Best steel for a user Paramilitary 2 edc?

Surfingringo said:
I have two m4 customs form Phil Wilson. I use them several days a week cleaning fish and they are constantly covered with fish guts and blood. They both have dark patinas but they never get oiled and they have never shown any rust issues. Zero. And I live right on the ocean in the tropics. As long as you don't mind staining and are willing to occasionally wipe your blade off after use you will be fine.
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bdmicarta said:
You must be luckier than I am. I was carrying this one while working in the yard, in about 50% humidity. I have put oil and wax on it in the past, maybe not recently. I spotted the rust a week after carrying the knife and it did clean off easily.
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I am guessing all that fish oil (Surfingringo M4) is also helping to keep rust at bay ;-)

Regards,
 
bdmicarta said:
You must be luckier than I am. I was carrying this one while working in the yard, in about 50% humidity. I have put oil and wax on it in the past, maybe not recently. I spotted the rust a week after carrying the knife and it did clean off easily.
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I know that m4 can corrode when exposed to certain elements (acidic foods, blood, salt and sweat), and the main culprit is prolonged exposure. If I put them away with those type of elements on the blade, I will indeed get some rust. Being conscious of that I am careful to give the blades a quick rinse and dry them off after that kind of use. I bet if you get in the same habit your luck will be the same as mine. ;) I don't do anything fancy or time consuming for maintenance. There is no meticulous cleansing and I don't use any oil or wax. I just give them a freshwater rinse and dry them on my pants leg.
 
Silly Rabbit said:
I just lost a sprint run CTS-XHP orange pm2 (yeah I know, ouch!!)

I had bought a backup for it in case such a thing ever happened, a M390 sprint run (so I have one NIB) but I see they are too desireable to use as a beater!

I've been out of the knife loop per say for a little while...if I were to replace it with a PM2 (no other choice has to be a PM2) what is the latest and greatest super steel I should consider for every day carry, I did like the CTS-XHP

Thanks....
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I really think any Spyderco steel will be satisfactory for an EDC knife. I'm old school and still think VG-10 is a great steel, not to mention 440C, etc. Watch the for sale listings on the forum for a used knife in good shape. I'm sure you will find what you want for a very fair price.
 
whp said:
I haven t had much experience with s35v in user knives. I've heard that it has the good qualities of s30v but is tougher (less chippy). Does anyone like s35v?
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Everyone who owns a Chris Reeve sebbie, etc.
 
OP... seems like you wanted to spend a lot of dollars on a user with expensive backup steel in reserve. If you have the bucks, that's fine... your money.

For my money, a really good steel for a user PM2, which you can buy for $85-90 in excellent condition, with guys dumping theirs for the M4's, 110's, etc... is S30V steel!

These lightly used S30V PM2'S are a STEAL at the price point mentioned!

You're NOT going to wear out the S30V no matter how hard you use it as an EDC user knife. It sharpens quickly and holds a nice edge.

I happen to really like my S30V PM2 and I have 'better' steel knives.

But I carry it because it works, it's tough, great ergonomics and if I ever lose it, and I've never lost a knife, BFD.

YMMV! Enjoy the M4.
 
After thinking about it some more

For the money

S30 PM2's new are around $120-135
For $150 the S110V version is a great value and the blue all but disappears in jeans
 
M390 or CTS204P are great stainless steels, not too much of a bear to sharpen and they hold up very well. S110V is more stain resistant, harder to sharpen and will stay sharp even longer. But... I'm excited about the M4 version (have one on order) because I prefer a steel that I can get super sharp quickly and easily, even if it doesn't hold up quite as well as as the aforementioned. It has about the perfect combinations of qualities for my use and since I always wipe my blades more or less clean after use, I don't anticipate any corrosion issues. I've been very happy with HAP40, which is similar.
 
bdmicarta said:
You must be luckier than I am. I was carrying this one while working in the yard, in about 50% humidity. I have put oil and wax on it in the past, maybe not recently. I spotted the rust a week after carrying the knife and it did clean off easily.

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I noticed something today that made me want to update this thread. I haven't carried my Jade m4 pm2 for about a week. Today I pulled it out and sure enough, it had rust spots all over it. I was a little perplexed as I don't remember cutting anything acidic or exposing it to any corrosive material or environment. I have numerous other blades (both fixed and folder) in m4 and have never experienced this issue.

The one thing I would note is that on all of my other m4 blades I started out by forcing a light patina with boiling vinegar, but on this one I did nothing. Made me curious about your experience...had you forced any patina on that blade before having the rust issue?
 
