Home Forums Gear Knives and Blades Which Steel to Select?

The users I have in A2 are really rust resistant, to the dismay of some I'm sure I don't oil them before I sheath them. I make sure they are washed and dried completely and then I put them away. I don't live in a wet climate in the winter, but plenty of snow and I don't stay indoors when its raining either. With less than half the chromium content of D2, A2 still doesn't rust easily as far as I've seen. I can't imagine you'd ever have much trouble with D2 unless you were completely negligent in the way you cared for your blades, just use common sense. I even have one made from an old file(1095 or such) and it is not nearly as polished as some I hace and have yet to have a bit of rust on that one.

God Bless,

MM

Good point on sheathed knives. Don't put an oily blade into a leather sheath and don't store knives in the sheath. In the long run, you will end up with a soft piece of leather and rust, stain or tarnish on your knife.
I really am learning to like "Gibbs" on my knife blades that require something more.
jmho
Tim

Leave it in the mud over night and get back to me.

Mud is all frozen here, you'll have to wait a few weeks.

MM

It would take a lot more then an over night in the mud to make A2 to rust. However corrosion starts long before you will ever see rust.

Yeah, that may be true. Let's just say that if your A2 Bravo 1 falls in the mud, you realize the next day, go back and find it, you will have a patina that will take a robust polishing to get rid of.

OTOH, I had a S30V blade I was using to strip wires. I laid in the bucket of a tractor I was about to use to plow snow while I put together what I was working on.
Realized when I got in I never picked it up and it was in a pile of snow. Got a warm spell a month later and found it. F-I-N-E fine.

Patina is great character. Not sure what a Bravo 1 is but I have a bunch of blades made from A2 and it is a very fine blade material. Does not take all that much maintenance to keep it running as advertised.

I have plenty of blades made from S30V as well and for what they were made to do they are great. However comparing the two on corrosion factures alone is dumb.

Personally, I like carbon steels. 1095 is real nice. Remember Cold Steel's Carbon V? Yup, turns out it was 1095. It is good, and carnuba wax helps, as well as oils. I like Ballistol myself.

Regards,
Greg

Well, it weren't a cool patina.
My point is only that A2 is pretty susceptible to corrosion if it ends up in a bad place.
In fact a relatively short time will be a no going back event.
Where as some other steels are much more forgiving in that respect.
Might be a thing to consider in a selection process.

Bravo-1, is one of Bark Rivers many fine offerings. It comes from their S.A.R. Search and Resuce line. Had one for awhile, while I liked, it was a little on the thick side for me at .215 inches, but still a fine blade. Many of BRKT knives have A2 in them, but they are starting to put out a lot of 3v now.

Like anything else in life you give a little of this you get a little of that, but nothing is given without lossing something. So if all your worried about is being lazy/careless/ect then yes stainless is for you. But you are giving up other very good qualities for that as well.

Fine would be in the eye of the beholder and somewhat subjective. I played with a couple of their knives and none have ruffled my feathers. For what they are they are a good tool but I wouldn't use the word fine in association with them. JMHO

Lazy, carelessness, some other scenarios-it only takes once.
You act like A2 is your kid sister.
I said it would rust over night.
You said not.
While a scaling type rust it might not get over night.
It can get a nasty corrosion overnight.

whether stainless or not i believe much of these comments are'nt really relavent to performance. at 74 years i grew up when the only s.s. was a poor edge holder & we always took carbon. i have knifes of 1095 ,154, d2, 52100, s30, s60 & elmax & certainly use all of them. a little care which we old timers all practiced certainly did'nt keep all staining off but after a time period the carbon steel turns dark brown or black & surface rust mostly stopped. i've noticed the younger guys hate any discoloration & opt for stainless but i still love the quick bite my carbon blades take when sharpened.my 3v & m4 blades take a patina also but hardly really rust. given if i was going to panama, india or ocean duty i would probably take the 154 or elmax, maybe m390 since the climate is so wet. still we need to remember that the marines on iwo jima, the buffalo skinners, & the mountain men had only carbon & made it fine. it all boils down to the fact that even with care carbon steel will develop a patina sooner or later which is no big deal . however many younger guys detest any discoloration on their blades. i have'nt seen many axes or saws made from stainless.--cranky72

Its not my kid sister. But if my life depended on the knife it would be made of A2 by the right maker. I have used and abused several knives made from A2 in some nasty conditions both in Hawaii and Southeast Alaska never had a problem. Saltwater, rain, humidity, you name it. I guess as cranky72 said if your blade isn't bright and shiney some guys don't want them. In that case the trade off to stainless would be worth it.

For the price point I think "Fine" is appropriate, JMHO.

20 year old blade made of A2. Doesn't it look like hell?

The new generation doesn't take care of tools like the older.
A-2 is great steel! Cranky gave me a Dexter a couple of weeks ago. I have been rust blueing it to make it more durable!

hey montana is that latest pic a phil hartsfield? if so it's a known fact he could tweak a2 to legendary performance. bark rivers are only a little step above many factory knives.[i.m.o.] cranky72