Favorite EDC steel

[silver & black]

What is your favorite EDC steel?

What do you consider to be the best all around steel for a knife that does actual work.... cutting cardboard, rope, plastic banding, tape, carpet, hard carboard tubes, plastics, wood, wood veneer, heavy canvas, etc....?

I'm finding that I like my S30V, Cruwear and Magnacut knives for reasonable edge retention and ease of maintenence/sharpening.

I still love all of my knives in the super steels.... and I will purchase more of them, but I don't consider those for EDC work blades. Love to hear your thoughts..... and why.

[TkoK83Spy]

Thought this sounded recently familiar. Here's one that's been going.

viewtopic.php?t=98538

[LadybugMan]

For my use - K390 on a Seki knife without any shadow of doubt. My experience with Magnacut has been an underwhelming one - so I am not a fan. I really enjoy Micromelt PD#1 as well, but my experience with it has not been extensive enough to warrant a definitive opinion.

[Wowbagger]

I have four :
M4
M4
M4
aaaaaaand
M4
Why ?
The stupid sharp sink-into-back-of-thumb-nail-sharpness hangs in there a long time making "Super Steels " look silly .
This stuff has been around since way back in the day ; I forget ; just read it . . . something like the 1920s .

[ I just looked it up again . = 1939 and was initially called Neatro by James Gill of VASCO . THANK YOU Dr. Larrin Thomas. ]

Gets sharp again if you lay a polishing stone somewhere near it over night .
Well , almost that easy .

This opinion was formulated over of a decade of highly rigourous scientific investigation . . .
overseen at every turn by myself .
Or as we call it here at 'bagger's University : Farting around with sharp stuff .

[Sharp Guy]

S30V/S35VN
Cruwear
20CV/M390
And yes M4 is also a favorite
You can probably throw VG10 in there too

I have a lot of the above and it works well for me for daily use. I have a bunch of other and they're all fine but I don't need anything exotic

[sal]

Hi Silver & Black,

Actually, I enjoy using a wide variety of Blade Steel. My view has always been, "All good, just different". My "favorites" will change depend on location or chores.

sal

[silver & black]

I have four :
M4
M4
M4
aaaaaaand
M4
Why ?
The stupid sharp sink-into-back-of-thumb-nail-sharpness hangs in there a long time making "Super Steels " look silly .
This stuff has been around since way back in the day ; I forget ; just read it . . . something like the 1920s .

[ I just looked it up again . = 1939 and was initially called Neatro by James Gill of VASCO . THANK YOU Dr. Larrin Thomas. ]

Gets sharp again if you lay a polishing stone somewhere near it over night .
Well , almost that easy .

This opinion was formulated over of a decade of highly rigourous scientific investigation . . .
overseen at every turn by myself .
Or as we call it here at 'bagger's University : Farting around with sharp stuff .

I should have included M4. I have a Shaman that is a work horse knife in M4.

[silver & black]

Hi Silver & Black,

Actually, I enjoy using a wide variety of Blade Steel. My view has always been, "All good, just different". My "favorites" will change depend on location or chores.

sal

Thanks for chiming in Sal. What would be your choice for a guy that works in a cabinet shop? I tend to not worry about the knife so much in a day at the shop. It gets used ,and some might say abused.... and dropped a time or two...lol. All of my really "good" steels don't get carried at work. I do use them.... just not as an every day work knife.

[Cletus]

15v
REX 121
Magnacut
These are the main steels that I use right now. All of them are great to play with though. I enjoy trying out the latest steels, it's a fun hobby!

[sal]

Hi Silver & Black,

Actually, I enjoy using a wide variety of Blade Steel. My view has always been, "All good, just different". My "favorites" will change depend on location or chores.

sal

Thanks for chiming in Sal. What would be your choice for a guy that works in a cabinet shop? I tend to not worry about the knife so much in a day at the shop. It gets used ,and some might say abused.... and dropped a time or two...lol. All of my really "good" steels don't get carried at work. I do use them.... just not as an every day work knife.

