What stainless steel for larger everyday outdoor fixed blade?

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ScubaGearhead85

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Oct 24, 2023
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Hey everyone:

I'm in the process of doing my due dilligence for my next knife purchase. I have been watching different videos and have also read this website on different knife steels. I have narrowed down the list of different steels, but I would like to get some opinions about the best steel for what I'm doing with the knife.

Budget: About $300 CAD
Blade Length: 5"-7"
Blade Style: Fixed Blade & Clip Point
Grind: Hollow or flat grind

Uses:
- Food prep
- Mostly slicing, whittling, light batoning, and light chopping of soft/hard wood
- General indoor/outdoor blade

Corrosion Resistance: Enough corrosion resistance that I would have to put effort into getting the blade to rust

Toughness: Tough enough that the tip won't break off (or the edge won't chip) if I were to accidentally drop the blade. I already have a saw and pry bar. So, I don't expect my knife to chop down trees or pry things open. I do see myself doing some detailed wood work (such as cutting a dovetail to join pieces of wood together).

Edge Retention: I want something that can take a fine sharp edge. The blade should have enough edge retention that I can do a full day of various outdoor work before I need to re-sharpen. I don't mind spending a little bit of time re-sharpening, but I don't want it to be an all day affair lol I'm looking for a balance between edge retention and ease of sharpening.

So with this in mind, which steel should I seek out? I have narrowed down the list to either Magnacut, S30V, S35VN, S45VN, or Vanax?

Thanks!
 
I wouldn't say that 5-7" is particularly big, but if toughness is important to you and you want stainless Id stick to stuff like AEB-L, 14C28N or Magnacut.
3V is considered sorta semi-stainless and will probably show pitting if not taken care of, but I cant say for certain as Ive never had a blade in 3V.
 
For the combination of qualities you want I think your best options are from: INFI (Busse Combat); CPM-3V with the delta heat treat (Carothers Performance Knives); AEB-L; LC200N; and MagnaCut.

It comes down to what your order of priorities are:

If toughness and general damage-resistance is the primary quality you're after, then you'd want either INFI or Delta 3V. They are semi-stainless, so they will only rust if you leave them wet overnight. D3V has better edge-holding than INFI, but INFI is easier to hand sharpen in the field. Both are bomb-proof.

If toughness and stain-resistance are the priorities, but stain-resistance a bit more than toughness, then I'd go for LC-200N. Only a bit less tough than AEB-L, but rust-proof.

If toughness and stain-resistance are the priorities, but toughness a bit more than stain-resistance, then I'd go for AEB-L. It is approximately the toughest stainless, but it is stain-resistant not stain-proof like LC200N and MagnaCut.

If a balance of toughness, stain-resistance and edge-holding are what you want, then MagnaCut is what you want. Almost as rust-proof as LC200N, and better edge-holding than the other steels mentioned. It is very tough, but the least tough of the above steels. For chopping and batoning you would probably want a more obtuse grind than the other steels mentioned, which will therefore make it less good at slicing / kitchen duties.

Honorable mention to Nitro-V, which maybe is similar to but a little better than AEB-L but I don't have any so can't comment.
 
I have been eyeing of the joker nomad 6.5 in broler something steel. Which is supposed to be a bit stainlessey.

Bohler N695

 
I know we all her love to focus on steel selection but I can you that a carbon steel fixed blade, patina and all would serve you needs well, especially with the right heat treat and grind. That being said, a will leave the stainless and almost stainless choices suggested alone as those who know more of metallurgy than I have already spoken.

Food prep/slicing is at odds with some of your other intended tasks. A thin, full flat grind is dandy for kitchen duties but not so much for the tougher tasks that present themselves with your mission profile. The Cold Steel Master Hunter seems to thread that needle fairly well but the SRK would be better for light batoning and other camp chores. Then again, (in full fanboy disclosure) being a Beckerhead and liking carbon streel knives, there's much than can be done with a BK2 - even though it's shorter than you prefer and though it slices well for its beast of a profile, it's not my first choice for slicing tomatoes. It can also skin a Buick if that's your thing.