Surfingringo said:
I noticed something today that made me want to update this thread. I haven't carried my Jade m4 pm2 for about a week. Today I pulled it out and sure enough, it had rust spots all over it. I was a little perplexed as I don't remember cutting anything acidic or exposing it to any corrosive material or environment. I have numerous other blades (both fixed and folder) in m4 and have never experienced this issue.

The one thing I would note is that on all of my other m4 blades I started out by forcing a light patina with boiling vinegar, but on this one I did nothing. Made me curious about your experience...had you forced any patina on that blade before having the rust issue?
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Wow I'm now glad I took the time to force a patina!
 
Maybe it's just me, but I prefer stainless steel in an EDC knife.

My S30V PM2s are just fine users, although I like S110V, too.
 
JNewell said:
Second this. Excellent performance, excellent price, easily replaced. Nothing not to like - a lot.
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Completely agree; I have been carrying a s30v pm2, for a year now. At first I wanted all of the different steels. But then I really used it and found sharpening to be incredibly easy, and I can usually go a couple of weeks if not more with just a quick strop here and there and it's good to go. Then sharpening takes no time at all... unlike my zdp189 dfly.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I337 using Tapatalk
 
The basic s30v PM2 is A great user
You don't need anything else for any standard EDC tasks
It has also the advantage to offer some options (dlc coating, scales and colors)

It is also the less expensive configuration and IMHO the best to start with

I start to get interest in other steel versions but to be honest it is just a kind of "steel junky's waste of money" And there is no real EDC need for that


Envoyé de mon iPhone en utilisant Tapatalk
 
Therom said:
The basic s30v PM2 is A great user
You don't need anything else for any standard EDC tasks
It has also the advantage to offer some options (dlc coating, scales and colors)

It is also the less expensive configuration and IMHO the best to start with

I start to get interest in other steel versions but to be honest it is just a kind of "steel junky's waste of money" And there is no real EDC need for that


Envoyé de mon iPhone en utilisant Tapatalk
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Yep, same here. I like the idea of having a "super folder" that could be put through anything, but in practice I'm not really doing anything that S30V couldn't handle.
 
There has not been one mentioned that's "bad" for EDC yet. I have been impressed with the CTS-204p PM2 I've been carrying for awhile now, but I also like S90v, M390, M4 etc. I wouldn't let sharpening/maintenance deter you, even on my S110 blades, re-profiling can be a chore I'll admit but edge touch up is not significantly harder than any other steel. That said the couple of S110 knives I've had did not impress me as much as I thought they would, as far as how scary sharp of an edge they will keep, but they do seem to keep a usable sharp edge for a long time. The only thing that impressed me about CTS-XHP was it's toughness I just don't need it in my typical cutting tasks. So some of it depends on your typical use, if you are just cutting normal everyday softer items I'll take a blade that takes and holds a sharper edge but isn't as tough, if I'm abusing it then I'll give up sharpness for toughness. I'd be willing to bet most users would be much happier with their EDC knives if they were made from a higher end stainless steel CTS-204p, S90V etc. with a more shallow grind angle than they are used to (say 15 degrees instead of closer to 20 degrees) than they would be with a super tough steel like CTS-XHP in the typical blade configuration.

S30 and S35vn are not bad steels at all, I was very pleased with my S30 PM2 until it was lost. They sharpen easily, take a very nice polished edge, and hold an okay edge. I'd give a slight nod to S35vn but it's biggest advantage is to the manufacturer not the end user. What I won't do is pay $250+ for a knife with S30/S35 steel, too many options once you get over $200 that use simply better performing steel. The reason S35vn is all the rage in $250+ knives and "mid-techs" has nothing to do with it's cutting performance for the user and everything to do with profit margin. However, I put function over form, if I can get a $100 knife with S35vn, I'm not going to pay $400 for a knife unless it offers better blade steel. Luckily for quite a few makers and "mid-techs" companies the rest of the marketplace does not share my viewpoint :)
 
whp said:
I haven t had much experience with s35v in user knives. I've heard that it has the good qualities of s30v but is tougher (less chippy). Does anyone like s35v?
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I've heard the same thing about s35vn. How does it compare to S30V?
 
I adore these threads

because they're interesting, but, as we all know, they never provide any definitive answers...

because there is no ideal steel!

only the steel that works for your particularly cutlery needs/conditions

I also like "simple" low, medium and high alloy "carbon steels" and enjoy "stainless steels" under the right circumstances

:)
 
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