ALL THINGS BUDGET KNIVES

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.

My budget EDC is the Rick Hinderer XM-18.

Any clue how good/bad can this/these be?
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/4001186651134.html
Spec:

- 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

Here are two clues:

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 :wink:

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! :wink:
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.

Those little “fruit” knives really look like some sort of one bladed Victorinox SAK :smiling_imp:

btw, Mascaratum, my latest knife purchase is a Portuguese “opinel” from José da Cruz, they are very good :+1:

A quick visit to US knife forums would argue otherwise.

Well those are pretty.

Former 'budget' knives for my New Zealand bush walks.

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.

You must encounter some big bushed in New Zealand

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.

Aliexpress…I have 6 ordered, all are copies, fakes, clones or whatever :smiley:

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)

Tempting. Must resist….

Vipertec is having a site wide 30% off sale. Started yesterday I think.

I definitaly hate the edge retention on my Kershaw Chill and love the one on my SRM 9305.

Both 8Cr13MoV, the latter with a much thinner behind the edge full flat ground blade.

Maybe heat treatment is better on the SRM as well, the blade geometry is better for cutting for sure.

On the other hand I have no better bearing-less flipper than the Chill.

If they’d make a batch in Sandvik steel or a full flat blade then I might get another one.

I feel that way about a lot of Kershaw’s Chinese-made Kershaws in 8Cr13Mov. The Atmos and Fraxion are prime examples.

As we’ve seen, 14C28N is just a terrific budget steel. While it was originally made for Kershaw, now we are seeing Chinese companies like Ruike using it at Kershaw’s 8Cr13Mov prices.

With a proper heat treatment, 9Cr18Mov can be good too. I don’t know who Kershaw uses for their Chinese manufacturing but I have a hard time believing that they couldn’t get a better entry-level steel. Then again, they still make overpriced knives in 4Cr14 and 3Cr13. :confounded:

BTW, have you seen WE’s new bottom-tier brand, Sencut? They’ve got a new knife in 9Cr18Mov for $32.

https://www.amazon.com/SENCUT-Stonewashed-9Cr18MoV-Skeletonized-Activities/dp/B08CN3X7SW