Home Forums Gear Knives and Blades Phil Wilson Knives

It's been a very long wait, but finally was able to get Phil to make me a knife.

4" Bird & Trout with CPM 10V. 63RC

I'll post photos when it arrives. Please tell me about your experience with his knives.

phil pioneered the heat treat for many of the new powdered alloy knives back in the 90s. many of his 60v & 90v were sent to fishermen in alaska,california, & the pacific northwest ; field tested on large salmon & other ocean fish. he remarked to me that 60v if tweaked more by crucible it would have equaled perfprmance of 90v.a year or so back he received alloys from russia & crucible to be tested in his sisal rope cutting process. he always desired his blades to be used & not put in collrctions. cranky72

"Best of the best" is the short answer.

Phil Wilson makes knives to use rather than look at. His work really focuses on functionality with thin blades optimized for ease of cutting combined with maximum edge retention.

For comparison, his 10v has shown edge retention 10x longer than Dozier D2 in testing.

http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/s...-on-Edge-Retention-cutting-5-8-quot-rope

You'll be happy with it, if not, feel free to send me a PM and I'll be glad to take it off of your hands.

One caveat, sharpening skill is required for the Phil Wilson 10v. You might consider buying an Edge Pro with some Atoma plates if you do not have one, or some diamond stones if you sharpen freehand.

Here is a review I posted elsewhere a couple of years ago.

For the last several years, I have been able to take quite a few deer and feral pigs here, helped clean many more, and lent knives to friends who needed a sharp knife.

Last year, and the year before, these knives cleaned 25 - 30 animals in a season.

Best of the best for edge retention and blade shape and design goes to the Phil Wilson knives.

Ingram and Dozier are outstanding, and beautiful to behold, but, the Phil Wilson blades are extraordinary.

The Bow River, the top knife, is in K294, which is non-stainless. It cleans 7 - 8 animals before needing sharpening.

This past week we had five pigs, and four deer to clean. One guy gutted and skinned some pigs, and I skinned three deer, quartered, and trimmed all of these animals.

I used the K294 Wilson for all but the last one for which I used the S110V skinner. No touching up was required to finish the whole load, which filled six large ice chests when completed.

The picture on the bottom is when it was new.

It touches up if needed with a few passes on a ceramic stick which is the only one of these that will touch up so easily.

This is the knife I find myself picking up first, and using almost all of the time.

The Phil Wilson skinner is in S110V, has a slightly more comfortable handle, as it is slimmer on the tail, which I requested.

I am always impressed with the smooth cuts and ease of use. The K294 has a "toothier" feel, while the S110V is very smooth.

S110V is harder to sharpen than the K294, comparable to sharpening S30V, but not as hard to sharpen as 154CM.

The Dozier in D2 takes a phenomenal edge and holds it for 2 - 3 animals. Excellent design in a heavier knife with a hollow grind. Easy to sharpen to a hair popping edge.

The Ingram in D2 takes a great edge and holds it for 2 - 3 animals. Excellent designs in flat grinds with very high finish. Very thin handles, but which are comfortable. Easy to sharpen to a hair popping edge.

Since I wrote the review, I've used a Phil Wilson in 10V and it is the pinnacle for edge retention. I've owned four Ingrams in S30V in a variety of designs and just did not warm up to any of them. The S110V has dramatically better edge retention and is about as easy to sharpen. S35VN is much more common than S110V and seems to be much better than S30V for ease of sharpening, edge retention, and toughness. I've sold off the Dozier in the photo and all of my Ingrams in S30V, but still have a couple of Ingrams in D2.

The Phil Wilson in K294 still has the most miles on it, but the 10v is now the king of the hill and truly is the best of the best for edge retention and best by a large margin.

Thanks for posting this. I'm excited to try my new Phil Wilson knife on Moose this October. Will post photos when it arrives.

You found S110V comparable to S30V and easier to sharpen than 154CM?

Sweet!!!!! A knife that NEVER needs sharpening. 10x, huh?

Yes, the Wilson in S110V is comparable to the Ingrams in S30V for ease/difficulty of sharpening, but far better for edge retention.

The 154CM knives I have always strike me as harder to sharpen than Wilson S110V, Ingram S30V, or Hinderer in S35VN. It is on some Benchmade knives and an older custom drop point made by George Walker. The older Walker drop point is extremely hard and takes some real work to sharpen even with diamond stones. It will take a very nice edge though with some work.

Ease/difficulty of sharpening is a function of the steel, heat treat, and blade geometry. Phil Wilson's blades are very thin, which aids in ease of sharpening.



Yes, see the link. The Phil Wilson in 10V went 2400 cuts on the rope vs. 220 for the Dozier D2. And in real use, it is very noticeable and nice not to have the knife dull in the middle of things.

I have several of Phil's knives: fillets, skinner and B&T. My all time favorite knife is a modified B&T he made for me with a 3-1/4" blade of S30V at RC61. I used to call it the "magic knife", but now call it MacNab, because I've taken 3 separate MacNabs (red deer, grouse and salmon in one day) with it on my annual trips to Scotland. One trip it did 3 reds, over 280 grouse, around 70 pheasants and a basket of salmon with just touch up. I'm sure you'll love yours...congratulations!

Edited to add: I was searching the forum and found and old picture I'd attached to a post:

I've never had the chance to put my hands on one of Phil's knives and I've only heard fantastic things about them. I don't think it is accurate or fair to judge a steel based on a factory knife. Production makers cannot not afford the time it takes to do a proper heat treat with multiple tempers and cryo cycles. This will allow a steel to reach its full potential.

Dale,
I agree 100%... But, I also happen to have over 300 customs from a buttload of makers. Phil's thin grinds (None I've measured even approaching .010 behind the bevel) and heat treat kick azz..

Replying to an offline note, I still like Ingrams, not knocking him or Dozier by any means. As mentioned above, I still have two Ingrams. The others were let go just because they were smallish in the grip and not particularly comfortable. He does excellent work, and I like the two I have and would be happy to have more.

ditto to dales divy on heattreats. 3 of my high dollar super alloy knives have such bad tempering that good 1095 shades them in edge endurance."there is no such thing as an acceptable shortcut in heattreating tool steels" [crucible alloys] cranky72