Blade Steels - Have We Been Fleeced By Marketing?

As soon as someone sole source cites YouTube alarm bells start ringing.

I have found for me that the first thing I look for is blade steel but with a big but. The knife also has to have balance.

That means along withe the materials, the heat treat, the blade shape construction, lock mechanism and other sundry details the "value" of the steel is part of the equation. I have found and while this is not a law it seems pretty reliable that a good knife that meets my requirements will have a servicable steel. Maybe not the latest bleeding edge stuff that's used at NASA but a good steel.
 
To a certain point; yes marketing dictates peoples preference in steel choice.

There is of course differences in how different steel types perform.
There are however, many tried and tested steeltypes, which are disregarded by customers, just because they have been convinced "by marketing" that they need something better.
 
Steels have different properties. How well some of those properties get realized will depend on geometry and heat treatment. Especially in the case of steels with less than stellar corrosion resistance, surface type or treatment can matter too. For instance, bead-blasting a surface increases surface area and creates nooks and crannies for grime that can accelerate corrosion. On the other hand, various coatings can effectively seal a surface so long as they are intact.

The type of steel is your base material. A better base material is a good thing. Sure, you can get a lot out of a crumby steel by getting those other factors right. Doing the same with a better steel should lead to better results.
 
We know from scientific testing that some of the really tough knife steels -- such as CPM 3V or Vanadis 4E -- are a lot tougher than average steels run at the same hardness.

We know from edge-wear cutting tests -- whether Ankerson's or CATRA tests -- that some steels will cut tens to hundreds of times longer than average steels.

None of those things may matter if you don't use your knife very hard or long. But if you do, the high-performance steels can be rewarding. I've become a fan of Vanax SC in my hard-use EDC. It keeps an edge much longer than average steels, it's tougher than any other powder stainless steel, it's about as stainless as a steel can get and it's fine-grained and easy to resharpen to a really nice edge.

Why would I want to give up any of those attributes by switching to an average steel?

Even if you don't use a knife hard, however, a better steel can support a more aggressive geometry, meaning it's a lot easier to cut stuff.
 
The simple answer is the majority of people won’t notice a big difference in “normal” daily tasks. The problem with these “testers” is consistency, too many variables for me.

Rust resistance falls under the same category for me as well. Even just somebody’s sweat can cause rust but for someone else it won’t.
 
I tend to notice the lesser steels dull quite a bit faster than the premium bladed knives i usually carry and with that being said i have to touch up the cheaper steels bi-weekly but can go months for a serviceable edge with s110v, s35vn etc.
 
The whole marketing effect is most evident, when some people can't wrap their head around the fact, that a very good knife can be made out of a less than super steel.

Some of my very best knives, are made out of simple O1.
 
I don't think we are being fleeced by being offered different steels. It just adds to the usability and or collectability of a knife. Having said that I think if you are using your knives it is important to select your steel based on the anticipated usage and usage environment.
 
Marketing can't change facts. If someone is really hoodwinked that badly, it means they didn't do their research, and that is on them.
 
WillB said:
Good marketing is convincing people they have "wants and needs" they didn't know existed, and often don't... :cool:
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Snipe 1 said:
It's mostly good marketing. Let's face it, 99% of even the knife nerds who cruise knife forums had never even heard of these new steels until Sal Glesser of Spyderco mentions them, much less the general public. Suddenly, you see posts like "I've always wanted a knife in that steel". Yeah, the steel you had never heard of until the day before, but you've always wanted it...
Click to expand...
Yep, everybody needs a Thneed....
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I can go through what seems like miles of cardboard before M390 will need sharpening, but I can barely finish a single box with 420j2. If I try to slice a brick both are going to be dull immediately.

I learned that the build quality, action, heat treatment, and grind of a knife are MUCH more important than the steel itself. I do like the better steels but I find myself carrying an Atmos a lot lately. It works great, stays sharp, and if I break it or lose it I'll grab another, no problem.
 
In my opinion, it is not marketing when the steel quality differences are tested scientifically and shown that higher steels are better than lower steels. The thing is, there are so many factors like heat treatments, chemistry and other things I can't understand that makes 1:1 comparison pretty difficult. So, no, its not just fancy marketing to get people to buy more expensive knives, there really is a difference.

Not to mention, each have their own pros and cons like edge retention vs ease of sharpening vs slicing vs chopping, vs toughness vs thickness vs weight

An easier steel to sharpen might be your preference, even if it has to be done more, other people may like things lasting longer and dealing with the sharpening struggles.
 
To an extent, yes. The biggest variable in knife performance is the user. This accounts for the vast differences people see in use. I haven't used high end steel in about a year. I don't notice any difference. Sharpening, edge angle, grit finish, user tolerance, etc all make a bigger difference than steel.
 
Have we been fleeced? Yes. Who fleeced us? We did.

Old designs with new steels, new designs with new steels. Real world, I can't tell a difference between S30 and S35 but I like trying them anyway.

Honestly, I'm pretty happy with VG10 and 154CM. They stay sharp and are easy to keep sharp. These days I don't get into the steel wars like I once did, but if you collect and use knives, I mean seriously, how different knives do you need... They all cut, right?

If I just needed something that cut, do I really need more than one knife?

Chances are, if we stop collecting, the knife industry will stop marketing new designs and new steels. This is on us just as much as it's on them.
 
If and when I can afford a more expensive steel I might go for it, but I often can't for various reasons. I think that S30v was the 'highest' I've gone, Vg10 etc. Most of my steel is plain jane 1080,1095,aus8, that type of thing. They hold an edge long enough for my outdoor uses and are pretty easy to sharpen. I have a set of those imitation diamond rods for my sharpmaker but haven't used a D-2 knife enough to take them out of the tubes. I have a rediculous amount of plain jane steel and it meets my moderate needs. I stop and think of the basic steels that the fur traders of North America used, survived, and thrived with. Hell, modern SK-5 would probably be an amazing steel to them.
 
I’ll take a good high carbon steel blade made by someone that knows how to heat treat it any day over the latest greatest super steel
 
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