also did not instantly dull the knife as with the factory edge either.

Under magnification there is no microchipping on either knife.

I expect the edge holding of the Native to improve even more when I sharpen it again, this time removing more (fatigued by factory sharpening?) metal.

[KSDbass]

Well, I use my knives at what I consider "Slightly above normal EDC" levels, so I'm not cutting steel with them, but I'm not just staring. I've cut carpet with my Yojimbo, I've cut some wood with my Military, Heck my Military accidentally hit the top of the sharpening stone on the Sharpmaker the other day. I haven't ever had a chip in any of my knives, including S30V. I think that that is really only a hard use problem.