Damn bruh. Your dedication to steel knowledge is absolutely and uniquely unparalleled. And we all appreciate it. Cheers man. Saitama for Life.

@spicychinchin6597

3 жыл бұрын

@Jacob Dawson far from clueless man, the list is partially based on subjective preference.

@spicychinchin6597

3 жыл бұрын

@Jacob Dawson yep, just sayin that there's an element of preference in what properties you prefer, every steel has different properties, and people prefer different things, edge retention isn't the only factor that determines the steels perceived value, there is also rust resistance, chemical makeup that determines whether an edge rolls or chips, those differences also determine the type of edge that some super steels prefer, some are toothier, ease of sharpening is a factor, it's a lot. This particular list isn't the be all end all, just one dudes take, but I just wanted to validate the stance he's not clueless, because he has done a lot of testing, and also clarified a lot of what I said just know throughout the video. I dunno man

I'm just impressed you have used all of them. A lot of these were "never heard of it" for me.

nice to see people say they appreciate budget steels and test them instead of saying they're "barely adequate". Yes because we all need s90v to open letters and cut apples and cheese at work.

surprised 14c28n was so low. i really like it

@SwervinSpliffs27

4 ай бұрын

I agree. It is a budget steel but it's strong, corrosion resistant and holds a decent edge

@jtallday31

3 ай бұрын

It has rather low edge retention. Unless you just enjoy spending time sharpening, it's a rather important factor. If I'm processing an animal, I want to spend more time cutting than sharpening. There's just so many steels that do toughness and stainlessness about as well that it can't rank but so high.

This is a brilliant idea. Love tier lists from fighting games and CCGs

@CedricAda

5 жыл бұрын

I knew youd love it Tony😃

After buying a ton of knives and living in Florida, these are my priorities in steel. No rust and doesn't chip......... I don't care if it's hard to sharpen or easy. I've figured out the sharpening skills. Thank you for your hard work and dedication.

This video has an insane amount of valuable knowledge for the knife scene and I come back to it every so often when I feel like buying a new blade. Thanks for making it!

1095 below 440c? That just pisses me off, lmao. Awesome video, man.

What kind of idiot buys stainless steel tweezers? The MINIMUM steel you should buy for tweezers is 52100 SPRING STEEL. As for nail clippers I only use CPM CRUWEAR for superior impact resistance.

@sheepdog819

4 жыл бұрын

Damn brother, sounds like your trimming T-Rex toes!🙃

@jonathangarzon2798

3 жыл бұрын

I buy SS tweezers for hygiene purposes, I don't care about it springing I prefer to apply the pressure by squeezing if it gets me SS

@green16611

3 жыл бұрын

Ah yes, I prefer to go with the 1738femboy-resistant clippers.

@hunter-tm2kl

3 жыл бұрын

Nick Shabazz reviewed a comb in S35VN 😂

Awesome video. Thanks mate. Couldn't ask for more. Love the different / official fonts and presentation. Kudos to you!!!

Personally I would have put 14c28n in the C Tier. It has some benefits over other steels like D2 or N690 you might be unaware of, as does 12c27. Both of those steels excell at thin geometries. I have a Manly Wasp in 12c27 that is 8/1000 (0.2mm) behind the edge. A lot of steels wouldn`t be able to handle that, but the Sandvik steels do.

@olafkliemt1145

2 жыл бұрын

thank you !

@noirdblunds3003

Жыл бұрын

I agree that the Sandvik steels are good stuff. 13c is the best one they make for his purposes, but 14c is a close second just slightly more stainless at the expense of sharpness. You gotta realize he values wear/abrasion resistance over everything else. He's all about edge retention. That said, any steel with the hardness to support it benefits from thinner geometry. literally if you look at an equation for edge retention the biggest factor is geometry, even more so than the type of steel.

@bigbadstretch13yrago

Жыл бұрын

Definately agree!!

@kittrainbow7

7 ай бұрын

14c28n heat treated properly in thin blades (folders, slicers) can take a very keen edge, good steel I like it. Edge retention is one criteria but not all SS can take a keen, ultra polished apex. It would be nice to test a straight razor made out of it, where many SS go in crisis (I prefer carbon steel for razors). Sandwik and Böhler make good stuff. 🇮🇹

@FT4Freedom

5 ай бұрын

14c is an amazing steel for slicey 3in blades. Extremely well balanced for an edc folder.

2 years deep into your chanel, seen all your content, but this video never stops amazing me! Constantly come back to the last frame to validate my purchases (little ashamed, but sincere!). Thanks once again for the great service to the Knife Community!

