S30V steel...

H

Heffeb

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Mar 6, 2022
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I remember not long ago when this steel was the blade steel to get when it came to buying knives. I'm curious as to what people think of this steel. I've got a lot of knives in S30V, and I think the one knock I've personally seen is that this steel will chip. The question is how easily will it chip. I would rather have a steel roll over than chip. My brother had a Spyderco Manix 2 with a sizable chip on the blade. I have no idea how he got the chip, but he's pretty hard on his knives, so it wouldn't surprise me if the blade came in contact with metal or something. I've had decent experience with this steel. It holds a good edge, my Spyderco PM2 had some tiny, almost microscopic chips, but that might have just been the factory edge being burnt. It's even out nicely after some use.

Anyway, I'm just looking to get some thoughts on this knife steel. A lot of manufacturers are using upgraded steels now, but the Spyderco Shaman is still made in S30V. I'm surprised they haven't gone to S45VN on that model.

Looking forward to reading some informative replies. Please keep the hate mail coming...I don't want to disappoint any of my fans or ruffle anybody's feathers on here, but I'm really interested in getting some useful feedback on this topic.
 
There was a time, a believe around 2014-15 where there were issues with that steel. It's more "micro" chipping. I swore off the steel for a long time. However, in recent years, I've come to like it again. In 14 I sent my PM2 in twice to Spyderco. First time they sharpened. Same problem a month later, they replaced the blade, claimed it was defective.

My S30V Yojimbo 2 and Hogue Exploit have had zero issues. I believe at this point there are superior steels in a similar price range, it's fine for most people.

I wish Spyderco would move to S35VN, S45VN, or Spy27 as the standard.
 
K.O.D. said:
There was a time, a believe around 2014-15 where there were issues with that steel. It's more "micro" chipping. I swore off the steel for a long time. However, in recent years, I've come to like it again. In 14 I sent my PM2 in twice to Spyderco. First time they sharpened. Same problem a month later, they replaced the blade, claimed it was defective.

My S30V Yojimbo 2 and Hogue Exploit have had zero issues. I believe at this point there are superior steels in a similar price range, it's fine for most people.

I wish Spyderco would move to S35VN, S45VN, or Spy27 as the standard.
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Thanks for the reply! I agree 100% on the steel for Spyderco. I like all 3 of those steels.
 
I remember when ATS34 and 154CM were the to choices. (When I first became aware of CRK, the sebenza was ATS34. While I've had no significant problems with S30V, it's pretty low on my desirability scale. Frankly, I'd rather have 154CM
 
Does anyone have info on how hard it should be?

I think it's interesting that Benchmade lists their folding knives as well as the 162 Bushcrafter at 58-60 HRC. I haven't heard of people having chipping issues with the 162 either.
 
Gil P. said:
Does anyone have info on how hard it should be?

I think it's interesting that Benchmade lists their folding knives as well as the 162 Bushcrafter at 58-60 HRC. I haven't heard of people having chipping issues with the 162 either.
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I believe that the Benchmade Bugout is still made in S30V steel.
 
Depends on what you are doing with the knife and whether the knife has a blade profile which is appropriate for that work with that blade steel.

Personally, I like S30V. Has a decent balance between toughness and abrasion resistance that matches my use of a knife. I cut cardboard, plastics, and random household stuff. I would guess it would also be excellent for a hunting knife (Haven't hunted for several decades, so I can't speak from personal experience). Might not be the alloy I would choose for harsh work, but might work if the knife designer took the blade steel into consideration when designing the blade profile. Knife performance is more dependent on geometry of the edge, than on the specific alloy. I certainly won't turn my nose up at a knife with S30V blade steel.
 
Gil P. said:
Does anyone have info on how hard it should be?

I think it's interesting that Benchmade lists their folding knives as well as the 162 Bushcrafter at 58-60 HRC. I haven't heard of people having chipping issues with the 162 either.
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I had major rolling issues with my 162. Another knife I returned to BM. I received a new one from them, promptly sold it.
 
It was a weird steel at first. When I tried to free hand a large blade on coarse carborundum, I as getting fine white (stainless steel) powder on the stone. Like the thing wasn't steel at all. Also the issue of getting a fine edge using silica and carborundum. Ain't happening. Weird steel.
 
Everybody and their dog these days seems to trend towards making folders with S35VN or D2, and higher end folders using 20CV. It's that or chasing the latest super steel (Spyderco seem to reject this trend by going all over the board to try to use every possible steel they can get their hands on). Benchmade in particular have one foot firmly planted in using S30V steel and I don't have a problem with that because they're good knives.

If you're hard on your tools, whacking metal and stones with them, they're going to get chipped and you will feel sadness. I wouldn't feel uncomfortable making hard use of any of my Benchmade knives with S30V steel. They're more knife than most tasks require.
 
S30V is a great steel. Edge holding is better than CPM-Magnacut according to CATRA while the toughness and corrosion resistance is in line with others PM stainless so what's not to like?
 
I view S30V a lot like VG-10 in the next tier down (and not just because both are Spyderco mainstays). Both are decent EDC steels with relatively good edge retention and enough corrosion resistance to give average users a reasonable hedge against rust. Sure, there are better or more desirable steels out there. Some are "newer" or "more fun" or whatever. If I see a design I like from a decent company in S30V and the price isn't nuts, I'll check it out.

I haven't had chipping issues but I also don't run my EDC knives very hard. The worst they see is probably a little cardboard and assorted plastics, such as slicing open a lotion bottle to get the dregs or opening up a clam-shell package. Heavier or dirtier jobs usually get left to more dedicated tools.

Also remember that factory edges often come with a little fatigue. They can heat up at the grinder and it can be enough to promote edge issues. That will sometimes create misapprehensions about a particular steel. Once you've sharpened a few times and start getting past that to fresh steel, things will often improve. How much they improve and how many fresh edges it takes will vary.
 
S30V is a great steel and actual tests have shown it is not prone to chipping. All steels will either chip or roll and if a company doesn't get the heat treatment right there will be problems with any steel. S30V is one of the best all around super steels ever made. Take a look at Larrin's work on this. Also, look at the sticky above "I Tested The Edge Retention of 48 Steels."
 
K.O.D. said:
I had major rolling issues with my 162. Another knife I returned to BM. I received a new one from them, promptly sold it.
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Thats interesting, did you still get rolls after you sharpened it? I've had some issues with over heated edges from the factory, but it usually remedies itself after hand sharpening.
 
Gil P. said:
Thats interesting, did you still get rolls after you sharpened it? I've had some issues with over heated edges from the factory, but it usually remedies itself after hand sharpening.
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At that point in time, I was not doing my own sharpening. I don't use my knives hard like some people do. Its been a long time, I can't remember what I was doing but I'd had the knife 2 weeks.
 
I had a benchmade with s30v that I used hard in the woods. Definitely didn't baby it and never had any issues.
 
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