Anyone know what is happening with the future of CTS XHP?

Hashishiin

Hashishiin

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In a recent release, Cold Steel put out an "XHP" Engage, just XHP, no CTS. I assume this is a small oversight on the part of the company, as was its listing as a Crucible steel. However, in the discussion, it was mentioned that the steel may be discontinued, is this true? Was unable to find info in a cursory search.

I like the steel, I use a Native Chief in it, as well as a Chaparral, and recently got old Espada L and XLs in it, seems at a good time, too.
 
XHP and Carpenter steels in general have been known as having inconsistent availability and Carpenter seems to waffle in its commitment to knife steels. Dropping “CTS” from marketing materials doesn’t have anything to do with that, however. You wouldn’t be able to call a steel XHP that wasn’t made by Carpenter.
 
Larrin said:
XHP and Carpenter steels in general have been known as having inconsistent availability and Carpenter seems to waffle in its commitment to knife steels. Dropping “CTS” from marketing materials doesn’t have anything to do with that, however. You wouldn’t be able to call a steel XHP that wasn’t made by Carpenter.
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Man, that sucks - the knife folks seem to like Carpenter, and it doesn't hurt for Crucible to have another significant competitor in the PM knife steel field, but I guess they can do what they want. Yes, suspected that second part, thanks for confirming.
 
Nah, I'd imagine just kiddin'

But, looking at XHP as a 'super steel' is the issue - I am seeing it as a more refined 440C/D2 sort-of stainless, just good tough, semi-basic steel. I liked it a lot for piercing and cutting boxes. I am expecting to prefer medium tough, well balanced steel most, but will try various stuff - just rusted my M4 Dodo in a leather pocket protector, but not a carbon steel K55 Mercator in same PP.
 
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K.O.D. said:
Are you calling XHP the Tom Brady of steels?

I love it myself, my favorite.
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I'm with you there. XHP is my favorite as well. Sharpens well and keeps a good sharp edge for a good while between touch ups. I will be sad to see this steel disappear...But I also take comfort knowing that I have a good collection of Spydies etc in that blade steel. So if it disappears I will enjoy the ones that I have even more! Gotta look for the positive in every scenario ! Have a great rest of your weekend !!
 
Alberta Ed said:
I was impressed by my American Lawman in CTS-XHP with its DLC coating. Takes a very fine edge and holds it an absurdly long time. It remains one of my favorite steels.
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I still don't understand why makers coat "super steels", especially SS steels. I have a MT OTF with a DLC M390 blade. It works great and coating is not scratching, but why is it needed?

I am not much of a sharpener (I know, boo me) so I like steels like M390 and 20CV that hold an edge. Waiting for my first Magnacut Blade.
 
Locutus D'Borg said:
I still don't understand why makers coat "super steels", especially SS steels.
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I occasionally scratch my head about this too. More often than not though, coatings are aesthetic rather than functional choices, so that's why they're on stainless steels. Still makes me wonder about all the companies releasing Magnacut blades with coatings though.

A few years ago, Cold steel announced a bunch of knives in XHP, but then had to switch to S35VN because they couldn't source enough XHP for their lineup. Prior to the switch there was a lot of complaints about the XHP knives not being available after they were announced. I know I had been waiting for a knife in XHP that never came. After the switch to S35VN all those models were far more readily available. Maybe they were just remembering that scenario when they mentioned it in the interview.
 
Locutus D'Borg said:
I still don't understand why makers coat "super steels", especially SS steels. I have a MT OTF with a DLC M390 blade. It works great and coating is not scratching, but why is it needed?

I am not much of a sharpener (I know, boo me) so I like steels like M390 and 20CV that hold an edge. Waiting for my first Magnacut Blade.
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I kind of scratch my head too about coating steels that are already pretty stain resistant. The only other hard coated knife I have is my BassPro 110 in CPM154 -- a hard gray coating of some sort, aluminum/titanium/nitride or something. Probably helps to decrease stuff from sticking to the blade and resists scratching. I don't care at all for the softer epoxy coatings, (Kabar, CS SRK/Compact). My original Blackjack Campanion in 1095 has a very tough gray epoxy protective coating which is OK as I keep it in the SUV as an emergency tool.
 
Locutus D'Borg said:
I still don't understand why makers coat "super steels", especially SS steels. I have a MT OTF with a DLC M390 blade. It works great and coating is not scratching, but why is it needed?

I am not much of a sharpener (I know, boo me) so I like steels like M390 and 20CV that hold an edge. Waiting for my first Magnacut Blade.
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I can't sharpen very well,but diomon stones are cheap now. You can spend 50 even on a worksharp that will help you with the angles.
 
Love my American Lawman in CTS-XHP -- takes a very fine edge without much effort and holds it a long time. The DLC coating doesn't seem to wear at all.
 
I prefer coating even on supers.
It helps to keep the sun from glaring/ reflecting in my eyes.
 
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