I can't agree on your grade for 14c28n....I put it slightly ahead of nitro v. It doesn't warp like nitro v and it is slightly cleaner when finishing the knife.... and it's not just me either...knife steel nerds rates it higher than Nitro v and have rated it their favourite budget to mid range steel!

Great video been waiting for this video for ever! Thanks for the upload !

I'm so happy. Thank you for making this 😂. It's hilarious looking at these comments where almost nobody gets the reference

This is a good idea, very good way to check steel at a glance

If I knew how to make a Knife Video Tier List, your steel review videos would be at the top

NeeeeEEEEEEeeeerrrrrd

I see you tend to prefer the high carbide steels in particular. They are great steels, but I feel that for most applications they are way too lacking in toughness. I find the Cru-wear, V4E, M4, V4 to be a great sweet spot for edge retention and toughness balance, myself. If you are using a high edge retention steel like Rex121, you are going to have chipping issues if your bevel angle gets too low. If you are comparing 40 degree bevels in those steels, it's all well and good, but drop down to 30 degrees (inclusive) and it's a whole different story. Toughness is more important than I think many give it credit. Of course, personal preference and application plays a massive role in this. I also don't understand a lot of your ranking disparity between steels that are nearly and effectively identical. A good example being 4v and V4E.

@acid6urns

11 ай бұрын

cruwear is a beautiful steel imo. as is magnacut, it’s essentially completely rust proof 4v steel, so it’s got the toughness and edge retention of cruwear with no worry about rust

@joshcoar7386

11 ай бұрын

@@acid6urns Yeah, most of the knives I am making these days are Magnacut. Larren Thomas really made an amazing steel! And Magnacut can be heat treated to 64-65 Rockwell, which gives it the edge retention of a lot of the high chromium carbide steels but with double the toughness. Cruwear/Z-Wear still slightly outperforms Magnacut, and so I still often use it when I don't care about the level of stainless that Magnacut provides. 3v is also an amazing steel if you get it at 63+ Rockwell.

@acid6urns

7 ай бұрын

@@joshcoar7386magnacut is so easy to sharpen, i have a spyderco native in it and it was honestly baffling. i also have a cruwear pm2 and that was also ridiculously easy to sharpen. i’m a big fan of the medium edge retention high toughness steels. i do own some k390 which is ridiculously high edge retention and decent enough toughness, but i haven’t tried it much yet. i’m a huge fan of traditional slipjoint knives as well, and i also like a lot of the very simple carbon/stainless steels in those. case tru sharp and well treated 440a on rough ryder knives may not have outstanding edge retention but the edges im able to get on those steels is absolutely INSANE.

Steel geeking at its best! Cheers Pete!

Great work this is an excellent reference point that I'm sure I'll use and share a lot

Your disregard for M4 angers me. Love ya Pete.

@bobmellon

3 жыл бұрын

Agreed, a good heat treat on m4 is unbelievable

Great content Pete, just a couple of things, considering edc and knives you actually use, I feel it would have been really useful to employ a two axis rating matrix with edge retaining/toughness and corrosion resistant qualities, this would have allowed others to interpret your experience with knife steels and balance it with their needs. I'm from a different part of Australia than you, but there are some words you pronounce in completely different ways, I find very difficult to interpret.....like (@17:44 prodigiously) Keep up the good work, thanks for sharing

Thank you so much for doing this, this is the first time I’ve really understood why one steel is better than another, super kudos

Another good comparison would be the same steels from different manufacturers. They all use different processes with the steels which has a tremendous impact on the performance of the product. Additionally, the sharpening process for each steel will have an affect on the performance as well. So, another comparison would be great.

Agree with you on almost all of these! 👍only one I outright and strongly disagree with is 52100! Should be a little higher imo. In my observations there are only a handful of factory production knives with this steel and based on that, keep your mind open when you finally get a properly heat treated custom optimised for cutting in 52100. I've seen some amazing hunting knives in this steel. Several Finnish Smith's also do wonders with it. 😊

@Mrsingingdude1

5 жыл бұрын

Run around 62-63, it's a wonderful steel for edc. I've used mine extensively for cutting cardboard this last month and it still shaves hair. It's a great steel, there's a reason it's one of Sal's favorites

Love it, appreciate your dedication and presentation, sometimes gets new through the day. I found it interesting the disparity you made between Vanadis 4E and CPM-4V, because they are supposed to be identical compositions IE 20CV, M390.

