M4 Bow River?

[Doc Dan]

To keep the cost down and give the knife more edge retention and very good corrosion resistance I wouldn't mind this knife in Sandvik 14C28N. This would also give the knife superior toughness.

I'm with the Doc on that one

I LOVE every steel, but a 14C28N that is really well treated is even better than LC200N when it comes to toughness. For that kind of knife I find it to be an excellent match.
I've tried many 14C28N production blades, and heat treated it myself a good dozen of times now and it is really a cool steel IMHO.

In production I even bought a civivi just to test their HT and for now it's the best one I've had. Even resist very low pressure on ceramic plates while eating (and there isn't many steels able to do that)

I don't know why this steel doesn't get more love. It is as tough as AEB-L and a bit better than 52100. It stands up to stuff I'm embarrassed to talk about. Since it is an improved AEB-L/13C26 you get better corrosion resistance and better edge holding. I've not tried your ceramic plate test, but that doesn't surprise me at all that it would do well. It sure will go through a large bone!

[Ramonade]

I don't know why this steel doesn't get more love. It is as tough as AEB-L and a bit better than 52100. It stands up to stuff I'm embarrassed to talk about. Since it is an improved AEB-L/13C26 you get better corrosion resistance and better edge holding. I've not tried your ceramic plate test, but that doesn't surprise me at all that it would do well. It sure will go through a large bone!

It is often seen as a budget steel and I'm pretty positive its relation to 12C27 hurts it more than it helps. Also, it doesn't have cool name like Dalekonium !

I know using anything else than a serrated blade on a ceramic plate for eating is just asking to sharpen everyday, but I've been after a steel that resists it okay if you take extra care. My Native 5 LW in LC200N was the best option until I got the civivi in 14C28N. I've tested other brands' 14C in the plate before but they did not fair particularly well.

Here, it's just a joy ! If I make a mistake and hit the plate too strong I don't have to do much to bring it back to scary sharp. I often see 14C28N with a heat treat that renders it mushy once you try to sharpen it (and I hate that feeling, kinda like some M390 with poor heat treat).

[Cl1ff]

I am all for a 14C28N or AEBL version too.
Would make a seriously good knife in general likely even punching well above its price relative to the performance.
Personally, I would still probably go for M4 just because it would be interesting to have something that isn’t stainless to complement the knives available (and that I own) in stainless 8Cr13MoV, H1/H2, LC200N, Spy27 etc.

I think we are also just enthusiastic about the M4 announcement.

[kennethsime]

I can definitely see 14C28N doing well in this platform. I don’t have much experience with it personally, but I know Kershaw does well with it and David C. Andersen really likes it. Seems real tough, real stainless, and real easy to sharpen?

Truthfully I just want the M4, but I’m no fisherman.

[olywa]

I've had good experiences with multiple Civivi 14C28N models. I'd like to see how it would do with a serrated edge.

[cycleguy]

I’ll also jump on the bandwagon for the 14C28N as a base level steel. I here it is comparable to AUS-8?????. See it in Casstrom product from Sweden.

Personally, not interested in Bow River … have a Sprig and like its design more … not to mention its S90V blade … yes I know I paid about 10x more for it over the Bow R.

Anything commented here I would like to see carryover to the Stok drop point, would prefer to see it in M4.

CG

[michaelm466]

I have a Sprig and South Fork, but would definitely buy something with a steel upgrade, magnacut, elmax, m390, Cruwear, CPM-M4. For me, bdn1, 440, 14c28n, spy27n, would be too similar in edge retention to the current model to be worth it. Kinda like doing a 154cm sprint run of a VG-10 model.

[Doc Dan]

Yes, but the 14C28N gives stellar toughness that those other steels can't match.

[Paul Ardbeg]

Lot of folks use the Bow river for food prep. LC200N is the more obvious choice, but whatabout Vanax superclean? I have a Quitecarry Waypoint that uses that steel and it's great for small kitchen tasks and fully stainless. Did Spyderco ever made a knife with Vanax?

[mokele]

It is a perfect knife design for many things: fishing, camping food prep, butchering. Even a slight steel improvement will make it very appealing.
I personally would buy it immediately.