Most indestructible knife

R

rlewpolar

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Oct 4, 2022
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I was watching a recent Joe X destruction video (always entertaining) of a Tops Operator 7 knife which is supposedly one of Tops’ most overbuilt and brutish knives. It failed in an epic fashion, far faster than something like a lowly Mora (those Moras are insanely strong btw, especially the Mora Robust). Granted, what he does to knives, no sane knife user would ever do but, it got me thinking. What knives among aficionados are considered virtually indestructible? I have a few Cold Steel drop forged 52100 steel knives that I think fit this bill but wondering what others think.
 
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No knife is indestructible if you just try to break it by doing stupid s*** like the idiots that do it for "likes".

If my life depended on a knife performing through some crazy rough use and even taking some non-knife tasks abuse it would be a CPK in Nathan's Delta 3V.
 
1095 as an alloy is actually not that tough.


OP, to my mind the toughest knives I can think of are Gossman BBTs in S7. They have extremely thick grinds, and scott’s s7 is insane.

That being said, there are tons of knives that can fit the bill. Anything with a good heat treatment and a thick, ground-for-toughness grind featuring the following steels will be hard to break:

A8 Mod, S7, SR77, INFI, 8670, 5160, AEB-L, CPM-1V, SR101, 420HC, Z-Tuff, 14C28N, 52100, CPM 4V, CPM 3V, CPM MagnaCut, 1084, 80CRV2, L6, K329, CD#1, and the list goes on.

Some of those are tougher than others, but they’re all tough. And they’re all way tougher than the 1095, like what TOPS uses
 
nevertakeadayoff said:
Before someone who knows steel posts, I'm going to guess 1095 based on this beater knife that I have.
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Ontario made the move to 1075 for it's civvie knives. They make 1095 because the Military Specifications ask for it and you can't go "Yeah, you asked for that, but this might really serve you better" with them.

I go 1075 Ontario as I would trust my life to my SP series. I just don't know what kind of nutty thing I could ever do to break my SP1. I want a bigger one.

If I had to choose my knives by criteria of "these are gonna hold up as long as possible", outta what I have only? Aka no D3V Carothers?

Aforementioned Ontario, Mora Companion HD, 8670 David Mary Cleaver, 3V Benchmade Puukko, Tramontina, and prob some Old Hickory

I would bring also in the folder dept, a Douk-Douk and K55 Mercator as backup, plus a Cold Steel Rajah II and a Demo AD.20.5 and some form of Spyderco. A SAK too even though not indestructable. Rusted my Exec.

Any cheap recs?
 
Busse Infi, Carothers D3v, and Gossman S7 for sure. I also have a Z Tuff custom that's easily as tough/tougher than any steel I've ever used.
That said any knife that's 1/4 thick is damn near indestructible in any steel. Heat treat and geometry play a huge factor in toughness.
 
Whenever we get a thread like this, there is no correct answer.

It's a knife. Knives should cut, right? In that case, toughness is only part of the equation. At the end of the day, a knife should have some level of decent edge retention.

So...define "indestructible". Do you want a knife that can be bent 90 degrees before it snaps but has absolutely no cutting edge after minimal use, or do you want a knife that is still razor sharp after severe use, but has the tip or a good percentage of the blade broken off?

"Indestructible" is a compromise. And there's no such thing depending upon your definition, or if you are Joe X.
 
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I'd volunteer my original Blackjack Campanion, 1/4" thick 1095, epoxy coated. Not indestructible, but you coud dismember a Buick with it and a sledge hammer.
 
Why are knives supposed to be indestructible? I never see videos of durability tests for pry bars or hammers. I have a truck full of tools for destroying and dismantling things. I use my knife for cutting. I want to see Joe What's-his-ass destroy a Stanley flat bar. Then I would be impressed...or not.
 
shane45-1911 said:
Whenever we get a thread like this, there is no correct answer.

It's a knife. Knives should cut, right? In that case, toughness is only part of the equation. At the end of the day, a knife should have some level of decent edge retention.

So...define "indestructible". Do you want a knife that can be bent 90 degrees before it snaps but has absolutely no cutting edge after minimal use, or do you want a knife that is still razor sharp after severe use, but has the tip or a good percentage of the blade broken off?

"Indestructible" is a compromise. And there's no such thing depending upon your definition, or if you are Joe X.
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Yes, good point. Tip not snapping off and edge retention are big ones for me. Ability to pry without snapping the blade is a lesser criteria but if you really needed to pry open a crate or other things, could the knife do it. Bending a knife at 90 degrees? I’ve seen it done with Moras. I continue to be amazed by those knives for what they are
 
This question comes up a lot, I feel like it is because at a deeper level, we still have our caveman brains. Back then, breaking your knife could be the difference between life and death. Before modern techniques, and when we simply used stones, perhaps this was a needed thing to keep on our minds. Now that we live in the future, even if you do break a knife, chances are you are not in a survival situation. Having a knife gives us a sense of pride, and having a knife that we know is tough as nails, gives us a sense of confidence. Most likely you are going to be cutting rope, paracord, animal flesh, cardboard, food prep items, box tape, packaging, and perhaps some wood. Most knives that are designed to be of hard use will take on any of these tasks quite easily. In fact, my Small Sebenza 31 was even able to baton through wood with no real issue.

A couple things you can do if you are concerned with the toughness of your blade.
- Get one with a warranty.
- Get one with thick blade stock.
- Get one with reliably tough made steel, heat treated to optimal toughness.
- Think twice, before you cut or chop once.
- Say to the material that your blade is going to process, that your blade is coming out as the opposite gender and if it breaks your blade it is considered a hate crime.
 
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