Which steel for my next knife? (Lil' Native)
Posted: Thu Mar 28, 2024 12:12 pm
Hey All,
I recently got a Para 3 in 20CV and love it. However, its a bit big for my uses - mostly opening packages and sometimes cutting down cardboard. I work in retail and mostly worry I'm scaring my customers or coworkers when I flick it open, hahaha. Prior to this knife I carried an Ambitious for about 4 years and loved it! I like small, but stout knives - knives that punch above their weight class and don't feel delicate. So I decided I should get a Lil' Native to upgrade/replace the Ambitious. The new knife will be my daily for virtually everything.
I've narrowed it down to Knife Joy Exclusive S45VN pink + Rit Dye $140, Knife Joy Exclusive 20CV green $150 - matches my Para 3 and might dye it later, or Knife Center still has the CruWear version available for $140 with the black DLC coating. I'm leaning towards the pink S45VN or CruWear, although I'm not a big fan of the DLC coating. I know it doesn't scratch as easily as people think it does and can be cleaned up, or removed altogether. The regular S30V version is still $154, so getting one of these other three options instead seems like a no brainer.
Other knives in my collection: Para 3 20CV, Delica 4 VG-10, Native 5 Salt LC200N, Ambitious and Tenacious in 8Cr13MoV, Benchmade Bugout in S30V (plan to sell), and Hogue Deka in Magnacut. Most of these are just part of the collection, purchased 2nd hand, and haven't been used (by me) much. So I don't have much experience with the differences in steels or sharpening them. I just sent all of the Spydies (other than new Para 3) out yesterday to get sharpened by Spyderco.
Wow, it feels good to get that rant off my chest. Thanks for your help!
I recently got a Para 3 in 20CV and love it. However, its a bit big for my uses - mostly opening packages and sometimes cutting down cardboard. I work in retail and mostly worry I'm scaring my customers or coworkers when I flick it open, hahaha. Prior to this knife I carried an Ambitious for about 4 years and loved it! I like small, but stout knives - knives that punch above their weight class and don't feel delicate. So I decided I should get a Lil' Native to upgrade/replace the Ambitious. The new knife will be my daily for virtually everything.
I've narrowed it down to Knife Joy Exclusive S45VN pink + Rit Dye $140, Knife Joy Exclusive 20CV green $150 - matches my Para 3 and might dye it later, or Knife Center still has the CruWear version available for $140 with the black DLC coating. I'm leaning towards the pink S45VN or CruWear, although I'm not a big fan of the DLC coating. I know it doesn't scratch as easily as people think it does and can be cleaned up, or removed altogether. The regular S30V version is still $154, so getting one of these other three options instead seems like a no brainer.
Other knives in my collection: Para 3 20CV, Delica 4 VG-10, Native 5 Salt LC200N, Ambitious and Tenacious in 8Cr13MoV, Benchmade Bugout in S30V (plan to sell), and Hogue Deka in Magnacut. Most of these are just part of the collection, purchased 2nd hand, and haven't been used (by me) much. So I don't have much experience with the differences in steels or sharpening them. I just sent all of the Spydies (other than new Para 3) out yesterday to get sharpened by Spyderco.
Wow, it feels good to get that rant off my chest. Thanks for your help!