Under $50 - What is your favorite blade steel?

I love budget knives. D2 or AUS-8 RAT1-2 has always done great by me. Opinel carbon or 12c27 Sandvik is cool! Mora uses the same stainless, unsure about carbon. 1075 has treated me great in my Ontario chopper. I just bought my first Case but the Trusharp seems good and toothy. I use 440 in some of me knives.

The carbon steel in Douk-Douk, Mercator, and Higonokami by far has the most varied steels, from VG-10, Aogami Super Blue, Hirogami White steel, all kinds of stuff! I've got some of the fairly cheaper ones, but I love 'em.

I was collecting these a bit before my first Spyderco, and intend to get a bunch more knives from all of these dudes. I want all the variations of Douk-Douk, Mercator and I want a TON of Opinel and Mora.
 
440A, 440C, 420HC, T10, 1055 ~ 1095, CPM154 (Buck SFO's) D2, 7CR17MoV, 9CR18MoV, 1.4116 KRUPP, Whatever carbon steels are used by Mora and Opinel.
Whatever stainless steels are used by Victorinox and MAM.
I'm also impressed with the 14260 Czech spring steel. It holds a 20 degree inclusive edge at least as well as my 5160 BOS heat treat Buck SFO 110 holds a 24~25 degree inclusive edge. (That 110 is the only knife I have with 5160. It cost more than $50, or I'd add it to my list.)
Only knife I've had with AUS 8 was a olive drab Walmart Ontario RAT 1. It went AWOL before I could become opinionated about it, shortly after I bought it.
 
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I think this post is lacking the purpose for said knife.

Is it large fixed blade?

In survival knife, I can see why you'd want a knife that can be sharpened on a rock for example. Sandvik like 14C28N, AUS8, 1095, SK-5... those steels have relatively high toughness and are easy to get sharp.

For EDC tho - more edge retention would be desireable.

Also, D2 isn't as hard to sharpen as some believe it is, especially if you have diamond sharpening stone (they are surprisingly cheap today).

I have more trouble sharpening AUS8 than D2. Because D2 doesn't have that burr...

There's nothing wrong with sticking with steels you can sharpen easily, but if you ever want to try out using harder steel or sharpening one of such steels - D2 would be my first suggestion, and it's used on anything from folders to small, medium and bit larger fixed blade knives.


All being said if you really want something that's the easiest to sharpen - go for plain carbon steel like 1095, SK5, 52100, 5160...
 
I'm a little surprised to see steels like AUS-8, 8Cr13Mov, or the slightly more refined 8Cr14Mov here. They are common enough to be in a lot of pockets under $50. Having a good knife and love for that knife in one of those steels might tip the scales. Still, I have to wonder if those folks just haven't put the same time in with better budget steels.

Chinese D2 might have better edge retention but when the humidity creeps up over 90% in the summer and sweat becomes a fact of life, its low corrosion resistance becomes an issue for me. I've occasionally gotten spots on 8Cr13Mov or AUS-8 in the summer but not like I do with D2. Another issue with Chinese D2 is that while the edge retention is much better than 8Cr13Mov, it isn't as good as is should be. For instance, the following steels shouldn't be competitive with it on edge retention but they often are. That said, these are my favorites:

14C28N is hard to beat as an all-rounder. It shows up here and there under $50. It's better than AUS-8 or 8Cr13Mov in pretty much every category.

9Cr18Mov is a great choice under $50. It has excellent resistance to corrosion. The edge retention is good and rises to great with the heat treatment it sees in the Civivi and Sencut knives from WE. Those knives are my first recommendation to anyone looking for something good under $50. Those are knives that persist in my EDC rotation despite the presence of knives costing several times as much.
 
Chronovore said:
I'm a little surprised to see steels like AUS-8, 8Cr13Mov, or the slightly more refined 8Cr14Mov here. They are common enough to be in a lot of pockets under $50. Having a good knife and love for that knife in one of those steels might tip the scales. Still, I have to wonder if those folks just haven't put the same time in with better budget steels.

Chinese D2 might have better edge retention but when the humidity creeps up over 90% in the summer and sweat becomes a fact of life, its low corrosion resistance becomes an issue for me. I've occasionally gotten spots on 8Cr13Mov or AUS-8 in the summer but not like I do with D2. Another issue with Chinese D2 is that while the edge retention is much better than 8Cr13Mov, it isn't as good as is should be. For instance, the following steels shouldn't be competitive with it on edge retention but they often are. That said, these are my favorites:

14C28N is hard to beat as an all-rounder. It shows up here and there under $50. It's better than AUS-8 or 8Cr13Mov in pretty much every category.

9Cr18Mov is a great choice under $50. It has excellent resistance to corrosion. The edge retention is good and rises to great with the heat treatment it sees in the Civivi and Sencut knives from WE. Those knives are my first recommendation to anyone looking for something good under $50. Those are knives that persist in my EDC rotation despite the presence of knives costing several times as much.
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I don't like D2. Hard to sharpen without diamond sticks and an abundance of time. Hard to heat treat properly, Chips, breaks, lacks toughness, and overrated unsuitable blade steel in my opinion. Especially if the blade is over 3 inches in length. Which further reduces toughness. And I can't afford Dozier customs in order for the steel to be done right. Chinese D2 is not even true USA D2 according to ANSI specs.
9CR18MOV I do like. But toughness is lacking compared to AUS8 or 12C27. Even 8CR14MOV has more toughness than 9CR18MOV.

And 9CR18MOV is not used by very many manufacturers other than Civivi and Sencut. If Kershaw and spyderco decide to use it on their budget line. I will consider it.
Different strokes for different folks. I am still happy with 12C27 and 8CR14MOV. As I value toughness and decent rust resistance on my rough use folder work knives.

And yes, I have tried and put time in with the steels you mentioned. And no. I don't prefer them to what I like and properties I value in a budget blade steel.
No one had a problem with 8CR14MOV until YouTube started finding fault with it because some bozo like Nutnfancy tried to baton an 8CR14MOV folder or 4116 Krupp Cold Steel pocket Bushman through a knotty hardwood stump with a 5 lb stick and broke it. Then all the sudden. People started complaining about it.
I never tried a Civivi or Sencut. I dislike liner locks and designs that look about as interesting and original as watching paint dry on the wall. Judging from their pictures. Their liner locks look cheaply made, flimsy, and easily worn out from multiple opening/closing.
The one liner lock I own is the Hogue EX02 with a secondary lock. I don't use that knife for more than light to moderate tasks. And every 1 to 2 years. I have to send it back in to get the liners replaced or peened by Hogue. And that is a $189 plus tax knife I bought only 2 years ago.
 
For under 50 i would say aus 8 i have many knives i like and use in that steel. Outside of that i would have to say whatever mora and swiss army uses.
 
JAF1973 said:
I am tied between 8CR14MOV and 12C27. And they usually run anywhere from $15 to $35.
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This post finally triggered me to ask this question - I have seen, in regards to the low-end, Chinese "?cr??mov" steels, them referred to as 8cr18mov, 8cr13mov, and now, 8cr14mov. Is that a different steel, or were other people just mixing up the alphabet-soup of a name? Apologies for my ignorance, thank you for any info!
 
For around the $50 price range have found my Sog Tanto with Aus-8 great for light tasks and easy to sharpen. My older Buck Alpha folder with 420 H.C. has kept an edge through several deer. Sorry some don't like the D-2. Read some good about it but did not know it could chip. My newer Sog Trident AT has it. Quite a good lookin knife though.
 
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