Great job, really enjoyed the video.

blade steel tier list ❌ edge retention tier list ✅

Fantastic video and a perfect reference with concise explanations for each ranking. This will now be my go-to video link to send to anyone that asks me about blade steels for now on. REALLY appreciate you uploading this, Pete. To borrow a line from AdvancedKnifeBro: this is the Trucks Balls.

I checked your rating for K390 Spyderco para2 before I ordered one.Thanks for making this video and all the others too.

I love the steel ranking videos and is why I am a patreon for this channel.

Very cool. I’m fairly new to knife collecting, but I am lucky enough to be able to afford some higher end knifes. Your videos are very informative and helpful I believe you have a very broad knowledge of metallurgy I appreciate time and effort very much. Thanks a lot.

Keep in mind K390, A11 and CPM10V are all (practically) the same alloy. The Molybdenum and Cobalt in K390 is probably just there to make it a High Speed steel: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High_speed_steel which allows it to retain hardness at high heat (Red-Hardness), such as for use in drill bits. Different foundries have different PM processes, but the biggest difference between the three is probably going to be in the heat treat by the knife maker.

Lowballing the 52100. And I think Maxamet should be an S. 2nd highest wear resistance on the planet. I can see your points though, and how you were working the tiers. Fun video

@CJ-hw4zc

5 жыл бұрын

True, also k390 up in the S

@cp1532

5 жыл бұрын

@@CJ-hw4zc I'm ok with it being the very top of the A tier, but I could see making it an S. Or move some of the A's to B, and some of the B's to C. I'd have to make my own tiers to sort it all out lol

Very cool video! I’ll haven’t tried a lot of the steels you ranked. I’ll have to play around with it

I have only used like 3 of these steels to open boxes and cut string off my shirts but I SOME OPINIONS ON YOUR RANKINGS

I enjoyed the bejezus out of this. Thanks!

Awesome as always. It does look like you're taking guff for your 52100 ranking. It's simple and it rusts but at 62-64 hrc it's an amazing steel.

@johnryan6658

2 жыл бұрын

Is it brittle at all? I actually have a Cold Steel Drop Forged Boot Knife in that steel, and I'm curious. I'm not that worried about the rust because it's a coated blade.

This is a very, very, interesting presentation. Thanks.

Excellent video bro!!!!! Thank you from Canada!

I think ill do a similar video, although ill focus more on toughness and sharpenability based on fixed blade use, and i will have a LOT less steels on there. Good video, and good idea!

I think you bias far too heavily toward edge retention when judging knives. Some of these steels will snap when you drop them. Some people are doing more than cutting tomatoes and cardboard.

@mcr0741

2 жыл бұрын

I kind of agree with you, but there are some caveats here. Maxamet, for instance, is basically as brittle as glass and I just don't want there to be a day where I'll need to sharpen it, but, it's edge retention is just god tier. It does not dull whatsoever. Feel the same for D2. Don't know why it's hyped as much but I feel like that steel is basically good for nothing. Retention might be good for cheap price but, literally chips away as you sharpen. The only stable d2 manufacturers in my book are Steel Will and CJRB, wherein atleast their performance is consistent across multiple knives. Whereas knives like the infamous Ontarios in D2 are so inconsistent that you buy 10 Rats, all 10 will perform differently. I would much rather get the Aus8 versions of them.

Nice video👍🏻 I’m just getting into knives and had been going by benchmade’s list on like edge,toughness,corrosion. Would be nice if you did a list kinda like that for noobies

Have you updated this with Magnacut?

Is X50CRMOV15 good steel for kitchen knife, or in general?

I really enjoy your videos and this is great wealth of information... i know this is a old video ive seen case has up'd theyre steel in a couple knifes i hope they continue because i really enjoy those trapper style of knife.

Outstanding video mate!

It's hard to find information on Bohler K110. Any thoughts? I've got a Maxace Goliath with that steel and feel it's around D2 or just below.

Gooooood Looooooord!!!! I had no idea there were so many useable steels for cutlery. My lands I'm lost.

I just added a Spydiechef to my collection and I love that LC200N steel so far!

Like your list Pete. Well reasoned. 🙂

can you do an updated tier list?

Would it be beneficial to record how much time it takes you to sharpen? That might give us an idea, when combined with cut test results of how "hard" the steels are to sharpen.

Great video idea loved it

Lol all my favorite work steels are bottom tier : h1, 52100, n690, 1095, 420hc, vg10, aebl, 440c Although his a class is top tier Forsure: love me maxamet, m390, k390. Lol yeah I use a lot of steels New favorite super steel has to be magnacut for its balance

Great list, definitely would've put 5160 in high c tier due to it's toughness and ease of honing in the field.

