Spyderco Forums

riclaw wrote: ↑

Mon Aug 11, 2025 3:25 pm

I'll get the popcorn.

Tool steel is out because I consider true Super Steel to require serious corrosion, rust resistance. So to me carbon tool steel is not part of this.

The one big super steel that came before those came out of none other than Scandinavia. The Swedish Sandvik 12C27 and the Finnish stainless uses by Fiskars and Hackman and others was, in my opinion, super steel.

The Mastiff wrote: ↑

Mon Aug 11, 2025 3:58 pm

Tool steel is out because I consider true Super Steel to require serious corrosion, rust resistance. So to me carbon tool steel is not part of this.

The one big super steel that came before those came out of none other than Scandinavia. The Swedish Sandvik 12C27 and the Finnish stainless uses by Fiskars and Hackman and others was, in my opinion, super steel.

So steels including 15V and Rex 121 are not "super steel" but 12C27 is?

Larrin wrote: ↑

Mon Aug 11, 2025 5:48 pm

It was relatively rare to advertise steel types prior to the 70s and 80s. Some would advertise “finest cutlery steel” or similar without specifying a grade. It makes sense because when you go buy a car or a microwave you’re not asking what steel grades they are using, a customer generally does not need or even want to know the materials used in their products. Gerber would advertise their knives as being made with high speed steel and that it was superior to other choices, perhaps they could be argued to be first. There are also some more obscure historical examples that would advertise things like vanadium steel or chromium steel. I believe the first steel grade mentioned by name I found in factory knives was a Gerber in 440C in the late 1960s. That was not the first use of 440C in factories and use of that steel in factory knives was relatively rare. I would have to check my book.

I would not count something as being “super” unless the company was actually advertising the steel type and that it was supposedly “super.” The first steels called “super” were 154CM and to a lesser extent 440C. That was in the 1970s. Spyderco was not the first factory to use them as they did not exist yet. 154CM was used quite rarely in factory knives such as a Schrade collaboration with Loveless. ATS-34 became more common in factory knives later, perhaps due to better size availability and the rise of Japanese factories. Spyderco was the first or among the first factories to use many steels. If your arbitrary cutoff for “super steel” is PM steel then you could make an argument for Spyderco being the first but that probably isn’t where I would draw my line.

I wouldn’t count AUS or GIN grades as being particularly any more “super” than anything else being used at the time.

Scandi Grind wrote: ↑

Tue Aug 12, 2025 10:39 am

Defining "super steel" seems like defining "bowie knife," everybody seems to have a slightly different idea of what qualifies. I have a general idea of what I consider super steel in a modern context, but it is totally arbitrary. I think the name itself is basically arbitrary and was coined probably as an advertising pitch. That is also why people started calling things bowie knives, it was just for advertising, which helps explain why it has no solid definition.

SpyderEdgeForever wrote: ↑

Tue Aug 12, 2025 9:34 am

If a friend who is not knife knowledgable at all and who is used to cheap flipper knives, asks me which Spyderco model should he buy that has a "super steel", which do you all suggest?

Naperville wrote: ↑

Tue Aug 12, 2025 12:22 pm

SpyderEdgeForever wrote: ↑

Tue Aug 12, 2025 9:34 am

If a friend who is not knife knowledgable at all and who is used to cheap flipper knives, asks me which Spyderco model should he buy that has a "super steel", which do you all suggest?

I'm biased toward the Native Chief so I suggest either of the two:
- Spyderco Native Chief in MagnaCut PE or SE
- Spyderco Native Chief in S110V

SpyderEdgeForever wrote: ↑

Tue Aug 12, 2025 12:43 pm

Naperville wrote: ↑

Tue Aug 12, 2025 12:22 pm

SpyderEdgeForever wrote: ↑

Tue Aug 12, 2025 9:34 am

If a friend who is not knife knowledgable at all and who is used to cheap flipper knives, asks me which Spyderco model should he buy that has a "super steel", which do you all suggest?

I'm biased toward the Native Chief so I suggest either of the two:
- Spyderco Native Chief in MagnaCut PE or SE
- Spyderco Native Chief in S110V

I saw an online picture of the MagnaCut version you suggest. Wow. Beautiful and functional knife!
Now I see why you prefer these. Perfect design.

SpyderEdgeForever wrote: ↑

Tue Aug 12, 2025 9:34 am

If a friend who is not knife knowledgable at all and who is used to cheap flipper knives, asks me which Spyderco model should he buy that has a "super steel", which do you all suggest?

SpyderEdgeForever wrote: ↑

Tue Aug 12, 2025 9:34 am

If a friend who is not knife knowledgable at all and who is used to cheap flipper knives, asks me which Spyderco model should he buy that has a "super steel", which do you all suggest?

Evil D wrote: ↑

Wed Aug 13, 2025 8:06 am

I think it all changed in the '80s with (I'm not joking) Home Shopping Network, because prior to that most people had no idea what steel they had, it was just "carbon or stainless" but I think the HSN had so many knife segments talking about 440 this and 440 that, I think that's one of the first times that knife steel was pushed into people's living room and given a name and it has grown from there.

Of course I'm not saying nobody knew, just that the average buyer didn't know and the steel wasn't commonly advertised on the knife until around this time. I remember so many knives when I was a kid that either said STAINLESS or if you had a really cool knife it was SURGICAL STAINLESS because that just sounded so cool. I still have a Parker Cutlery balisong with super awesome surgical stainless.

I don't think I'd give credit to any one brand for this change, because it happened with other big names at the time too but I do think Spyderco has pushed the idea far more than any other brand and are definitely leading the pack with innovation regarding steel types.