I mostly carry budget knives. As a result, I look for "budget gems" that perform well at a great price. In my experience, edge retention on Chinese D2 is okay but largely overrated. The low corrosion resistance is an issue for me as well. I'm much happier with VG-10 or N690. I also prefer 14C28N to Chinese D2. I think 9Cr18Mov is okay from a company that treats it well (Civivi and Real Steel are good examples). Artisan recently developed a powder metallurgy version of 9Cr18Mov (AR-RPM9) that could have advantages. Knives in AR-RPM9 are just starting to hit retailers.
A good resource for evaluating steels from different manufacturers is Outpost 76 on YouTube. He does well-controlled cut-testing. He also sharpens down past the factory edges before testing and repeats testing with subsequent edges to get consistent results. He and a few other testers have noted issues with a couple of those premium-steel budget knives but you'd have to look into the specifics.
Pretty sure the s30v is just a stamp and the blade steel is actually 9cr18mov. Never seen a legit s30v china knife… s35vn, s90v, m390, s110v have seen though.
- SHARPNESS AND DURABILITY: Made of 8Cr13 MoV stainless steel, its hardness reach 50-60HRC hardness after 1050° heating and 450°secondary hardening. Good durability and hardness helps to easily cut fruit.
I only buy budget knives these days. I can’t remember one time in the last 70 years when my life depended on a knife regardless of its quality or origin . No grizzly bear attacks , no fighting off a group of angry bikers , no having to cut my arm off because it was stuck under a rock .
Plus if you have to leave it stuck in a bad guy you won’t mind loosing it so much
1. 8Cr13Mov - This is not a very good steel. Sure, it’s usually better than junk like 3Cr13 or AUS-6. It’s just not good. Of course, it might be reasonable for the sub-$10 price tag but…
2. Hardness range of 50-60HRC - That’s a huge range! Hardness ranges are usually given within two to three units, not ten. That alone is pretty discouraging. Now consider that the target HRC for 8Cr13Mov is usually 58-60. Most of the knives I’ve seen tested in 8Cr13Mov are at least 56HRC. The median for this knife would be pretty bad. Now imagine if you got one on the low side! Even Walmart’s ultra-cheap Ozark Trail knives in 3Cr13 should be at least 52HRC.
Here is one clue. Victorinox SAKs are made with a steel comparable to the 420 series, even “worse” than 8Cr13MoV.
So what? Slim blade, glides through anything you want to cut with such a tiny knife.
When it’s getting dull, sharpen it with the backside of a cup or plate and you’re fine.
They are considered great knives and sell well, and hey, they never rust.
Get yourself a Vic, or try this one for couriosity. You won’t cut tires or a fence with it.
And guess what, it the times before stainless steel when people didn’t want their fruit to get the nasty taste of iron they used brass blades (the rich ones gold).
Now check the HRC on that. Still worked well.
Don’t worry so much, you might have more knives than you can ever get dull anyways
I think supersteels are not meant for ordinary knives, but for some industrial knives and special needs. S35VN is considered as the ideal knife steel. Going beyond this is mostly for enthusiasts.
Don’t you know?! As soon as mainstream American knife companies start to use a Chinese budget steel in their “cost efficient” model lines, that steel suddenly becomes an officially good one!
Anyway I can’t see any problem with 8Cr13MoV for regular EDC tasks. Depending on the design I would consider a knife with that blade steel to buy below the $30 mark although there are plenty of alternatives with D2 or even with 12C27 blade in the $20 - $30 segment.
In my experience, 8Cr13Mov is definitely better than 3Cr13, 5Cr15, cheap 420, etc. However, edge retention is usually worse than 12C27, 14C28N, AUS-8, Acuto 440, 9Cr18Mov, Chinese D2, etc. Of course, that's all anecdotal from my regular EDC use.
Have I turned you guys on to Outpost 76's YouTube channel? He does controlled cut testing on different knives and different steels. He has been doing it for a while, using a standard edge on a standard medium with a taped off section of blade. He sharpens down several edges to start with fresh steel and then tests subsequent edges to get repeatable results.
His results have confirmed my experiences with some of these steels. Coincidentally, I sent him some 9Cr18Mov for a recent test. Not only did it smoke a lot of the Chinese D2, it did as well as some of the production-level S35VN and M390. That might seem insane but it says a lot about composition vs heat treatment. Steels like 9Cr18Mov and 14C28N are both decent in composition and well-suited to big-batch heat treatment. S35VN and M390 have more impressive compositions but they require a lot more care in their heat treatments.
Any other black Friday deals out there?
I’ve carried one or two for a couple of years now and even the 8CR model holds a decent edge.
I just bought a bunch more for gifts.
Has anyone bought TwoSun knifes from Aliexpress “twosunt cuttlery” store?
I made two orders and tracking shows nothing after a month on both… (post NL)