Now can you do a correlation based on this of knife steels that sit in a box for bragging rights versus ones that actually get used.

I was surprised that VG-10 couldn't crack into C tier. How about the Acuto 440 that Tangram uses? Is it enough of an improvement over 440C to reach the next tier?

Very informative video, even though I'm a few years late. Where would you put M398, s60v, and Magnacut?

Great idea... S tier is of course awesome. Probably 95% agreement from me on the steels I've played with. I was eagerly awaiting the K390 placement. I might put it above Maxamet for the better toughness and maybe move a couple of other A tier steels around. The groupings look very solid.

Do you have any experience with K720? I'm looking at traditional bushcraft knives under $160, and I'm looking at the Casstrom No. 10 in K720, the Enzo Trapper 95 in 01 or n690, or the Lionsteel m4 in M390. Is K720 more wear resistant than O1?

Curious where Hap40 and Superblue would rank in your estimation?

Great vid!

there's a couple kershaws I have. one in 6055 & the other in 4030TIKVT. where do these sit in tier?

Hap 40 ? How does it rank

Interesting rankings! I can see your logic and basically agree with a lot of the choices, however since my personal use is more geared to fixed blades for bushcraft (though I also like folders), I would have had different priorities. It seems edge retention and stainlesses for folders were your main criteria (more than toughness or ease of sharpening, or ease/potential of heat treat, getting into the custom realm). I thought 10v and a11 were the same - can someone clarify? Also, thought 52100 would rank one higher. It seems you got much better wear resistance with 52100 than A2 (like 100 more cuts). Compared to other basic steels you tend to see in fixed blades (like 1095, O-1, or 5160, maybe even A2) 52100, I believe, has the most potential for bringing out different qualities in the heat treat; I think it can be ran harder, while also remaining tough, and you tend to see it in custom knives (Winkler, comes to mind, though know he's moved on to 80cr I think...also some custom kitchen knives). Not sure if it is shallow hardening or takes well to differential heat treat (which can make for a tough core with a hard edge in a fixed blade) compared to others.

This is a very valuable video for referencing.

best steel for a straight razor?

What would you rate s45 aebl and magnacut?

If you just wanted a blade for chopping and batoning through tough hard knotty wood that won’t chip or snap after years of use what is the best to choose? 5160? I’m considering the Ontario SP 50 Bowie or 53 Bolo. Something I’ll be happy to beat on rather than a collector closet princess. It needs to be very reliable and last a long time at processing wood. Open to tomahawks and hatchets in the toughest steels if necessary. Thanks

That is so cool!!, I agree with you mostly, except I would put 52100 higher and Haitch 1 lower lol, but great tier!!

@hydrostaticshock978

5 жыл бұрын

Yes...52100 got hosed.

@Mrsingingdude1

5 жыл бұрын

52100 is my favorite. Holds a shaving edge extremely well and beyond easy to sharpen. One of the best steels ever made imo

@matthewmcnabb7437

4 жыл бұрын

52100 is probably lower than it should be because it has a finicky heat treat that few companies really nail. It’s like benchmades 3v puuko. Great steel technically, buts it’s original heat treat was disappointing

Awesome video! My new steel bible.

Why there's no CTS BD1N? What tier does it fall under?

I have a knife with s30v and it has held up very well and I am very rough on it I have swam in the gulf with no rust and it holds an edge very well

14c28n is better than D2. I was looking at blade steels for a chef knife im going to make and I was surprised to see that 14c28n is the cheapest stainless steel material I could find. Not the best I could find, but literally the cheapest. I carried just one knife, a Kershaw OD-1, as my EDC for 9 years in 14c28n. It works great with a thin edge and was produced for razor blades.

@cameronchicken8439

5 жыл бұрын

Chromium carbides make a larger grain steel. 14c29n takes a very fine edge.

Fantastic table. I suggest you revisit this given one year has lapsed and beyond. Good idea to provide criteria on each level so that you can provide slightly more objectiveness, otherwise this is great.

😵‍💫🙄 Back watching this again. 🧐 Well organized data. 💯

What do think about WR Case’s tru sharp stainless?

why is this channel so small i dont get it, are there so lil nerds out there? lovely job! this video is exactly how i had it in mind. ofc its hard to rank steels as it all comes down to what you prefer, toughness 3v would shine, corrosion resistance lc200n wud be way higher.. i came to find myself care about these 2 a bit more then wear resistance as i like resharpening knives anyway ;] and realistic even s30v would keep a good edge for a week of hard use and who cant realisticly get to a sharpening source in a week time if they wanted to right. great vid tho!!

