I'm getting some blade blanks ground for me and trying to decide between these two steels. Which do you prefer for a hunting blade?

The heat treat is a lot more important than the steel these days. ATS34 properly heat treated will handle virtually any normal task you can use it for, and will certainly produce an excellent end result. In testing S30V has been shown to hold an edge longer. It is a little harder to sharpen and is known to be a bit more likely to chip. They are both excellent steels and will produce an excellent blade, so it's really more about Heat Treat and grind. Who's doing the heat treat?

Both are super good

I prefer ATS over s30v on a custom handmade knife simply because if I get it dull,it's easier for me to re sharpen.I've never been in a situation,where my ATS-34 knife was not cutting good for me & said,"I wish this was S30V" Never happen,not me

I had thought that S30V was considered a "tougher" and less likely to chip steel than ATS34, D2, etc?.... Basically that the next closest steel to it in toughness was A2. Maybe I'm confused....I've not been able to chip S30V yet in a lot of hard use.

Several of the large production manufacturers like Benchmade and Spyderco adopted S30V in some of their high end production knives and had reports of problems with edge chipping. It's good stuff and I have, make and use S30V blades and haven't had big problems with chipping, but I don't chop cinder blocks either. Honestly, I doubt the average user will be able to tell the diff. in these two. ATS34 might need to be touched up a bit more often, but S30V will be a little harder to sharpen. End of the day, the guy skinnin' deer and hogs and/or cleanin' fish is gonna be very happy with either one. ATS34 and S30V are both good steels. Vince's point is well taken, for daily use I doubt anyone with an ATS34 blade is ever gonna wish they had S30V instead.

Here's a link to some basic testing done and evaluation. There are a lot of comparisons out there. For most uses the differences probably won't show up, but if everything is done specific to the steel (heat treat, etc) it seems like S30V comes out ahead in most cases. ...again if you don't use it to the max, any difference may not show up....

http://warrenknives.com/blade%20steels.htm

http://zknives.com/knives/articles/knifesteelfaq.shtml

http://www.seamountknifeworks.com/articles/S30V.pdf

If a fella didnt know and didn't read the net he'd be happy with either. It seems some jump on a certain type band wagon. I've 3 s30v prolly 3 or 4 ats34 and 3 154cpm(or whatever it is). All are very nice knives. And a d2 or two but those are knives of Alaska no customs in d2. I would feel silly sayin one of the more popular types was good and another thpe sucked?

Ive got 2 from this guy and he does a nice job. Never paid Attn to the tapered tang till talkin with Vince. This guy makes a pretty nice blade. Not sayin they any better than anyone else's. There has been some super nice blades sold lately on here by fire members..!

http://www.norfleetcustomknives.com/knife_gallery.htm

He don't really have many pics on his site anymore?

I have found Ats34 to be much easier to polish and sharpen than CPMS30V. These are two advantages that just might be worth the loss in edge holding in the comparison. I think that is what you would expect with ATS34 being less wear resistant. If you want a high polish finish on your blade, then I would go with the ATS34.

We use mostly CPMS30V in our shop when a stainless steel is requested, which is most of the time. Both are good steels and at one or two deer a day you probably won't be able to tell a difference in edge holding. One or two hogs probably will show a difference. The CPMS30V will with out question hold an edge longer. That is assuming that each steel is heat treated correctly. If you leave out steps or think you know enough metalurgy to make up your own process, don't blame the steel. I've never seen a properly heat treated CMPS30V blade or ATS34 blade chip. I have done some terrible things to good blades to try and duplicate the problem with no success.

My brother did have a commercial folder that had a CPMS30V blade and it would not hold an edge. We pulled the blade and heat treated it to specs and it worked just fine. Heard later that some commercial makers, early on, were cutting a step or two in the heat treat process to reduce cost. Cutting corners never pays in the long run.

Good answer. Sort of my opinion, but you put it much better.

I prefer a mirror finish, and for that reason, I would choose either ATS 34 or 154 CM. I would really like to try the CPM 154 CM, from a knife makers standpoint.

But, due to health reasons, I can't.

As noted above, you will most likely not see a noticeable difference in normal use.

Ask your blade grinder which he prefers and go with that.
A happy grinder is a better grinder.

S30V does seem to require more attention to details in HT, so make sure you have a good source for that.

jmho
Tim

Thanks for all the responses. I'm going to have Two Finger Knife Co. do the grind and heat treat. I'll make sure and pursue more info on their heat treat.

"...Ask your blade grinder which he prefers and go with that.
A happy grinder is a better grinder."

Boy, now that's a quote that applies to just about ANY customed made object.

Or dentist! ...sorry, daughter-n-law just became a dentist.

ats-34 got a little bad press because of factory heat treating! Its great steel when worked properly. I have removed skin's for 20 years with it and never had a problem in use or getting constant heat treating results.s30v is great stuff but hell to sharpen for a lot of people. If not heat treated properly and (ground properly) both are polished turds!

menefees hits it on the head about heattreat, the most advanced 3rd generation powder alloy w/o the correct heattreat would'nt outcut a walmart blister pack cheapie. all things being equal the 4 points of vanadium in s30 will certainly insure greater resistance to edge abrasion. vanadium carbides in good heattreats rockwell in the 80s.this hardness is about the highest of all alloy carbides.--cranky72

Hard to sharpen most often means hard to lose an edge too.

My S30V blades will hold edge longer than my ATS34 blades. But in general use, either is outstanding. The S30V has become my choice for saltwater.

The Japanese mastered ATS34, especially in the Al Mar designs. Dozier/Crotts and Phil Wilson do magic with S30V.
Lots to be said for letting a knifemaker build what they like to work with.

well gee, since ATS 34 is a Hitachi product, I would hope the Japanese learned how to use it.

The same question could be asked about CM 154 and S30V, since ATS 34 is the Hitachi version of CM 154.

How does CPM-154 compare to 154CM/ATS-34 for edge holding ? I've read that CPM-154 takes a nicer finish, and according to Crucible, is slightly stronger.

154cm and ats is basically the same. I work mainly 154cm because its american made. I have skinner 10 or 12 deer in a evening several times. Pick-up loads of fish, hogs, elk , antelope could not even count bait - My preference is 154cm or ats-34. It wont hold a edge like s30v but it sure comes back with just a few strokes.

Do you see a difference between CPM-154 and 154 CM Rick ?

Be interested to see what Rick says on this one.

I have some customs from the early 90's that are ATS-34 with a mirror polish. I have used the heck out of them over the years. They still look great. ATS-34 is good stuff.

cpm-154 is dog [bleep] for spring material and multi-blade folders!

Just make sure you have enough for my straight back Hunters Rick.....................

ATS-34 brought out the new knifemakers (stock removal) more then any steel I can think of. Easy to work with and fairly easy to have heat treated. I say have as most beginners farmed it out, and even to this day a lot of makers farm out heat treating. There are a lot of ATS-34 blades out there and in its day it was the best in SS. Like others have said heat treat has a lot to do with the end result of a blade.

I wouldn't turn down a knife made of ATS-34 from the right craftsmen, but I would take S30V over ATS-34 if I had the choice.