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I've got knives in 154 and s30v {Benchmade} and can't tell the difference.

90% of the stainless blades I make are made with CPM154. I’ve tried em all and this steel continues to impress. Some of the worst blades I’ve ever had for edge retention have been from S30V. There have been “issues” with S30V, which brought out S35V, and later S35VN. I have made a good number of S35VN blades and while they DO perform well, I’m not seeing any advantage over my CPM154 blades whatsoever. The only real difference I saw was that S35VN requires a cryo treatment to realize its full potential, while CPM154 does not. I basically have to cryo the S35VN blade to get its performance to equal my CPM154 blades. Understand that CPM154 responds well to cryo too....it’s just not a “must”.

I’ve told this story before but, two hunting seasons ago I took a nice 340-class elk. I gutted and skinned it with my personal blade (CPM154). A few weeks later I took a buck and a doe. After gutting and skinning both, my knife still shaved hair. Pretty decent performance if you ask me.

Love those Menefee folders with no bolsters. Yours is awesome.

I always liked D2, ATS-34, and 154CM.

Thank you! That was very informative, at least to me.

Whenever I get all the CPM M4 and CPM S35VN I have on hand used up I will
probably go back to CPM 154 if I buy more steel.

They are all good though. Small idiosyncracies each.

Agree. At that level of perceived performance, we’re picking nits.

Very well said. I’ve had customers tell me that they’ve dressed 10-12 deer before bringing a 1095 blade back and asking me to re-sharpen them. To be honest, the knife would still cut, but was by no means razor sharp. What you do with and how you care for a knife really dictates what steel you need. If you’re good at maintaining your knives, a high carbon steel (O-1, 1084, 1095, W2) blade will last you a lifetime with only the development of a patina. If you’re wanting stainless, 154 CM OR CPM 154 CM are both excellent steels (as is 440C with proper heat treat). Personally, I try to avoid S30V as it is highly proved to chipping (hence why S35V was developed). I avoid Elmax b/c I find it to be a PITA to sharpen and has low edge retention on the blades I’ve owned made from it (but I’ve had others tell me that it’s a great steel with great edge retention). S35V and S90V have both served me extremely well with great edge retention.

All of that said.......CTS-XHP is my all time favorite “super steel”. It’s easy to sharpen, takes/holds a excellent edge and and it super easy to quickly tune up when needed. The only problem with XHP is that it’s damn hard to find due to low production.

This thread got me doing a little googling. Spyderco and Benchmade really don't offer 154CM/CPM154 anymore. I guess it isn't sexy enough. I have a Griptilian and BRK North Country EDC in it and think I'll stay with it.

It isn't about if it is sexy enough or not. They have come to listen to what the customer's want. Specially Spyderco's customers as they want better steels. Outside of a Vanax PM2 they pretty much have figured out their customers spend if they give them what they want.

Most people DRASTICALLY underrate the HT portion and geometry. I'd rather have Buck's BOS HT on 420 than Leathermans 154 with their generic HT.

A custom maker that has spent time with 1 steel and perfected the HT will put out a quality blade with virtually any steel that is optimized for the application.

I highly recommend folks looking for a nice blade to find a small custom maker and talk details. I've been very pleasantly surprised with how economically we can buy VERY nice customs these days. If you're strictly going for a blade that does it's job, it's tough to beat the value D2 offers with the appropriate HT.

Now, that being said, if you want to make a laser beam and get down to 0.004 BTE, you have to have a steel that can handle that.

Yet the vast, vast majority of Spyderco's blades seem to be VG10 or S30V.

But as you can see those never sell out. As I said the higher grade steels usually sell out. Of course they are going to make an average grade for the general public.

Because they aren't sprint runs, like the ones that you're talking about. If the higher end knives were continuously made, they'd never sell out, either.

They aren't all sprint runs. But yeah they do sellout and for a reason. Also where a good bulk of their profit comes from. Hence why they do it.

You keep thinking that. They do it for the same reason that GM makes the Vette--prestige.

You are 152% correct. The heat treat process (hardening AND tempering) is the heart and soul of a knife. Preaching to the choir but the best blade steel ain’t worth a dang if the ht process is incorrect or flawed.

For that reason your better makers, for the most part, do their own heat treat. It’s that way for a reason! We want to be in charge of that most critical aspect of making an effective cutting instrument. My blades are completely made by hand, by me.....start to finish. I monitor the hardness at each step in the process. I test hardness straight out of the oven. It’s marked on the blade with a sharpie. I test again at the conclusion of each of three tempering sessions...writing it down each time on the blade. I know what I have and don’t have to hope the other guy got it right.

like anything else, the performance of a knife steel depends on a number of factors. The actual chemical composition of the steel, the maker's skill with grinding (or forging), heat treating and tempering. Of course the way the blade is used also has a huge impact on performance.
You can't take a poor quality steel, and heat treat it to heaven. You can't take the best quality steel, and do a bad job with the production steps and expect to get a top notch blade. I tend to buy from makers that know what they are doing, and consistently turn out a quality product.

Thanks antlers, it’s a dandy. 👍 put er to use a few times last huntin season, holds a hellava edge.