AT pocket knife fans, get in here...

[kage69]

It's been awhile since I've seen an EDC thread, and since I've been doing convex edges lately (went and got a Work Sharp, plus grinder) it got me curious about what this crowd thinks of steel and angles.

I love high carbon, also have feels for AUS8 and 10. I take care of my sharp stuff so corrosion is never really an issue for me, even living up in New England's wet Northern Forest where rust abounds.

Any steel will work really, but consider me on the CPM S30V ticket now. Got my EDC at 20 degrees, and 15 on the kitchen stuff. Getting the grinder attachment was so worth it. Tough steel + a stropped saber grind = win 3 days of moderate use and still crazy sharp.

Any steel, angle or method stand out to AT? What's your preference?

 

[lxskllr]

Never paid much attention to that stuff. I like the steel in my Swiss army knife for every day use. It's soft, but sharpens easily and takes a lot of abuse without breaking. I'm also enjoying my carbon steel(dunno exactly what kind) Mora fixed blade. It has a Scandinavian grind, and is still sharp after moderate use for... Five months? I've only touched up the first inch or so. The rest is as-shipped from the factory.

edit:
Here's what I carry to work...

I took this picture 04-20, so that's when I got the Mora. It replaced the Marttiini(the birch handled puukko)

When I'm off work, delete the leatherman pst, the survival knife, and the Mora, and add this Cold Steel sgian dubh...

 

[MrSquished]

I know I have some good Japanese steel kitchen knives and I usually take them to Korin in the city for sharpening. A couple Gyutous, Santokus, a petty, utility and a paring.

I have some Benchmades, Spydercos and a Zero Tolerance pocket knife. I think one spyderco is Aus 8, the other is VG10. Couple of the Japanese kitchen knives are VG10 for sure, unsure of the rest, but they are all the nicer kind I would put it.

I'm going to start practicing water stone sharpening on the pocket knives soon, with 1000/4000 grit stones then onto the Japanese kitchen knives, still studying which stones to use on them. All my blades are in fine shape with no nicks in 'em. Any tips appreciated.

 

[kage69]

I think I need a Tormek. For science.

You can get a Japanese whetstone wheel for it. Shit this might cancel out a gun buy.

 

[FeuerFrei]

I need to pick up that Work Sharp. I've had my eye on it for a couple years. I'm reluctant to use the various knives I have, due to lack of sharpening equipment.

There was raging deals on some Kizers early this week, but even at half price I didn't pick one up. It was one of their newly introduced fixed blade models in S35V, half price was $74. I could have picked up a Kizer Roach for $54 too. Ridiculous. 30%-50%-off-market-price deals, not off fantasy-land MSRP!

 

[John Connor]

I wouldn't mind a nice Ka-Bar, but man are they expensive.

 

[kage69]

I need to pick up that Work Sharp. I've had my eye on it for a couple years. I'm reluctant to use the various knives I have, due to lack of sharpening equipment.

I definitely recommend the Ken Onion edition with the grinder attachment. The grinder takes wider belts, so you have more surface area, plus with the horizontal plane you are taking steel off both sides in the same direction. Seems to make a difference, for me anyway. Yeah you are free handing it, but after a little practice consistency is no issue. I'm less impressed with a 3rd party leather belt I ordered for it. I'm getting better and faster results stropping by hand with normal belt leather.

Anyway, have to say biggest difference I've noticed is in the kitchen. Took an old Shun (VG-10 Damascus) chef and made that thing sharper than when I got it. It's weird not feeling much if any resistance to a push cut, way less sticking to the blade in pretty much all scenarios really. My only issue now is adjusting my technique with the ceramic rod for honing, as a convex edge has a "shoulder" where flat grinds and hollow grinds do not.

The WorkSharp will not replace a water stone, I feel like I should note that. Fans of single bevel, chisel grind stuff from Japan won't get any use from a Work Sharp.

Nice black knife you got there lxskllr. They make for nasty little stickers don't they? I have a real one from 'the old country' in a gun safe somewhere, all lubed up and preserved. It's old, combat grade but also with matching eating utensils (2 pronged fork and knife) built into the sheath. The other one I have is a CS Secret Edge. More of a letter opener meets stropping experiment really, I have no use for actual neck knives.

 

[lxskllr]

Nice black knife you got there lxskllr. They make for nasty little stickers don't they? I have a real one from 'the old country' in a gun safe somewhere, all lubed up and preserved. It's old, combat grade but also with matching eating utensils (2 pronged fork and knife) built into the sheath. The other one I have is a CS Secret Edge. More of a letter opener meets stropping experiment really, I have no use for actual neck knives.

I also have one from Wilkinson Sword, but it's more decorative. It has a resin hilt, plastic sheath, and pot metal accoutrements. The blade's competent, but unexceptional. A project I've wanted to do for awhile is fit it with an antler hilt, and build a new sheath. I might work on that this winter.

 

[MrSquished]

What do you guys think of starting out with a 1000/4000 grit waterstone to sharpen up my pocket knives - all of which have no nicks or damage to them, so I figured I didn't need anything coarser.

 

[lxskllr]

What do you guys think of starting out with a 1000/4000 grit waterstone to sharpen up my pocket knives - all of which have no nicks or damage to them, so I figured I didn't need anything coarser.

Not sure how coarse that is without looking it up. I hit my knives with a hard Arkansas every so often. If I slack and let it go too long, I start with a medium and finish with a hard. My straight razor I usually just strop, but once in a blue moon I use a waterstone, then strop.

 

[gill77]

I found that if I was carrying a nice expensive knife, I was hesitant to use it because most of the time your knife is the only tool available and you don't want to abuse your prize possession.

