Just curious, but which camp would you be in for your choice of blade material?? Stainless or carbon steel?? I have always leaned toward carbon steel but was wondering about the rest of you?? THANKS!! and why??

I usually like stainless, for its obvious rust and stain resistance. That said, straight carbon steel is usually easier to sharpen, especially in the field. Some of the high tech new stainless formulas hold an edge like crazy, but they can be difficult to sharpen.

Larry

I like low maintenance, so I typically go stainless. I like the VG10 blades on my Delicas: good rust resistance, holds an edge, but easy to sharpen/maintain.

But if I find a carbon steel blade I like that isn't available in stainless, I wouldn't pass on it if I wanted it. For example, I'm interested in getting an Esee knife some day.

I prefer carbon over stainless. Sharpening carbon is a lot easier. I can usually get carbon to a razor sharpness but stainless takes a lot more work to get that sharp. And carbon is a lot easier to keep rust off than a lot of people make it seem. As long as you clean the knife after use and wipe lightly with a food grade oil and don't store the knife in a leather sheath, it will stain and develop patina, but shouldn't rust.

Lots of folks like the expensive fancy steels like S30V or S35VN. Certainly high-grade stainless steels. However, I just can't bring myself t pay the price tag, when my Buck 110 with 420-HC will clean game from beginning to end with no problems, then take on a new razor edge all day long. So, I guess for me it is Buck's 420-HC Boss Treated, stainless. My buck 110 is still my favorite folder.

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Hillbilly

I opt for stainless but have others

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Spin The Wheel

Stainless. Try carrying around a carbon steel folder in Georgia in the summer, putzing around, and sweating all day. Doesn't take long to start oxidizing if you forget to wipe it down a few days in a row!

I owe both, have used and carried both in a wide range of situations.
The older Stainless and some of the newer ones are just plain difficult to sharpen.
For camping, that’s what you asked.
I actually prefer carbon for camping.

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NRA LIFE MEMBER

I like Elmax. Holds edge long time

I've got both. Now remember, just saying "carbon steel" or "stainless steel" is pretty generic. There are several types of carbon steel and several types of stainless steel. There are good types in each category. There are also some real stinkers out there. (Think of the stainless steel Pakistani knives you used to get at the gas station for free after a fill up.)

Now, you also have to figure in an extremely important factor....the heat treatment. For example, Bo Randall, the original founder of Randall knives, worked some incredible magic with 01 high carbon steel. Others may prefer something like A2 or 1095 or whatever. Bottom line, though, Randall was able to figure out the perfect heat treatment and soak for 01 steel, thereby producing a knife of exceptional quality.

When you think of stainless steel, a good example comes to mind...Buck knives. I'm not sure, but I think Buck was using 420HC in many of their knives.

Now, generally speaking, 420HC is considered an "economy" steel, does not hold an edge real well, but it is relatively stain resistant and tough and it's fairly easy to sharpen. There is one exception to this rule though and that's Buck knives. Buck’s 420HC (Buck and only Buck) is produced using a proprietary heat treatment. It is actually quite good, producing a low-cost steel that performs like a mid-price steel.

Their heat treatment seems to be doing the trick because they're producing a good, corrosion free knife that will take a great edge.

So, I'm not sure if you can just generalize and say one is better than another. Sure, they all have their pros and cons. But, when push comes to shove, a good knife is a good knife.

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Pack light and cinch tight.

It’s not an either/or question because most cutlery steels have properties of each.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Both work for me.

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BCCI Life Member #2068

There's such a wide range of steels available today a carbon steel/stainless steel debate is useless. Cheap is cheap whatever the chrome content is. If your blade does not hold an edge and/or you cannot sharpen it, it is bad. I have no problem with any decent stainless or non-stainless cutlery steel in my inventory.

Generally, carbon over stainless. I like patina, and I find most carbon steels easier to sharpen. 1095 with a decent heat treat will give more performance than I am likely to need, is not expensive, and is common on many good outdoor knives.

I prefer carbon ove stainless on Opinels and Case knives. On Moras, the Sandvik steel is quite good so I will take either one. Actually, I think Opinel uses a Sandvik steel, too, but I guess the patina means more to me. I really like the look and feel of the slightly convex blade with a good patina.

I have no experience with most of the high-performance steels, many of which are stainless, so no opinion.

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Not in jail.

Stainless all the way. I have a few older knives with carbon steel blades.
All show some degree of corrosion and do not hold an edge like stainless
blades used in Buck knives among others.

I'm not a big fan of Stainless, although I will admit that the last few years have yielded some much better Stainless than had previously been around. Almost all of my knives are carbon Steel and I have learned to deal with the black "beauty marks" left by some surface rust on occasion. I find Carbon Steel so much easier to sharpen and it stays that way longer. A 1 minute touch up on a fine Arkansas Stone is really all they need unless I abuse one for some essential task (which I try not to do).

I've gotten better at sharpening the few Stainless Steel knives I have but those were given to me as gifts and not purchased by me personally. When ever I but a new one - it's always Carbon Steel and usually will not buy a knife if it's not available in Carbon - an exception might be for Kitchen use.

I have an old cheap junker knife (Imperial brand) that use to sell for $1 dollar on those card stock displays in candy stores. It is not a high quality piece and the blade wobbles terribly, but the well used carbon Steel blade is always on the shelf above my workbench to immediate use and is razor sharp. I also have an older stainless steel knife that was given to me (either marked S&W or Colt - can't recall as it's put away now) but it is good only for buttering a Bagel-lol!

Assuming similar steel qualities other than rust resistance, I'll take stainless every time.

Cannot decide which? Get one of the laminate three-ply steels with an outside layer of stainless and small exposed core of carbon steel. The attached pictures are of such blade steels, Hitachi HAP40 with 410 stainless and Takefu V-Toku-2 with 410 stainless.




In the pictures you can see a line on the blades where the stainless ends and the carbon core is exposed. The HAP40 blade above is older and it is plain to see a patina developing on the exposed carbon steel core. I recall seeing Kershaw using a laminated D2 blade on some of their models.

Over the past 35 years or so I've accumulated a wide assortment of sharpening tools and can sharpen most any steel with relative ease. My modern steel blades, stainless and carbon, will get just as sharp as my 55 year old Schrade made of 1095, and they will hold the edge five or ten times longer. Stainless is only an indication of a steel's rust resistance, not an indication of its quality or suitability for use in a cutting tool.

The knives I use for deer & elk hunting (field-dressing/skinning/processing) are D2 steel and made by Bob Dozier. D2 is technically a carbon steel, but is just about as close as one can get to stainless without being stainless. As Mule Packer said in an above post the "heat treatment" of the knife steel is extremely important.....a good heat treatment can make a mediocre steel into a good knife or a bad heat treatment can make a great steel into a mediocre knife. Dozier is known for getting the best out of D2 steel with his proprietary heat treatment.

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Laus Deo! <><

I like my one Dozier!
Don’t seem to have a pic of it by itself on this iPad.
Here it is hanging with admiring hanger- on-ers .

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NRA LIFE MEMBER

I see that the Dozier gets center stage in your pic.

Don

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Laus Deo! <><