What are your top 5 favorite steels?

[RugerNurse]

I really like LC200N due to the ease of sharpening, but.....Edge Stability.

Curious, because I always heard LC200N was tough. Does the edge roll or chip easily? I haven’t abused mine to have any opinion yet.

All this talk of K390 makes me want to try some also

[JSumm]

It will roll on you a bit, but I wouldn't say it is terrible. Haven't had it chip at all in my experience. It's wear resistant isn't much to celebrate, but that is not its claim to fame.

[vivi]

I really like LC200N due to the ease of sharpening, but.....Edge Stability.

Curious, because I always heard LC200N was tough. Does the edge roll or chip easily? I haven’t abused mine to have any opinion yet.

All this talk of K390 makes me want to try some also

It's pretty tough in my experience, but I have seen it roll / chip slightly on things I've done with H1 with no damage.

Anyways, my top 5 in no particular order:

- H1

- A2

- S7

- LC200N

- Aogami Super


H1 for obvious reasons. Rust proof, extremely tough, amazing sharpening response, etc. To me it's hands down the superest of super steels

A2 is to me what cru-wear is to people reading this. Great balance of toughness, edge holding, and fairly corrosion resistant for this class of steel. Also cheap. I have no idea why A2 has performed better than cruwear for me but it has. I think this is a very overlooked steel and I'd love to see what Spyderco could do with it, running it in the 61-62rc range on a small to medium fixed blade with micarta scales.

S7 is the toughest steel I've ever used. It sucks at pretty much everything else, but it "goes to 11" in the category it's supposed to. It's fun for a chopper or axe.

LC200N is like a (to me) slightly worse H1 that can be full flat ground from the factory. Probably my second favorite overall steel, I just like H1 a little better. Good sharpening response, good toughness, corrosion proof for me, and slightly better edge holding than H1 in PE at least.

Aogami Super. I've only used it in kitchen knives with extremely thin geometry and at ~65 rc, but it impresses the **** out of me. Amazing edge retention, great sharpening response, decent corrosion resistance for a non-stainless, not difficult to re-bevel for the edge holding offered, and tough enough to handle professional kitchen use with zero damage so far. One day I'll buy a spyderco in clad super blue to try out.

Runners up are M4 and S30V. Two very balanced steels I enjoy using.

[CDEP]

Cruwear
Magnacut
VG10/SPY27
S45VN
Maxamet

Cruwear #1 by a long shot.

[mikey177]

For folders, my favorites are Spy27, LC200N, S35VN, CTS-XHP, and S90V.

I prefer stainless steels to tool steels due to the climate in our country.

[Wandering_About]

Current list:

CPM 15V
K390
MagnaCut
AEB-L
CPM S110V

[Igi964]

Some years later I like to update my favourite.

1. LC200N awsome steel, decent edge holding, toughness, no worry about corossion and easy sharpening.I can get it screaming sharp faster than VG10
2. K390 when I dont have to worry about corrosion it could be my number one. Great edge holding, toughness and still easy to sharpen. Miracle
3. M390 very high edge retention, very good stainless, but in compare to tool steels/Lc its much more time consuming in sharpening department.

[Zipper]

Over the last few years S90V, M390/204p/20CV, Cruwear, Elmax, and 3V have been favorites. Elmax and 3V specifically for fixed blades.
If I can split between EDC folders and camp/bushcraft fixed blades, my 2023 pick is -
Folders - S90V, Cruwear, M390/204p/20CV, 15V, and MagnaCut. Maxamet and K390 are close to the top bunch.
Fixed blades - 3V, Cruwear, Elmax, A2 and MagnaCut.

[SaltyCaribbeanDfly]

H1/H2
LC200N
Magnacut
Cruwear
K390

[JoviAl]

For folders -
Magnacut
K390
Cru-Wear
Vanax
S90V

For fixed blades -
Magnacut (surprise surprise)
Elmax
Magnacut
Magnacut
Magnacut


I work outdoors in the tropics so Magnacut and Vanax are excellent for that. Elmax isn’t far behind in my experience for rust resistance so long as you maintain it at the end of the day. The tool steels are my real favourites, but are almost comically impractical for work where I’m either wet from rain, sweat, or rain AND sweat. I still use them, but it’s a labour of love keeping the rust away.

[SaltyCaribbeanDfly]

I’m adding Vanax to the list even though that’s technically six…thanks for reminding me Al

[thuyenbuom]

1) CPM-S90V
2) CPM-MagnaCut
3) K390
4) M390/CTS-204P/CPM-20CV
5) LC200N/CPM-M4 (tie)

[HolySteel]

I don't have the experience that many of you have, testing different steels, but I can say that Maxamet sharpens up very easily, and my three sharpest knives are Maxamet. If I'm not carrying stainless for 'wet' chores, for now it's usually Maxamet.

[Bolster]

This has been such an interesting thread, I had to do another tally. This time I tallied only the first steel mentioned. (A lot of you said "in no particular order" but I still counted your first mentioned steel.) A list of the #1 mentions gives this order (down to just 4 mentions). Looks like K390 is (still) the forum's reigning king.

It's interesting, because the first and second ranked steels occupy vastly different areas in any steel chart. You could kinda sorta consider them opposites of each other!

