Looking for High Carbon flipper

[Orv]

I still haven't found a stainless steel worth a darn IMO. I'm strictly a knife user, my collection of knives is a pile of beat up spydercos, benchmades, kershaws, and ZT's.

I'm hoping you guys could recommend a high carbon steel like 1095, 01, or A2.

I want it to be a smaller flipper. I love the function of the ZT 0450. It's perfect in size for EDC. I WOULD LOVE to find a similar knife in a high carbon flipper.

This post isn't well structured or typed, I'm on my iPhone.
Thanks all!

On second thought, maybe I should just have someone make it.

 

[bdmicarta]

I still haven't found a stainless steel worth a darn IMO. I'm strictly a knife user, my collection of knives is a pile of beat up spydercos, benchmades, kershaws, and ZT's.

I'm hoping you guys could recommend a high carbon steel like 1095, 01, or A2.

I want it to be a smaller flipper. I love the function of the ZT 0450. It's perfect in size for EDC. I WOULD LOVE to find a similar knife in a high carbon flipper.

This post isn't well structured or typed, I'm on my iPhone.
Thanks all!

On second thought, maybe I should just have someone make it.

Gayle Bradley can make you a superb flipper with M4 carbon steel, but it won't be cheap. M4 is my favorite carbon steel for knife blades.

Benchmade and Spyderco both have made limited models with Cruwear, M4, 52100, K390 and Maxamet steels. You didn't say what steel qualities you want but Maxamet is probably the best edge-holding steel you can get in a folding knife. Spyderco also uses steels such as ZDP189 and SuperBlue in some of their models. ZDP189 is supposed to be very good for edgeholding. All 7 of these steels are non-stainless.

You mention 1095, O1 and A2. Those are good steels for toughness but not so good for edge-holding. They aren't used much in knives of the type that Spyderco makes. If you are interested in edge-holding then most stainless steels that Spyderco uses are probably better than these 3 carbon steels. Even common S30V is probably better for edgeholding, and the newer steels such as M390, s90V and S110V are so much better at edgeholding you would find it hard to believe. If you are interested in toughness then it's a different story. Spyderco has used S35VN and Elmax which are good for edgeholding but I believe better than most stainless steels for toughness. Cruwear and 3V are the steels that you can find in folders that will have good toughness, better than the carbon steels that you mention.

 

[dkb45]

There are a few Remington folders made in 1095, around $50. I've seen a flipper and a butterfly knife.

 

[jonnieb27]

What about a Spyderco Southard. A medium sized knife, but small for the amount of blade you get. It is CTS 204P steel, which is stainless, but sharpens very nicely indeed. Might be my favourite stainless due to its sharpening characteristics.

A Spyderco Advocate sounds like it would be right up your alley with M4 steel, but they are still resolving the washer/bearing situation at the moment.

 

[evilgreg]

I love carbon steel. Hard to beat a big fixed blade in good old 1095. That said, modern stainless steels are in all ways superior for the purposes of use in a folding pocket knife. Even if you need it to be similarly easy to sharpen, steels like 440C and VG-10 will give you good wear resistance and corrosion resistance and still be so easy to sharpen that a blind one armed half wit could get it right every time.

I'm curious, what have your issues with stainless steels been?

 

[Dangerously]

I'm curious, what have your issues with stainless steels been?

Me too. Suggesting that it's hard to find a stainless that can out-perform production 1095 is so far from my experience I find it unrelatable. High quality modern stainless steels are one of the main innovations of the industry in the last while.

 

[evilgreg]

Me too. Suggesting that it's hard to find a stainless that can out-perform production 1095 is so far from my experience I find it unrelatable. High quality modern stainless steels are one of the main innovations of the industry in the last while.

The only advantages versus stainless steels I could think of for something like 1095 are price, toughness and ease of sharpening. Low end stainless steels are plenty cheap, and toughness doesn't matter for folders (unless you're a half wit who tries to make an expensive folding knife do something a cheap fixed blade would do much better). That leaves only ease of sharpening, which is why I suggested the two easiest to sharpen stainless steels I've ever worked with, 440C and VG-10. Give me a rock and a piece of cardboard and I can make either of those steels screaming sharp, and I'm a clumsy knucklehead.