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The Water Cooler
General Discussion
Choosing a knife for a B.O.B or survival type situation.
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<blockquote data-quote="ez bake" data-source="post: 1709302" data-attributes="member: 229"><p>Well, for carbon steel knives that I plan on maintaining (or smothering in grease when stored), ESEE or Becker make several in 1095 that are hard to beat. I personally like a small slicer, a mid-sized knife the size of an ESEE 3/4 and a machete, but lots of folks go for bigger chopper-sized knives and seem to do just fine (the ESEE 5 is a massive knife). </p><p></p><p>TOPS makes some good knives (also in 1095), but most models are way too thick for me personally. Once you get above 1095, it's all about preference in my opinion (you're choices are also limited - more into the higher-production models or customs).</p><p></p><p>I like the higher-end steels, but the price goes up with the cost of materials. ZDP-189 is a good choice (Spyderco makes a few fixed-blades in ZDP-189). D2 steel is one of my favorites. It's a tool-steel and it's not as stain-able as 1095, plus it holds it's edge for a looooong time and you can rough-sharpen to a toothy edge and it smooths out without dulling under quite a bit of use. You've got quite a few choices for fixed-blades in D2. </p><p></p><p>Benchmade's Bone Collector series (fixed-blades), and their Adamas knives are good D2 full-tang designs for not too much cash.</p><p></p><p>Steels like CPM-M4 and Super-Blue are kick-ass, but don't really make good "survival" or stored BOB knives as they're really rust-prone (and man they're beautiful before they start to rust/patina - I hate to see them spot up <img src="/images/smilies/smile.png" class="smilie" loading="lazy" alt=":)" title="Smile :)" data-shortname=":)" /> ).</p><p></p><p>For stainless / semi-stainless knives... There's a ton of choices out there, but the Busse-kin knives in INFI are nice (again, a little on the thick side for me). You've got the venerable S-30V and it's newer cousin, S35VN (both tool-steels). Spyderco made a few fixed-blades in this steel, Benchmade makes several fixed-blades in this and ATS-34 (154CM's overseas cousin). You've got 154CM (Bill Coye does things with this steel that a lot of other folks can't achieve - it's a very high-performance steel once it's heat-treated and tempered correctly and his tempering process is elaborate to say the least).</p><p></p><p>I personally love VG-10. It doesn't have the greatest edge-retention, but it's extremely easy to sharpen to a razor-edge. It's a Japanese steel, and I don't think any production knife companies make knives in VG-10 domestically (they're all made in Japan that I know of). Spyderco, and Al Mar are favorites in this steel.</p><p></p><p>Your less-expensive stainless options are knives made from AUS8, Sandvic steels (like 14C28N), Chinese 8CR steels (like 8CR13MOV - which despite being Chinese are very good steels if tempered/heat-treated correctly). I don't consider these to be better than 1095 overall, but that's my opinion. The Sky is the limit when it comes to these. I personally stick with manufacturers like Kershaw, Boker, and Spyderco.</p><p></p><p>At the end of the day, you want to choose based on how it fits your needs (and your hand), as well as how easy it is to maintain, as well as the quality of construction and quality/performance of the materials and then put that up against what you can/want-to spend.</p><p></p><p>Here's Jim Ankerson's edge-retention test:</p><p></p><p><a href="http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php/793481-Ranking-of-Steels-in-Categories-based-on-Edge-Retention-cutting-5-8-quot-rope" target="_blank">http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php/793481-Ranking-of-Steels-in-Categories-based-on-Edge-Retention-cutting-5-8-quot-rope</a></p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="ez bake, post: 1709302, member: 229"] Well, for carbon steel knives that I plan on maintaining (or smothering in grease when stored), ESEE or Becker make several in 1095 that are hard to beat. I personally like a small slicer, a mid-sized knife the size of an ESEE 3/4 and a machete, but lots of folks go for bigger chopper-sized knives and seem to do just fine (the ESEE 5 is a massive knife). TOPS makes some good knives (also in 1095), but most models are way too thick for me personally. Once you get above 1095, it's all about preference in my opinion (you're choices are also limited - more into the higher-production models or customs). I like the higher-end steels, but the price goes up with the cost of materials. ZDP-189 is a good choice (Spyderco makes a few fixed-blades in ZDP-189). D2 steel is one of my favorites. It's a tool-steel and it's not as stain-able as 1095, plus it holds it's edge for a looooong time and you can rough-sharpen to a toothy edge and it smooths out without dulling under quite a bit of use. You've got quite a few choices for fixed-blades in D2. Benchmade's Bone Collector series (fixed-blades), and their Adamas knives are good D2 full-tang designs for not too much cash. Steels like CPM-M4 and Super-Blue are kick-ass, but don't really make good "survival" or stored BOB knives as they're really rust-prone (and man they're beautiful before they start to rust/patina - I hate to see them spot up :) ). For stainless / semi-stainless knives... There's a ton of choices out there, but the Busse-kin knives in INFI are nice (again, a little on the thick side for me). You've got the venerable S-30V and it's newer cousin, S35VN (both tool-steels). Spyderco made a few fixed-blades in this steel, Benchmade makes several fixed-blades in this and ATS-34 (154CM's overseas cousin). You've got 154CM (Bill Coye does things with this steel that a lot of other folks can't achieve - it's a very high-performance steel once it's heat-treated and tempered correctly and his tempering process is elaborate to say the least). I personally love VG-10. It doesn't have the greatest edge-retention, but it's extremely easy to sharpen to a razor-edge. It's a Japanese steel, and I don't think any production knife companies make knives in VG-10 domestically (they're all made in Japan that I know of). Spyderco, and Al Mar are favorites in this steel. Your less-expensive stainless options are knives made from AUS8, Sandvic steels (like 14C28N), Chinese 8CR steels (like 8CR13MOV - which despite being Chinese are very good steels if tempered/heat-treated correctly). I don't consider these to be better than 1095 overall, but that's my opinion. The Sky is the limit when it comes to these. I personally stick with manufacturers like Kershaw, Boker, and Spyderco. At the end of the day, you want to choose based on how it fits your needs (and your hand), as well as how easy it is to maintain, as well as the quality of construction and quality/performance of the materials and then put that up against what you can/want-to spend. Here's Jim Ankerson's edge-retention test: [url]http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php/793481-Ranking-of-Steels-in-Categories-based-on-Edge-Retention-cutting-5-8-quot-rope[/url] [/QUOTE]
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