The choices of steel and knives mentioned in this thread are all good; I would not hesitate to take any of them afield. But not for your preference for stainless, I could not let this post conclude without mentioning a dandy camp knife that has stood the test of time, especially if you have an axe and saw already - the Kephart. https://www.kabar.com/product?item=BK62

I suspect that there somebody making one of these excellent knives in a stainless steel that you may like. For what it's worth, I also like 3V but find 1095 (and 1095 CroVan) forgiving, easy to sharpen and tough.

Happy hunting!
 
ScubaGearhead85 said:
So with this in mind, which steel should I seek out? I have narrowed down the list to either Magnacut, S30V, S35VN, S45VN, or Vanax?

Thanks!
Click to expand...

I suggest to drop the high Vanadium steels from your list and add 420HC (Buck), AEB-L, 3V, Infi, A8mod, Cruwear.

The best you can do in that size and price-range (good budget) is to find a Busse Ratmandu/RMD in Infi in the exchange.

There are other things you should consider: 5-7" is quite a range, 5 is small, and 7 large for me. Also, do you want a guard, a choil, sabre vs. flat ground, full tang vs hidden, blade thickness and height, etc.

Roland.
 
In that size, I like the Boker Arbolito esculta series, made in Argentina from Bohler 695 steel. I think. 6" blade length

DSC_0369_f408f46a-da1a-41f2-8928-a113125241c7.jpg
 
ScubaGearhead85 said:
Uses:
- Food prep
- Mostly slicing, whittling, light batoning, and light chopping of soft/hard wood
- General indoor/outdoor blade
Click to expand...
You might consider buying at least two knives to cover this range of applications .

One smaller , with a nice thin slicing blade , very stainless and higher edge retention , for your food prep and small work .

Another , bigger and thicker , for chopping , prying , hard use , with a tougher steel like 3V .
 
DocJD said:
You might consider buying at least two knives to cover this range of applications .

One smaller , with a nice thin slicing blade , very stainless and higher edge retention , for your food prep and small work .

Another , bigger and thicker , for chopping , prying , hard use , with a tougher steel like 3V .
Click to expand...

I have a couple of smaller knives already: an 2.5" hollow-grind 440c blade on a Miguel Nieto folder, and a 2.5" flat-grind blade on Swiss Army Officer multi-tool. I have tested both doing small detail work, and they both work great.

Many years ago, I bought a cheap bowie knife at an army surplus store with a 12" blade and hollow handle. I actually used the knife for outdoor stuff and found the blade was way too big and unwieldy. So I have tended to stay away from big bowie knives ever since. I'm not really interested in 3V just because it isn't stainless. While I take care of my blades most of the time, I am human and want something that will be forgiving of some neglect.
 
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ferider said:
I suggest to drop the high Vanadium steels from your list and add 420HC (Buck), AEB-L, 3V, Infi, A8mod, Cruwear.

The best you can do in that size and price-range (good budget) is to find a Busse Ratmandu/RMD in Infi in the exchange.

There are other things you should consider: 5-7" is quite a range, 5 is small, and 7 large for me. Also, do you want a guard, a choil, sabre vs. flat ground, full tang vs hidden, blade thickness and height, etc.

Roland.
Click to expand...

Well to narrow the size range a bit, I prefer a blade length that is on the longer side of that scale. 6-7 inches would be about perfect I think. I have a Gerber Strongarm which is about 5 inches. Your right that 5 inches is a little on the small side.

Other features I like: choil, hollow or flat grind preferred, and a blade thickness of around 5mm or less. A hand guard is good, but I like ones that are close to the blade height (not a fan of bowie hand guards).
 
ScubaGearhead85 said:
Well to narrow the size range a bit, I prefer a blade length that is on the longer side of that scale. 6-7 inches would be about perfect I think. I have a Gerber Strongarm which is about 5 inches. Your right that 5 inches is a little on the small side.

Other features I like: choil, hollow or flat grind preferred, and a blade thickness of around 5mm or less. A hand guard is good, but I like ones that are close to the blade height (not a fan of bowie hand guards).
Click to expand...

Got it. How do these look ? They are all three 7“:

i-4MXs3GV-X4.jpg


i-wtRQTnB-X3.jpg


The left and right are a bit above your budget, the middle is within (Excellent Knife). Left to right: 3V, K329 (=A8mod), and INFI.
 
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