Nice little knife… Quick opening & well made. They go for $30- $40. Might be worth looking at.
I would recommend the Benchmade titanium Mini Pika II, BM Heckler & Koch Ally, 14650 or BM Lone Wolf Ridge Top. You can’t miss with any of these Benchmades.
420J2 was never intended as a blade steel and has the worst edge retention of all steels commonly seen in blades. It is VERY VERY corrosion resistant, It almost impossible to make it rust. It is very durable. Its low hardness makes it unlikely that a 420J2 blade will break. In short, it is a poor blade steel, that has little business being used for knives, outside of a dive knife.
8CR13MOV roughly analogous to AUS-8, 440B suitable for Work knives, daily use, 8Cr13Mov is on par with VG-10 for edge retention, with good corrosion resistance.
i have several knives with 8CR13MOV and find it easy to sharpen, with excellent edge retention.
My pleasure C.K. Besides, I’ve been trying to get my helpful to jacka$$ ratio up and posting those links really helped. :nerd_face:
SOG Flash 1. …weighs only 1.2 oz.
I EDC two knives…Victorinox Classic and the Flash 1. I use the Victorinox and it’s tools the most often.
I’ll second the Enlan EL-01 or EM-01 for budget EDC. I just noticed the Spyderco Resilience in the EDCF store for $44.95. It’s the largest of the Spydie budget line and it uses 8Cr13MoV steel. I might even buy one for that money.
I've been EDC'ing the Enlan EM01 and love it. However I find it doesn't hold a really sharp edge very long. Could be me as I have no idea on proper sharpening if that's what's causing it. I'm just using one of those cheap sharpeners that you draw the blade through and it has a "course" & "fine" side. I sharpen it about once a week. I generally only cut paper, cardboard, and packing tape with it (at least on a regular basis).
The knife is also a little small. I do like how the clip positions the blade against the rear seam of my pocket so it can't open. Ones where the blade in the front can get in the way when I put my hand in my pocket for my keys, change, etc... I've also experimented with carrying in my rear pocket (generally larger knives) and its been ok.
I do still love the EM01 even if I do have to sharpen it every week. It's amazing the quality you get for less than $8!
-Garry
It depends what you are cutting and how often you use it, but I do find fine edge retention on knives made of 8Cr13MoV generally lacking, most noticeable when cutting paper, card or fruit like tomatoes. A little better perhaps, on my Cryo and Sanrenmu examples. I use my Cryo mostly for cutting plastic and card packaging, and I have to sharpen it frequently (I use a strop to sharpen; I don’t let it get too dull).
You can try a different blade profile; a hollow grind like on the Cryo or Sanrenmu 763 might suit this sort of slice cutting better, but I do prefer ZDP-189 for cutting tasks requiring a really fine and long lasting edge.
Once a week, if you’re using your knife regularly, is probably not unreasonable for 8Cr13MoV steel.
I generally hone my knives on 3000 grit stone if I’m going to be using them, to keep that razor edge. Just a few cuts into the stone on each side.
I’ll agree, all the Cr813MoV blade knives don’t have nearly as good edge retention as any Wenger Victorinox. OTOH while I have two Vics I still carry at least one of my Enlans at all times. I strop each Enlan regularly and I’ll do the Vics after use on a camping trip.
Also, both the Kershaw Cryo [and the new Cryo II] and the Spyderco Resilience use 8Cr13MoV steel for their blades.
What do you think of 7CR17 for a blade? Any better than 8CR13MOV? I recently picked up a knife listed as 7CR17 and so far it seems really nice, but it doesn't see as much use as my EDC 8CR13MOV (it's a bigger knife).
-Garry
Excellent points Horst, even the best steel can be wholly compromised if the heat treatment and tempering are incorrect. If you do a YouTube search for “heat treating steel” you will find plenty of examples showing how its done. Some of the most basic and informative are from old military training films demonstrating what each process does, what changes occur during heat treatment, how tempering and annealing will affect the final metal characteristics. After watching a few I have a lot of respect for any knife maker, correct heat treating and tempering require a lot of skill and/or very sophisticated automated systems.
All point being equal I’m not at all surprised that most of our budget knives show considerable variation in toughness, edge retention and durability. I wouldn’t expect any maker of low cost knives to put as much effort into their steel as a medium to high-end maker, its just not profitable. OTOH, I’m not about to pop for a Sebenza any time soon.
Wow, only $1700. Or you could get the same knife on ebay for $8. hmmmm
The description says “… knife is of high collectible and artistic value. Over time, it will have antique value as well.” Given that and the price, I’d expect the steel to be disclosed. It just says: “The blade of the knife is made of high alloy steel used to make working cutting tools up to surgical scalpels.” That sounds suspiciously like “surgical steel”, which is mostly found on junk knives.
This Pegasus Leaders is clearly a shill. Guy asked for a EDC recommendation and gets that monstrosity of………….well I’m not really sure what. Cutlery Corner. That is what that reminds me of.
Oh, and by the way. He is right, you cannot find such a wonderful knife like that for $8.
$13.95 I think that’s close enough though. 
EDC Economy. AUST Pricing so can’t compare at present.
Ganzo G733 copy of Spyderco that feels good. 3 1\2 in
Ganzo Firebird F 753m 3in.
and the little Harnds Knight.3in.
Both are Feel good, both hold sharp edges.
and you won’t cry if you lose or break tips off.
I’ve got $350+ Puma, and custom blades too.
These feel more comfortable, better fitting to your hands.
Just sharpen a little more often. If you that fussy.
I have a super sharp 2.1\2 in VG10 blade on keyring for fine/sharp work.
These others, I keep sharp but not shaver sharp. To do the job.
Not too fine an edge to fold. chip easy.
Just do 96% of jobs.
There is also a version of the Cryo with one side G10 scale & other side is steel, so if you are worried about grip, get that one.
Yup, it's called the Cryo G10, and the model number is 1555G10.