Tenacious Lighweight in 8cr13mov VS s35vn

T

TakaBKK

Joined
Jun 29, 2019
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47
Hello All.

Overseas. Very limited selection. Looking for EDC knife.

Tenacious Lightweight:
8cr13mov ($52)
s35vn ($100)

For corrosion resistance & edge retention, is it worth paying nearly 2x the price?

Any suggestions to help me make a decision please.

Thank you.
 
rocketbomb said:
I'd go for the upgrade. S35VN makes the Tenacious a very serious knife. The 8Cr13MoV is fine if money is tight. I've given away a few in the latter steel and folks seem to be happy with them, although I myself like S35VN much more.
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Thanks for your input. I had a Persistence with blue G-10 (but I really did not like the feel of the G-10 scales), so I ended up selling it “as new” without ever using it.
Glad to hear you describing the Tenacious in s35vn as a ‘serious knife’ - which is what I am looking for.
 
Whether it is worth it for the upgrade is a personal preference. The 8cr will be a lot easier to sharpen with more basic abrasives, although of course you will be sharpening more frequently. S35VN will need less touch ups, but potentially might be more difficult to sharpen depending on your experience and sharpening gear.

Make no mistake though, either will be a "serious knife". It just depends on how confident you are being able and willing to maintain the edge, and whether you want to spend double the money for the "better" steel. For example, you could buy the 8cr knife and then buy another knife around the same price and always keep a freshly sharpened knife as a back-up as an alternative. Just food for thought.
 
If you have diamond or ceramic stone or have experience sharpening s30v/s35vn, or other steel at about same level of edge retention, I think its always worth it to go with better steel, s35vn.

If ease of sharpening is a big point for you, then the other way. But from my experience, s35vn only need some swipe of diamond for sharpening, touch up ceramic should be fine.
 
chalby said:
Whether it is worth it for the upgrade is a personal preference. The 8cr will be a lot easier to sharpen with more basic abrasives, although of course you will be sharpening more frequently. S35VN will need less touch ups, but potentially might be more difficult to sharpen depending on your experience and sharpening gear.

Make no mistake though, either will be a "serious knife". It just depends on how confident you are being able and willing to maintain the edge, and whether you want to spend double the money for the "better" steel. For example, you could buy the 8cr knife and then buy another knife around the same price and always keep a freshly sharpened knife as a back-up as an alternative. Just food for thought.
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Food for thought indeed. Appreciated.
I’m trying to “build” a one-knife EDC. One folder that I can be happy with for a long time.
My sharpening experience: low.
My sharpening gear (unused, as of yet): Work Sharp Precision Adjust & Lansky 5-stone system.
 
TakaBKK said:
Food for thought indeed. Appreciated.
I’m trying to “build” a one-knife EDC. One folder that I can be happy with for a long time.
My sharpening experience: low.
My sharpening gear (unused, as of yet): Work Sharp Precision Adjust & Lansky 5-stone system.
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Well, if you use the diamond stones in the WS you will quickly get good at sharpening S35VN. It's not difficult on a guided system. Especially if you just have one knife, it will be easy to remember where to clamp it and what angle to use etc.

If that is the path you are looking at, then I would go with the S35VN.

I'm assuming the Lansky is the ceramic stone set rather than the diamond stone set. It is good but basic. Not bad for more basic steels, but will probably struggle with steels that are more wear resistant like powder steels containing harder carbides(like S35VN), although there are probably plenty of people out there making do with this set up.
 
If you like to keep your knife hair popping sharp all the time, and you have decent sharpening skills, either knife will work just fine for you. That said, I regrind all my knives thinner behind the edge, which makes sharpening easier. I have a Tenacious lightweight S35VN which I bought to hold me over until the Resilience drops. But the Tenacious has become my "pajama pants EDC", and I got tired of waiting for the boat, so I now have a Resilience LW in 8Cr13MoV incoming. The Resilience G10 version has been my go-to EDC knife for a few years now, and 8cr13M0V has never given me any issues, except very minor rusting in the plunge line on sweaty days.
 
David Mary said:
If you like to keep your knife hair popping sharp all the time, and you have decent sharpening skills, either knife will work just fine for you. That said, I regrind all my knives thinner behind the edge, which makes sharpening easier. I have a Tenacious lightweight S35VN which I bought to hold me over until the Resilience drops. But the Tenacious has become my "pajama pants EDC", and I got tired of waiting for the boat, so I now have a Resilience LW in 8Cr13MoV incoming. The Resilience G10 version has been my go-to EDC knife for a few years now, and 8cr13M0V has never given me any issues, except very minor rusting in the plunge line on sweaty days.
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Thanks for sharing. I’m inclined to say that holding a usable edge for a longer time is more important than hair popping sharp. My sharpening skills are on par so that the wife doesn’t complain about dull kitchen knives. ;)
Very interesting to hear how 8cr13mov holds up on sweaty days (I live in SE Asia and every day is a sweaty day) so maybe s35vn is the right choice.
 
I agree it sounds like you will be better served with S35VN.
 
chalby said:
Well, if you use the diamond stones in the WS you will quickly get good at sharpening S35VN. It's not difficult on a guided system. Especially if you just have one knife, it will be easy to remember where to clamp it and what angle to use etc.

