I'm not usually one to go crazy about a steel, I'm not the most knowledgeable about the various blade steels because I don't have that big of a variety of steels to draw my first hand knowledge from. I have used Buck's 420HC, my various 8Cr13MoV knives, my Delica in VG-10, and my Kershaw Dividend in M390 the most out of all my knives so I will compare to those.
I've put my Para3 LW through its paces in the short time I've had it. I haven't done rope cut tests or tracked how much cardboard I've cut, but instead have put it to real world use and I can confidently say that CTS-BD1N as done by Spyderco is an absolute winner. I've whittled the wood on my hawk handle, demolished several cardboard boxes, cut plastic bands and plastic wrap, cut apples and oranges, opened bags of dog food, and a ton of other knife related tasks around the farm and office.
It has held up admirably, has not shown a trace of corrosion or discoloration, and real world edgeholding seems marginally better than the Tenacious or even the Delica, as expected based on the testing others have done with this steel. Again, I am not counting cuts and no science involved, this is purely anecdotal.
When the factory edge started to skip off of plastic wrap rather than biting in and cutting it I finally caved and put a new edge on it. This Para3 LW is as easy to sharpen as my Tenacious and seems to get even sharper. This steel can take a mirror polish quite easily. It does burr pretty noticeably and does require a bit of work to break it off. Once the burr is gone an absurdly sharp edge remains. Of what I've done so far with my own edge on it, the steel seems to keep a very fine edge quite well and it responds well to stropping.
I notice most of the time steels like 8Cr13MoV or 420HC tend to go from scary sharp to "Meh" in just a few cuts into cardboard, this steel doesn't seem to do that. It doesnt get a toothy edge like the M390 does after some use, either. It seems to favor a roll rather than a chip if pushed too far, but seems quite hard at the same time. I am curious as to what hardness range the Spyderco BD1N blades are run but I cant seem to find the numbers published or tested anywhere.
I will keep using it on the farm and at work. I plan to have it in the woods as much as possible and on the river with me this summer to see how it holds up in the weather, which I bet will be fine. I know it was used in some kitchen knives, I do wonder how this steel would do in a fixed blade hunting knife.
Has my experience so far been the same as everyone else's? Does anyone have a reason to not like BD1N?
I've put my Para3 LW through its paces in the short time I've had it. I haven't done rope cut tests or tracked how much cardboard I've cut, but instead have put it to real world use and I can confidently say that CTS-BD1N as done by Spyderco is an absolute winner. I've whittled the wood on my hawk handle, demolished several cardboard boxes, cut plastic bands and plastic wrap, cut apples and oranges, opened bags of dog food, and a ton of other knife related tasks around the farm and office.
It has held up admirably, has not shown a trace of corrosion or discoloration, and real world edgeholding seems marginally better than the Tenacious or even the Delica, as expected based on the testing others have done with this steel. Again, I am not counting cuts and no science involved, this is purely anecdotal.
When the factory edge started to skip off of plastic wrap rather than biting in and cutting it I finally caved and put a new edge on it. This Para3 LW is as easy to sharpen as my Tenacious and seems to get even sharper. This steel can take a mirror polish quite easily. It does burr pretty noticeably and does require a bit of work to break it off. Once the burr is gone an absurdly sharp edge remains. Of what I've done so far with my own edge on it, the steel seems to keep a very fine edge quite well and it responds well to stropping.
I notice most of the time steels like 8Cr13MoV or 420HC tend to go from scary sharp to "Meh" in just a few cuts into cardboard, this steel doesn't seem to do that. It doesnt get a toothy edge like the M390 does after some use, either. It seems to favor a roll rather than a chip if pushed too far, but seems quite hard at the same time. I am curious as to what hardness range the Spyderco BD1N blades are run but I cant seem to find the numbers published or tested anywhere.
I will keep using it on the farm and at work. I plan to have it in the woods as much as possible and on the river with me this summer to see how it holds up in the weather, which I bet will be fine. I know it was used in some kitchen knives, I do wonder how this steel would do in a fixed blade hunting knife.
Has my experience so far been the same as everyone else's? Does anyone have a reason to not like BD1N?