Hi Silver & Black,

I built cabinets for some 15 years. Still like it as a hobby. When working with wood, which is often a hard wood (Birch, Walnut, Ash, etc.), I prefer the higher edge retention materials. s90V, 15V, REX-121, etc.

sal

[Red Leader]

3V, Magnacut, K390, and on paper, Cruwear is right up my alley (I have no Cruwear knives but will remedy that this year).

3V is underutilized, very much so on folders. We tend to see it on the 'tougher' knives like Demkos and Cold Steels (for folders). I sort of wonder if it can bridge a gap if it is hardened more to around 62-63. Semi-stainless.

K390 is just a wonder of a steel. It is on the harder end of things, so I still think caution should be used when the potential for abuse is high, but just such an incredible performer.

I have been enjoying my PM2 Salt as a 'do all' that never leaves me feeling under-gunned. If Larrin's findings on the new Erasteel iteration of Magnacut translate well to real-life use, then Magnacut becomes even more EDC-friendly as it gains a not insignificant amount of toughness (20-30%?).

But, as Sal said, different jobs, different tools. The variety is half the fun. I have also really been enjoying 15V as well as other exotics like Rex-121 and have had no qualms or issues carrying higher performance steels on the job, as long as I am doing my part.

I like having a high performance slicer (which usually translates to 15V or K390) and then some sort of beater (14C, AUS10, etc). Different tasks, different roles.

[warriorsociologist]

Depends.

1) Am I probably going to get wet? Magnacut
2) Am I probably going to stay dry? K390
*Honorable mention: M4 & 1095 -- I have a carbon steel slip-joint in my pocket most days.

[silver & black]

Hi Silver & Black,

Actually, I enjoy using a wide variety of Blade Steel. My view has always been, "All good, just different". My "favorites" will change depend on location or chores.

sal

Thanks for chiming in Sal. What would be your choice for a guy that works in a cabinet shop? I tend to not worry about the knife so much in a day at the shop. It gets used ,and some might say abused.... and dropped a time or two...lol. All of my really "good" steels don't get carried at work. I do use them.... just not as an every day work knife.

Hi Silver & Black,

I built cabinets for some 15 years. Still like it as a hobby. When working with wood, which is often a hard wood (Birch, Walnut, Ash, etc.), I prefer the higher edge retention materials. s90V, 15V, REX-121, etc.

sal

Nice to hear that from a real knife maker. Maybe I'll start to carry some of those steels at work.

[benben]

K390
3V
AEB-L
MagnaCut
But I have to say, Cru-wear is probably my favorite steel….still.

[JohnNYPD]

I’m really liking my Burgundy Endela with Micro Melt PD1. Takes a great edge and last a long time. Very Easy to sharpen.
Very , Very close to Cru Wear but better.

I wish Spyderco would use more MicroMelt PD1.

[Synov]

3V 3V 3V

The steel that can do anything with the right geometry

[Wowbagger]

You can probably throw VG10 in there too

Totally agree I get along with this and it works well for me.
Shout out that Spyderco's SPY 27 is an up grade to VG-10 . Also doing well for me .
I haven't had to sharpen it in any significant way yet . (I have several SPY 27 knives purchased and used recently and so the load has been spread among them ). Unlike many years ago I was doing everything (or the bulk of my work ) with M-4 or S110V or M390

[Aladinsane]

The major of my knives are VG-10, so that’s what I EDC most of the time.

[jmj3esq]

Favorite is S90V. What I carry most seems to be Magnacut.

[M_J87]

My most used and favorite up to this point is VG-10. It's just fine for my daily use, however I did just get some SPY27 to see how it compares. Excited to try it out. I've tried the tool steels and I've found I much prefer stainless as an outdoorsman, I find myself gravitating to mid-high grade balanced stainless steels like VG-10, 154CM, S30V, etc.