If that is the path you are looking at, then I would go with the S35VN.

I'm assuming the Lansky is the ceramic stone set rather than the diamond stone set. It is good but basic. Not bad for more basic steels, but will probably struggle with steels that are more wear resistant like powder steels containing harder carbides(like S35VN), although there are probably plenty of people out there making do with this set up.
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Yes, I read that s35vn(etc) could be a challenge for a beginner to sharpen - but I want to learn how to - which is why I bought the WS.

Makes me lean towards a better grade steel for my intended one-knife EDC “setup”.

PS: I do have a few other knives, of course. My Dad’s and Grandfather’s pocket knives (but they’re ‘too precious’ to use) and a few folders like Ontario Utilitac II (too tactical as EDC), Kershaw Swerve (too cheap), BM Mini Grip Yellow (too expensive to use; $130 where I live).
 
I've had a lot of 8Cr13Mov over the years. Its edge retention is mediocre. Its corrosion resistance is just low enough to be an occasional issue in the summer. The market has come too far and too many better budget options are available today. In 2021, I'd struggle to recommend a $25 knife in 8Cr13Mov. At around $50, you're effectively throwing away money that could have either bought a nice budget knife in noticeably better steel or paid for half the cost of the S35VN model.

What I really wish is that Spyderco would switch to one of those better budget options for their bottom tier. Luckily, Sal has confirmed that they are exploring options. One of those options is 9Cr18Mov. With an average heat treatment, 9Cr18Mov is a significant step up from 8Cr13Mov in both edge retention and corrosion resistance. With a really good heat treatment such as what we've seen from WE, the same can be said of 9Cr18Mov versus VG-10.

Of course, who knows when we'll see any progress on that. In the meantime, go with S35VN.
 
Chronovore said:
I've had a lot of 8Cr13Mov over the years. Its edge retention is mediocre. Its corrosion resistance is just low enough to be an occasional issue in the summer. The market has come too far and too many better budget options are available today. In 2021, I'd struggle to recommend a $25 knife in 8Cr13Mov. At around $50, you're effectively throwing away money that could have either bought a nice budget knife in noticeably better steel or paid for half the cost of the S35VN model.

What I really wish is that Spyderco would switch to one of those better budget options for their bottom tier. Luckily, Sal has confirmed that they are exploring options. One of those options is 9Cr18Mov. With an average heat treatment, 9Cr18Mov is a significant step up from 8Cr13Mov in both edge retention and corrosion resistance. With a really good heat treatment such as what we've seen from WE, the same can be said of 9Cr18Mov versus VG-10.

Of course, who knows when we'll see any progress on that. In the meantime, go with S35VN.
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Thanks for your comments and suggestion.
I’m glad to hear that the s35vn is liked you (and others). For some reason I have a feeling that it didn’t get much love on various YouTube reviews.
I agree that $52 for 8cr-steel is too expensive, nowadays.
I could find the odd VG-10 here (Delica, Endura) but they are just as expensive here as the Tenacious s35vn; and IMHO less “sturdy”.
I have a small fixed (my tactical steak knife, haha) a Ganzo FH805 in 9cr18mov, which I love. Both steels would be a great upgrade for the entry-level Tenacious.
 
I'm not a huge Spidey guy; but the Tenacious is actually one of my favorites (steel notwithstanding). I prefer the size of the handle to blade ratio over the PM2; but definitely go for the S35VN version - that isn't what I would consider a hard to sharpen steel.
 
I would go with the upgrade. 8cr is a great better steel. I gifted my brother my Resilience as a work knife. He uses it super hard. However, about once every two weeks he drops it on my desk for me to sharpen. It's a butter knife by then.

The S35VN should give you better performance. However, in the case of my brother, he won't learn to sharpen since he knows I actually like doing it;) The 8cr works for his needs, and if I am going to have to take a blade to a serious stone, I prefer it to be easier to sharpen. It'd take me way longer to get the S35VN up to the same level of sharpness.

It just depends on how much maintenance you're going to invest in keeping the edge poppin'.
 
Going to chime in once again... I have had corrosion issues with 8Cr13MoV in the past. It's not terrible, but for a "stainless" it does leave something to be desired. Used a Tenacious as a fishing knife for a while and did find occasional rust spots on it. S35VN is superior to 8Cr13MoV in corrosion resistance in my personal experience. If your knife will experience humid/wet/corrosive environments often, S35VN will probably be a better choice.
 
How many times a day average do to pull your knife out to use? Be realistic.

If <1, then your 8CR will be adequate.
If >1, then you would want the S35VN.

It's quite a big jump from 8Cr to S35VN. For 100 however, you're getting pretty close to more premium (plastic lol) spydercos.
 
BTTLBRN said:
I'm not a huge Spidey guy; but the Tenacious is actually one of my favorites (steel notwithstanding). I prefer the size of the handle to blade ratio over the PM2; but definitely go for the S35VN version - that isn't what I would consider a hard to sharpen steel.
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Thanks for sharing. Glad to hear that the s35vn is not terribly difficult to sharpen. I’m not a Spidey guy either and, aesthetically, don’t really like most of their knives (too much blade “wasted” with the finger choil) which is whay drew me to the Tenacious.
 
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