Appreciate the video and all your effort it took to get here. Could you provide a download for your list,pretty please.

I agree with you on the no name steels. Though I have been slightly impressed by the Ozark Trail folders believe it or not. Not a bad knife to beat the crap out of.

@godforever27

Жыл бұрын

My first pocket knife was an Ozark trail and it got really sharp. That was back in 2004 or 2005. It has a wood handle and recurve blade.

Great tier list. I probably would shift S110V up a bit personally, but then you are much more of an expert than I. Now to save and find knives in your S list.

Ver helpful vid, thanks for that. Have you come across MV-58? Supposed to be similar to Z60 🤔

Noob question: where does S35VN fall? Is it part of something that is already there? Maybe I missed it. There are a lot of numbers on that screen.

great video!

That A tier got pretty packed!

Only one question about it. Why is 4v so far away from vanadis 4e , since they are so similar?

@theodorosmalliopoulos7231

3 жыл бұрын

@Event Horizons I have since tried both. It depends on the heat treatment and geometry of the blade. If the 2 steels are treated the same and ground thin, then the difference can be negligable. This is my opinion, from my experience so far. I am no expert. Please take it only for what it is.

@theodorosmalliopoulos7231

3 жыл бұрын

@Event Horizons You are right. It is better to enjoy the knives that we have already than trying to figure out which is the next super steel addition to the collection.

Good list Pete. Wanted to add that N695 is the inferior steel to N690/N690Co due to its added cobalt - similar to a BDZ1 to BD1, but not to that extent. Agree not to pay too much for either 'N' steels. Surprised Maxamet wasn't in the top row though

@holdernewtshesrearin5471

2 жыл бұрын

Ive never been impressed with N690/CO. It just doesnt offer anything over much cheaper steels in my experience. 440C or perhaps VG-10 level edge holding, decent toughness but it rolls too much for my uses. Atleast thats the case with my Boker and LionSteel knives in it.

Loved this video! You should do another one ranking them by stainlessness, or another one based solely on edge retention.

Need an updated list!

This is your best video. Can you make this an annual thing?

Thank you -- cool video; useful points of reference! Could you provide an 'evolved' opinion on ZDP-189's corrosion resistance, Pete? Will a very sharp ZDP-189 *cutting edge* (Spyderco) hold up well against deterioration due to *corrosion* , especially in the case of a folder kept for a longer period of time inside an EDC day pack or messenger bag? Thanks!

@benmacdhui

5 жыл бұрын

Yeah that corrosion comment referring to ZDP-189 had me scratching my head a bit. Spyderco lists their formula having 20%Cr in it - which is a lot. Chromium is not only to add toughness, rather its resistance to stain and corrosion.

@austrofinn4524

5 жыл бұрын

@@benmacdhui Seems that lots of that chromium in ZDP-189 forms carbides with the carbon and the amount of "free" chromium that battles corrosion is relatively low.

@Nudel-nc1cp

5 жыл бұрын

@@benmacdhui Chrome and toughness rofl:D Cr promote corrosion and wear resistance, hardness, hardenability, refines steel grain but no way it promote toughness man. Nickel, Molybdenum and Vanadium promotes toughness.

@frederickj.7136

5 жыл бұрын

@ Red rum1... Austrofinn has it pretty much right from the online analyses I've seen... which is *precisely* why I asked the question I did. Er, no answer forthcoming to date, I observe...

Where would you rate hap 40 and bd1n?

Nice video! I would prob put 52100 slightly higher in C and I could definitely see S35VN and XHP being A tier as well

I made my knife out of a 5cm length of 25mm D hex wrench, AISI S2 tool steel. Tough steel, easy to strop up, quite hard. Rusts. But it's great on a bushcraft knife. 55c but I think it takes on more carbon during forging. Convex edge is a plus.

Great video… thanks!

thank you l. very informative.

What's up with cmp 4v being way down from vanadis 4e? It's the same steel pretty much.

@CedricAda

5 жыл бұрын

still in the same clas tho hey, 4v ive personally had break and not last as long on the edge, V4E has been served to me better

Based on edge retention I agree, for hunting vanadis4E, M4, Elmax, cruwear and m390 variants maybe. Everything else in A and S is useless in my opinion. For camping and such I would limit myself to 3v, 4v, elmax, sleipner, cruwear, A2, 80crv2 and even though I’ve not had very good experience based on other people maybe M4, large chopper I would limit myself to the tough low edge retention easy to sharpen steels and everything else for folders. The A and S tiers seem great until you have to reprofile them or take out a large chip.