Just Bought a 8cr13mov Knife - What's your take?

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Jun 19, 2018
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Let's be clear. I don't prefer 8cr13mov steel. It's not ideal. But in my experience, it holds up well if made and heat treated correctly.

Anyway, one of my favorite knife designs is the Kershaw Atmos. I briefly had it, loved it, but then gave it away because I don't like 8cr13mov.

But I missed it. It had amazing action, was light, and the overall design was beautiful. In short, it is just a great knife with less than ideal steel.

Yes, blade steel is 8cr13mov. Not the best. But you know what? Not the worst. I can sharpen the crap out of it, and it works fine for me.

Question is, is 8cr a deal breaker for any of you guys?
 
Nah. Have several in 8cr13, and will probably get more of them.

As you say, it works well enough, and is decently stainless, and easy to sharpen.
 
not for me, especially kershaw 8cr.
its on par for the most part with what I would consider "run of the mill" blade steel.
definitely serviceable and usable for light to moderate use EDC
 
8cr used to be fine with me, but now my collection has kind of grown out of 8cr. Once I started to get knives with m390, 20cv, s35vn, etc. I wasn't satisfied with 8cr anymore. I actually had an atmos and while I loved almost everything about it I couldn't get over the steel so I got rid of mine too. Also anymore you can get d2 knives for almost the same price
 
I have a ~$40 8cr13mov knife that lives in an external pocket on a daypack I have. It stays there just in case I forget to carry something else whenever I use that pack. It serves its purpose and I don’t have to worry about it getting lost, damaged or clogged up with dirt the way I would if it was a knife that I cared about. I’ll probably move it into my bicycle handlebar bag now that the beginning of cycling season is here.
 
Depends on the knife. Is the budget steel the only negative thing about it, no problem. It needs to make sense. I wouldn't buy a 300$ titanium frame lock with CF bolsters and a 8CR blade.

I concur. The Kershaw Atmos is fantastic. I love everything about it except for the blade steel.

Kershaw, please make an Atmos with better steel!

In the meantime, I will enjoy using and sharpening that thing once i get it lol.
 
8cr used to be fine with me, but now my collection has kind of grown out of 8cr. Once I started to get knives with m390, 20cv, s35vn, etc. I wasn't satisfied with 8cr anymore. I actually had an atmos and while I loved almost everything about it I couldn't get over the steel so I got rid of mine too. Also anymore you can get d2 knives for almost the same price

Yes, you can get D2 at around the same price these days. For instance, an Ontario Rat 2. But the design, for me at least, leaves much to be desired. Rat 1/2 and Cutjacks are great, but the design of the Atmos kills them in my opinion. So my solution is to get the Atmos and carry it once in a while, and sharpen it when I can. Of course, I have my other knives as well.

But seriously, If they made the Atmos with m390, or even S30V, it would be a killer knife. One of the best EDC knives out there.
 
Let's be clear. I don't prefer 8cr13mov steel. It's not ideal. But in my experience, it holds up well if made and heat treated correctly.

Anyway, one of my favorite knife designs is the Kershaw Atmos. I briefly had it, loved it, but then gave it away because I don't like 8cr13mov.

But I missed it. It had amazing action, was light, and the overall design was beautiful. In short, it is just a great knife with less than ideal steel.

Yes, blade steel is 8cr13mov. Not the best. But you know what? Not the worst. I can sharpen the crap out of it, and it works fine for me.

Question is, is 8cr a deal breaker for any of you guys?
8cr is usually a deal breaker because the knives that use it often are poor quality, low end materials and bad qc. Not to mention super soft or just bad heat treatment of the steel. Have a natrix gen1
.. Just terrible knife, very bad in every way including a warped 8cr13mov blade. Never again. I'll never buy another Kershaw Chinese made model.
 
My Tenacious is probably one of the better 8cr blades I own. Keeps an edge well enough, and is amazingly easy to get back to par. Obviously I’d prefer something like M390 on just about every folder I own, but that’s not realistic. I wouldn’t skip over a knife that I like everything about just because of 8cr. 2cr.. maybe, haha.
 
Yes, you can get D2 at around the same price these days. For instance, an Ontario Rat 2. But the design, for me at least, leaves much to be desired. Rat 1/2 and Cutjacks are great, but the design of the Atmos kills them in my opinion. So my solution is to get the Atmos and carry it once in a while, and sharpen it when I can. Of course, I have my other knives as well.

But seriously, If they made the Atmos with m390, or even S30V, it would be a killer knife. One of the best EDC knives out there.
There is the ZT 0470 which is an atmos but slightly larger with 20cv, marbled cf and titanium scales. If your looking for a high end atmos. I wish they had at least gone with sandvik steel on the kershaw model
 
There is the ZT 0470 which is an atmos but slightly larger with 20cv, marbled cf and titanium scales. If your looking for a high end atmos. I wish they had at least gone with sandvik steel on the kershaw model

Yes, but it costs almost $300. Normally, I would say it's worth it. And usually, I hate cheap Chinese knives, especially when they have 8cr13mov. But like I said, the Atmos is an exception. They did something right with that cheap knife.
 
Got my 0470 for $220 BNIB..
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I have lots of Kershaws with 8cr13mov - love most all of 'em. I think the Fraxion line is also VERY similar to the Atmos and serves it's purpose. Atmos is a step up for sure, but not by much.

Also love the Cryos and Cryo IIs. and Natrixs…

They aren't $100 knives, they're $30-$50 knives...
 
I carry my Cryo everywhere. I bought a spare for about $18 for when, not if, I lose it. If you look at the edge it gets dull but then again if you get it within a couple feet of a stone it gets sharp again.
 
8cr13MoV is imho the undisputed top dog of entry-level knife steels. Virtually my entire collection of knives (which I estimate to be currently > 200) use them and they have been awesome.

In fact, I prefer them to the so-called higher end steels like 440C and D2. D2 especially gets a very bad rep in my book for being so hard that it wore down my Lansky stones without even achieving a burr.

I think most brands are stepping up their game with lower-end steels. Just last week I was reprofilling a Gerber Airlift with 5cr15mov to 17dps on my Lansky and it took almost 90min to finish. For comparison purposes, the Gerber Evo with 7cr17 steel did not require this much time to accomplish the same task.
 
8cr13mov . . . - What's your take?
Good enough to geeeterdone. Better than Case which I have and use a ton of. Better than SAK which I have and use a ton of.

Anyway, one of my favorite knife designs is the Kershaw _____
. . . amazing action, was light, and the overall design was beautiful. In short, it is just a great knife with less than ideal steel.
I hear you ! I hate to say it but one of my favorite designs is my Kershaw Strobe. All of $17 on sale because there was no box. I was carrying and using it today. I have $300 American made knives too but of the Strobe (and the Chill) I have to say : :thumbsup: :thumbsup: :thumbsup:

If they want me to buy them all over again just slip a little M4 in there and watch how fast I can click that "Buy" button !

Question is, is 8cr a deal breaker for any of you guys?
I guess not . . . but . . . I MUCH prefer the crazy hard stuff like ZDP-189 and even better :

THE ALL POWERFUL
THE UNDEFEATED
HE'S A FREEDOM FIGHTER AND A GIRL DELIGHTER
LETS GIVE A BIG HAND FOR HE WHO STANDS ALONE IN THE SPOT LIGHT . . .

M4
 
I'm okay with 8cr, but forget the Atmos, it's all about the Concierge for me.
 
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