[luvmy40]

I have been looking at the Blur knives from Kershaw/Ken Onion.

I see that they are available in several different steel grades.

13C26 Stainless, S30V stainless, G2 and 440A.

Anyone have opinions on which is the better for a dedicated SD blade?

I have been told that the blade design and edge bevel has more to do with the quality, but the steel has to make adifference, right.

I believe that the 440A would be the lower grade steel, but I am certainly not an expert (or even an amature) metalurgist.

Thanks fdor any advice/opinions!

 

[finalfusion]

I cant really give any insight on steel/well knives anyway. I just took a look at the knife you are talking about, and damn that looks like a fine blade for the money! I myself am looking into getting a good tac knife, so hopefully we can get some advice here soon

Good luck on your search brother! Hope you get the answers your lookin for :wink:

I have been looking at the Blur knives from Kershaw/Ken Onion.

I see that they are available in several different steel grades.

13C26 Stainless, S30V stainless, G2 and 440A.

Anyone have opinions on which is the better for a dedicated SD blade?

I have been told that the blade design and edge bevel has more to do with the quality, but the steel has to make adifference, right.

I believe that the 440A would be the lower grade steel, but I am certainly not an expert (or even an amature) metalurgist.

Thanks fdor any advice/opinions!

 

[ClosetCaseNerd]

S30V is the nicest of the steels you listed. Its just about the nicest steel there is.



I recommend you look at kershaw's Zero Tolerance line as well. I bought a ZT0200 and its a fantastic knife, but a bit spendy. Its CPM 154CM which is an excellent steel for a general purpose blade, and this knife is burly! The "flipper" is really a must have for me after using CRKT knives for years, its so much more intuitive then thumb studs.



Paid about $120 for mine shipped.



Pics of mine:

 

[Dan Burwell]

I have one of the Kershaw/ Ken Onion assisted openers. When you get it be careful it really springs open on it's own much more forcefully than I was expecting. It darn near got away from me. Now I love the thing and almost never leave home without.



As for steel don't ask me I am not a knife guy. What I do know is; I can dull anything within a week.

 

[luvmy40]

I Love Ken Onion's designs. The assisted opening is fantastic. I wasn't thrilled with the handles for a SD knife until I happened upon the Blur.

 

[Smokey_1987]

This site has some pretty good prices on Kershaw / Ken Onion knives.



http://www.thekershawstore.com/

 

[walkingbush]

S30V is definitely the way to go. 440a (and 440c for that matter) are on the cheaper end of steels. I have knives in both steels and am far and away impressed with the edge holding capabilities of s30v.



Something to be considering when looking at Kershaw knives is that their speed assist knives are illegal in the opinion of some LEO's and DAs in some states, including Oregon I've come to find out. Does that mean you can't buy one? No. Does that mean you can't carry one for your entire lifetime without ever having a legal hiccup? I have one and carried it in Oregon with no problems. Where the problem arises is the verbage of some laws implies that anything that has an "assisted opening" is classified as a switchblade. Food for thought.



Personally I don't much care for Kershaw knives in general as I have become spoiled with Benchmade knives. Now there really isn't anything wrong with kershaw, it's just when you've held the best, anything less is subpar...

MC



BTW: FinalFusion, I suggest waiting till you make your move then check out the Kershaw Factory sale if you're interested in one.

 

[jbparrothd21]

Knife Sharpener

Not trying to steal your post, but I know a few of you mentioned how fast you dull your blade. I have tried close to 20 different knife sharpeners, and finally found the one. Here it is on the website, it is the exact same one but it says it is $20/each on the website, but I picked up two of them at a gun show for $15. It has sharpened every blade I have, all the scissors and even my serated blades I had given up on.



http://www.hunterhoner.com/

 

[coltman1985]

Thanks for the link!! :roll:

 

[jhe888]

Of all those, only 440A is subpar for a knife in my view. (Although 440A does have its uses, and doesn't make a bad knife. But generally, there are much better choices.) I have never heard of G2 being used in a knife, but that only means I never heard of it. 13C26, as I recall is similar to 440C. Steel does matter, but a crappy heat treatment will make the sexiest of super steels crap. The contrary is also true. My son has a Benchmade Griptillian - an older one - made of 440C, which is thought to be sort of the lowest of the good grade stainless steels, and that steel is very nice in that knife. (Besides the 440 series have some other great attributes, one of them being a relatively high degree of stainlessness.) S30V is the latest and greatest super steel for knives.



Looking for the best steel is like looking for the best car. The answer depends a lot on your eventual purpose and how well the knife you are looking at is made. A Porsche is a great car, but if you need to haul a load of bricks, it is useless. O2 is a good high carbon steel, but but if you made a diver's knife out of it, it would be rusted in a minute. (This is where 440A comes in, for example - it is very stainless.) People focus on the material because people tend to focus on something tangible, but as long as the knife is made of a good cutlery steel and heat treated properly, they will all work just fine.



Google for knife steel - you will find all you care to read on the subject. Here is one collection:



http://www.cutleryscience.com/reviews/blade_materials.html

 

[ront]

ClosetCaseNerd that Zero Tolerance is a nice knife. I have kicked around getting one of those for a while.



luvmy40, I do not know anything about the 13C26 Stainless. The 440A is a pretty low grade that you do not want. It may be easy to sharpen, but will not hold an edge. The G2, I think(?) is a pretty old steel. I am pretty partial to Spyderco knives and have several. The S30V steel is great stuff. It is harder to sharpen, but will hold an edge very well. I have several knives that use this steel and it is a fine knife steel. Also VG-10 is a good steel to look for. S30V is an American made steel and VG-10 is made in Japan. They are very similar. It will work well if you get a good sharpener to keep the edge sharp. If you let it get dull, it is a lot bigger job to get sharp again. The sharpener I use most often is the Spyderco Sharpmaker. It is easy to use and very versatile.

