Spyderco Forums

I just wanted to ask if this has ever been discussed before. Is VG-10 just a better option? Just curious.

from what I know, assides from the Sage, all Spydie models w/ S30v are USA made. The Delica and Endura are 2 of the biggest selling models. If they were made in the USA they would cost more and, sorry, would not be any better w/ exception to steel depending on your prefrence.

Caly E wrote:from what I know, assides from the Sage, all Spydie models w/ S30v are USA made. The Delica and Endura are 2 of the biggest selling models. If they were made in the USA they would cost more and, sorry, would not be any better w/ exception to steel depending on your prefrence.

That's true and some people prefer the vg10 over s30v.

I like the VG10 Enduras and delicas. If I need an upgrade in wear resistance in an endura I can take out my ZDP endura.

S30V is a great steel too, but I don't see it as being better than VG10, or ZDP. Different, but not better.

I do enjoy the S30V in the golden made knives too. Fortunately I don't have to make do with just 1 all around knife. Joe

****, I still prefer the ats-55

The c10 and c11 lines haven't changed much over the years up until the current version (all screw, dual liners). Not even the price point...

familiarity and a low price have made them the well selling work horses that we all love. While changing to CPM steel might make a difference in proformance, most of us don't push the steel hard enough to notice (a lot of ppl sharpen on the 30deg bevel with the 204 and only change the grit), though we would notice a difference on price.

VG-10 is under appreciated. IIRC it was developed for the horticultural industry as a fine grained steel to do less damage to the plant structures during transplants, and was then absorbed into the main stream knife industry shortly after. It takes a VERY fine edge, both angle and polish, if you're willing to spend time and not abuse it... that said, even 1084 or 5160 will take and hold an edge to put most stainless steels to shame.

VG-10 is a great steel. If anything I would love to see MORE of it, not less. I don't really think of S30V as better than VG-10. I think they are roughly the same if you were to rank how "good" they are but they have their own properties and strengths. VG-10 is the easy choice though. It sharpens up to a nice keen edge easily, holds it, and is far from controversial. Pretty much everyone seems to agree it is a good steel.

Differences in the steels and their relative merits notwithstanding, I think the primary answer to the title question is a combination of three factors. The extra cost of shipping American steel to Japan would raise the price. As has been pointed out, there are Japanese steels with excellent, if not identical qualities available, which further reduces the incentive to ship steel there. Add to that the reluctance of Japanese makers to work with non-Japanese steels and the chances of a Seki built knife with any non Japanese steel becomes fairly remote.