Switched to these Cold Steel African knives for EDC. Not really tactical, but they have some size and are durable. If you should somehow manage to break it, buy a new one. For the price, they are outstanding.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nFsjmvNLYJg

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=up0jntSo7dM

 

[lxskllr]

I found that if I was carrying a nice expensive knife, I was hesitant to use it because most of the time your knife is the only tool available and you don't want to abuse your prize possession.

Switched to these Cold Steel African knives for EDC. Not really tactical, but they have some size and are durable. If you should somehow manage to break it, buy a new one. For the price, they are outstanding.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nFsjmvNLYJg

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=up0jntSo7dM

That's why I got the Mora; Well, that, and I needed to get the dollar amount up on an Amazon order :^D ~$14, super comfortable hilt, and a sharp carbon(also available in stainless) blade. *Highly* recommended. $14 is disposable money. To get a real workhorse out of it is phenomenal.

 

[Muse]

The only thing I carry these days is something (almost exactly) like this. I have one on each of my three key-chains. I didn't buy it off Amazon but got it at a local Asian run True-Value hardware store (at most a buck apiece):

 

[shortylickens]

I carry a Spyderco with H1 steel.
H1 steel is fuckin awesome and I encourage you to research it if you have the time. If not, I encourage you to make time.

 

[MrSquished]

I had an H1 steel Spyderco. I think it was called the Salt. That's their very anti-corrosive steel right?

This is my Zero Tolerance, which came less sharp than my $40 G-10 steel Spyderco

 

[shortylickens]

H1 steel does not rust. It is incapable of rust. Theres whole articles on it.

http://zknives.com/knives/steels/steelgraph.php?nm=h1
http://www.cliffstamp.com/knives/reviews/blade_materials.html#S_H1

Its also fookin expensive. That tiny little pocket knife of mine cost about 45 dollars. a full size folder is closer to 80.

 

[kage69]

I carry a Spyderco with H1 steel.
H1 steel is fuckin awesome and I encourage you to research it if you have the time. If not, I encourage you to make time.

Well this is me encouraging you to care about more than just corrosion resistance! Pretty much H1's only claim to fame. As I stated earlier, last of my priorities. I'd rather the focus be on keeping a strong edge. High speed/tool steels for instance. The D2 stuff Benchmade was using is pretty good stuff, I guess it's tough enough for really acute angles if that's your jam.

 

[kage69]

This is my Zero Tolerance, which came less sharp than my $40 G-10 steel Spyderco

G-10 isn't a steel actually, it's the synthetic black laminate you see used on the handles. I've found that Spydercos and Cold Steels usually come with good edges out of the box. I've had to re-profile new blades from CRKT, Kershaw, SOG and even a couple Benchmades right out of the box before. Not a deal breaker, but still...

 

[Viper GTS]

A year or so ago I was an idiot and broke a screw putting my Spyderco Sage 2 back together after a cleaning. While I waited for the opportunity to repair it I did a full S110V PM2 build with basically everything flytanium sold for the PM2. At the time I wasn't completely sold on it as it seemed big and heavy compared to the Sage 2 but having carried it for this long I haven't switched back to the Sage 2. The edge holding abilities of S110V are impressive, I finally sharpened it after a year of breaking down boxes with it and only then because I had somehow bent the tip microscopically.

It's a little expensive compared to my normal daily carry knife (easily double the Sage 2) but it's a lot more knife. I've even come to appreciate the stupidly aggressive tip.

Viper GTS

 

[JulesMaximus]

Knives... pffft. I’m an American, I carry a gun.

 

[Riverhound777]

I picked up a new EDC a month or so ago. I went with something a bit nicer than my previous spyderco, decided on an AG Russell Light' n bug. I always prefer a very lightweight EDC so I can't even feel it in my pocket. This fit the bill perfectly and works great so far. Literally only weighs 1 ounce. Little bit harder to open one handed than my old one, but much sharper and smaller.

https://agrussell.com/knife/A-G-Russell-Light-n-Bug--AGLL-C14CF

 

[Paladin3]

I like to bargain hunt for budget knives. It's like a sport and I get excited if I find a really good deal.
So far have the following:

Folders:
Kershaw OSO Sweet, Grid, Filter, Clash and Burst
CRKT M16-10Z
Colonial Stockman
Gerber Gator 650

Fixed:
SOG Field Pup I
CVA Bowie Knife (built it from a kit when I was 12)
Buck 390 Omni-Hunter
J. Marttiini filet knife

Machetes:
Condor Parang w/leather sheath
Condor Village Parange w/leather Sheath
Condor El Salvador Tramontina.

And a ton of other assorted odds and ends.

I recently bought two $14 Browning knives at Big 5, a model 0165 and 0166, that have G-10 scales and decent 8Cr13MoV steel. I don't know exactly why, maybe the grind, but they cut like a dream after I sharpened them up. One of them has been my EDC for the last few weeks.

So, today I bought my first premium steel knife, an LAPG TBFK S35VN EDC in the satin finish. There is a 15% off code and the knife is already a screaming deal so I paid $37.73 shipped. Not bad for S35VN steel. Can't wait for it to get here.

 

[skyking]

I use a half serrated Ken Onion Kershaw for work. I work on the water and have to cut rope all the time, and half serrated blades do well on the 3/4" poly. I can do finer work out on the straight section as needed. Measures a little over 8" open, not a smaller knife.
Edit: It's an older Vapor II, no longer available.

 

[Oyeve]

Love my knife collection. I have some ghetto 70s 007 nyc street knives that I got in the heyday of ghetto knives in the 70s. Now I have switched to several tactical knives.

 

[Charmonium]

I have a nice Boker ceramic and just noticed that the tip is broken off. Have no idea how that happened. Ceramic might be sharp but they're too delicate.