K390 ---- /////////// (11)
LC200 - - //////// (8)
Maximet - ////// (6)
S90V --- ////// (6)
Rex45 -- ///// (5)
CruWear //// (4)
VG-10 - //// (4)
52100 - //// (4)

[zuludelta]

• CPM Magna-Cut: I have limited experience with Magna-Cut thus far (only have 1 Spyderco folder in this steel, along with a folder & a fixed-blade by North Arm Knives), but the performance I've seen is very, very good. I have no problems at all if Spyderco eventually moves to Magna-Cut as its baseline steel for its regular production models.
• Böhler K390: My favourite work knife steel. Holds a very, very stable edge even at ridiculously steep angles.
• CPM Cru-Wear: My favourite work knife steel before it was supplanted by K390. I still like it a whole lot, but for my purposes, I favour K390's higher edge retention over Cru-Wear's higher toughness.
• CPM S30V: Mostly a sentimental pick at this point, since it's been outclassed by stuff like S45VN & Magna-Cut, although it's still no slouch performance-wise, especially when Spyderco does it.
• Takefu VG-10/Aichi AUS-10/10Cr15CoMoV: Like CPM S30V, this makes my list more for sentiment than performance, though I contend that—optimally heat treated—this is still one of the best steel choices for anyone looking for an easy-to-maintain work knife.

Favourites that didn't make it:

• CPM S45VN, CPM S35VN, CPM SPY27, CTS XHP: all great steels but IMO, they are only marginal improvements or lateral variations on S30V in terms of performance. I like them, but their usage in a knife isn't a deciding factor when choosing between a model in one of those steels or a knife in S30V.
• Crucible 154CM/Hitachi ATS-34: A great budget option, I go back & forth between this & VG-10 all the time as to which is my favourite ingot stainless steel.
• Zapp LC200N: Would have made my top five as recently as a year ago. Still a great steel & my Caribbean remains my go-to outdoors folder, but Magna-Cut's radically higher edge retention & potential hardness (with similar toughness & corrosion resistance) has really changed things, especially since it doesn't seem to cost more than LC200N.
• Hitachi ZDP-189/CPM S110V: Just like LC200N, these two were among my top favourites until quite recently when they were supplanted by K390. K390 is so much tougher while having comparable edge retention, and S110V's vastly superior corrosion resistance isn't as big of a consideration in my current work context.
• Sandvik 14C28N/Uddeholm AEB-L/NJSB Nitro-V: I know there are chemical differences between these three, but performance-wise, I'd be hard-pressed to tell them apart. Great basic steels that can be had in quite affordable knives (depending on the maker) & super-easy to keep sharp but I just slightly prefer VG-10 & 154CM's higher edge retention over their more balanced properties, at least for my purposes.
• CPM M4/CPM 4V/CPM 3V: great particle metallurgy tool steels, but given the option I'll always reach for Cru-Wear or K390 before any of these, at least as far as folders go.

[Erion929]

This has been such an interesting thread, I had to do another tally. This time I tallied only the first steel mentioned. (A lot of you said "in no particular order" but I still counted your first mentioned steel.) A list of the #1 mentions gives this order (down to just 4 mentions). Looks like K390 is (still) the forum's reigning king.

It's interesting, because the first and second ranked steels occupy vastly different areas in any steel chart. You could kinda sorta consider them opposites of each other!

K390 ---- /////////// (11)
LC200 - - //////// (8)
Maximet - ////// (6)
S90V --- ////// (6)
Rex45 -- ///// (5)
CruWear //// (4)
VG-10 - //// (4)
52100 - //// (4)

Are there any non-FRN plastic handled K390 folders? Or are they all FRN?
.

[JSumm]

There was some Golden models Para 3 and PM 2 exclusives in K390 from Bento Box that came out a few years ago, but I believe that is all. No worries though. The greatness of Seki K390 will make you forget that plastic FRN stuff.

[Erion929]

There was some Golden models Para 3 and PM 2 exclusives in K390 from Bento Box that came out a few years ago, but I believe that is all. No worries though. The greatness of Seki K390 will make you forget that plastic FRN stuff.

Thanks for the reply….might seek out the above models one day.

Dunno, I’m newer to Spyderco in 2023, and spending $150-200 for plastic handled folders hits a raw spot for me…so far. Love my non-FRN current buys, though. Maybe I’ll succumb one day, but not there yet.
.

[vivi]

This has been such an interesting thread, I had to do another tally. This time I tallied only the first steel mentioned. (A lot of you said "in no particular order" but I still counted your first mentioned steel.) A list of the #1 mentions gives this order (down to just 4 mentions). Looks like K390 is (still) the forum's reigning king.

It's interesting, because the first and second ranked steels occupy vastly different areas in any steel chart. You could kinda sorta consider them opposites of each other!

K390 ---- /////////// (11)
LC200 - - //////// (8)
Maximet - ////// (6)
S90V --- ////// (6)
Rex45 -- ///// (5)
CruWear //// (4)
VG-10 - //// (4)
52100 - //// (4)

Are there any non-FRN plastic handled K390 folders? Or are they all FRN?
.

OG Police 4.

[Spyderwebs]

My steel-pallet is not too large, but within the context of my experience...

1. S90V. Stainless. Stays sharp forever. Strops back nicely. The first time I screw it up bad though, I need diamond stones. Relatively hard sharpening on the sharp maker. High vanadium needs cbn/diamond. Seems under loved to me.

2. Cru Wear. Super easy to get really sharp. Not-so-un-stainless when soaked with penetrating silicone lube. Good all around steel. I see why it gets love.

3. VG-10. Easy to sharpen. Stainless.

4. Bbb 15v. So sharp and easy to get sharp. So un-stainless I don't understand how people EDC this steel. Maybe my natural moisture is super salty... i dunno. I love the steel properties, but it literally wants to rust in its bag in a safe with silica packets after soaking in silicone penetrating oil. What am I doing wrong?

...20...20CV. I only have the para3 LW in this and I find it chippy, hard to sharpen, and uninspiring. Some of that is the axe-like blade geometry of the para3 too.