Here are a few picks of my knives with S30V steel.



Ron

This one uses the VG-10 steel.

The middle one in this picture uses the VG-10 and the other two use the S30V. I posted this one so you can get an idea of the size.

 

[ClosetCaseNerd]

Plenty of people like spyderco, but I just.....don't. Dunno why, they feel cheap in my hands.



I really think that the blur is a nice little folder, but the assisted opening is unnecessary, the lack of a finger choil or finger guard (which is the flipper on the zt0200) makes me nervous for any kind of piercing motion (hand could slip forward onto the blade, ruining your sunday) or if the liner lock accidentally fails (instead of just pinching your finger as you would with a finger choil or guard, the blur will sever them...not good) and the handle isn't the most ergonomic.



But for the price, the blur and the CRKT knives are probably the best, disregarding spyderco of course

 

[mikenkansas]

I'm not sold on CRKT's, I've got a couple of their M series (M16?) with liner locks and the additional lock that blocks the liner. Good thing it's there because one of them takes only a firm tap in the back of the blad to overcome the liner lock and close. Not good........



I normally carry a Spyderco or Benchmade product in my pocket, along with a SAW of course.. and a leatherman...

 

[ront]

Plenty of people like spyderco, but I just.....don't. Dunno why, they feel cheap in my hands.

ClosetCaseNerd, I have no problem with your opinion of Spyderco knives. I am curious though as to which ones you have held. They do make some lighter knives, but they are stronger than they may appear or feel. In the last picture that I posted, the top knife, it is called the 80mm Manix, and it is a tank. I can assure that there is nothing cheap feeling about this knife! The green G10 handled knife in one of the other pictures is also very strong. It is now discontinued and very highly sought after. It is the Lil' Temp.





Ron

 

[ClosetCaseNerd]

Sorry I can't give you models unfortunately, but they are popular with good reason, with a lot of soldiers. The blades are usually good steel and have a great edge on them from the factory but the handles felt like they left something to be desired. Also another personal preference, I don't like the cut out on the blade to open it. I much prefer a flipper like CRKT offers.



My 3 CRKT's liners have been rock solid, and the LAWKS system adds that peace of mind whenever a twisting/prying motion is necessary. The M16 series with zytel handle uses a different (less quality) blade steel then the aluminum/titanium handled models, but the AUS 8 on the aluminum/titanium models isn't a bad steel either, particularly for 46 bucks!

 

[raz-0]

Short version.. get the s30v if you are choosing form those options.



long version:



440a is pretty meh steel. It's fairly easy to get an edge on, fairly easy to dull. i wouldn't pry with it IMO. Think cheap folder that you will beat the crap out of. You cut up corrugated cardboard all day, then a 440a with serrations plus something like the sharpener linked above is right for you.





G2 is a bit better than 440a.. not much, but it is better for prying. Think hunting knife you don't care if you lose when out hunting. Not much point in putting it in a folder you also offer in 440a IMO since folders aren't up to prying.





SV30 is a nice steel. I think it is a very nice compromise between edge holding and sharpenability.



I actually rank it a bit above 154CM and ATS34 for that reason. ATS34 and 154CM are about the same since ats34 was supposed to be a clone of 154cm.





For folders i prefer sv30 and 154cm in that order. both at 58 or slightly lower rockwell hardness. ats34 at 60 hardness is jsut a lady to sharpen and you don't get much improvement in edge holding for it IMO.



For a fixed blade, i like 52100 or minor variations on it like SR101. It takes a nice edge, it holds it reasonably well, it has good deflection proerties for prying, and good abrasion properties for chopping. Also for a working blade I prefer something differentially heat treated.

 

[ront]

There is a lot of good knife information over at the Bladeforums as well as the Spyderco forums.

http://bladeforums.com/forums/index.php?

http://spyderco.com/forums/index.php?



Ron

 

[Honcho]

I'm supprised no one has mentioned Emerson knives yet. A good friend of mine has one and it is one of the best knives I've ever seen. It's hands down better than my Blackhawk MOD, and I carry that everywhere.

 

[walkingbush]

Emerson knives are great, if you want to walk around looking like a Klingon. I think that they are most likely wonderful knives in a combat zone but like it or not, image does mean a lot. They scream "Combat Knife" for "Killing People." There is something to be said, especially if you need to use a knife in self defense, for carrying what the manufacturer classifies as a "utility" knife.



Having said that, please let me clarify something. I would love it if sheeple didn't give a rip about such things. I would love to be able to go to work with my Benchmade sheath knife strapped to my waist and an Emerson in my pocket. The unfortunate reallity is that I'm not the only one in my world and I do prefer to avoid unnecessary confrontation.



Food for thought.



MC

 

[cmdbass]

i second the blade forums. Great stuff and you could even pick up a custom handmade knife like that one I showed a while back! My buddy Mike Cantrell handmade me a PD knife out of 1075 spring steel. Good stuff. Also the S30V is good stuff.