I really hate to see some of the comments here about D2. . I'm a medically retired Custom maker with over 47 years in the business. I pioneered the 2+2+2+ temper over 40 years ago. I'm never seen one of my personal D2 knives rust or even so much as discolor. I run it at 63-64 HRc and there is no chipping even at very thin edges. None! An often quoted saying is that D2 takes a terrible edge and holds it forever. My Mentor, Mr Bob Loveless was the man who maked this saying popular. Mr Bob would have been stunned at just how strong of an edge holder at a very high degree of sharpness D2 can demonstrate. Sharpen with diamond matrix stones and the edge will not want to glaze out which it is prone to do with natural stones as well as silicon carbide and alu. oxide. Strop with diamond emulsion, never buffing compound or green chrome. The diamond or CBN gives a very aggressive micro toothy edge that is amazing. Oddly, it is common knowledge that the modern high vanadium steels perform best with this method, yet none mentions it when it comes to D2. It is just as important here. KnifeMaker
Very very good point. I have a Kershaw Heist in D2. The bladestock is 0.090" (2.3mm) and drops down to just 0.0303" behind the edge! With a toothy edge off a diamond stone, it is scary sharp. Like to the point I get nervous touching the edge...
Thanks for chiming in with your experience with this D-2 steel! I have a Queen Cutlery folder that I bought years ago as a collector knife. It has well tempered D-2 blades that took a long time to sharpen, but they really hold an edge! I also have a 5 inch "bush craft" style knife that I recently purchased and it to is D-2 steel and is keeping a very sharp edge after many hours of processing fat wood that I drug home from the woods a while back! I have knives in 420HC, 440C, San Mai VG-10, CPMS35VN, 3V and like all of them, but nobody will come telling me that my D-2 isn't a worthy knife steel!
If you’re a knife maker and you’ve made D2 blades, then you have to know that it is not an easy steel to heat treat in large batches because of the tolerance of the highest maximum heat in the lowest maximum heat. It’s too tight of a tolerance to do large batches, small batches of knives like Bob Dozier who is legendary with D2 he mastered his D2 blades freaking unbelievable that’s why they cost so much
Buried A KELTECH, 9 mm , 4 months , Prescott AZ , forest. Turned a red color , ,discolor , read , V,N, BOOK , JUNGLE , Potato gun guy buried a m 16, said red , discolor, discolor point ,
Properly treated D2 is actually fantastic knife steel for normal use. It's just harder for those with less experience sharpening. Actually, if I went through all my knives (hundreds), I probably have more in D2/K110 than any other steel. Even better when you have a coated D2 that is more resistant to corrosion. There is more value in a $20-40 knife in D2 than a $200+ knife with premium steel.
I'm not sure why but k110 feels different to me than d2 when I sharpen it ..even though chemically they are the same steel...what voodoo is bohler cooking up😂
It’s harder for people with experience sharpening too… it’s not an easy sharpen, regardless. Sharpening a knife steel that’s designed with sharpening in mind is a more enjoyable experience than putting a good edge on a tool steel that doesn’t want to be sharpened. D2 is fine, but if you use a knife and keep it sharp there are steels that most of us would rather see (even at the same price). In the real world, with steels that are more stainless, sharpen easier to a razor edge, and cost the same - why use D2? Coatings wear, you get spot rust, it’s hard as hell, and as said it’s inconsistent. There is some truth to its being overused and uncool, but that’s because it’s been used in a LOT of iffy knives and there’s plenty of poorly processed D2 out there. Bad optics. It’s fine, it had its time, but it doesn’t make a ton of sense in 2023. It’s not bad, but the knife world has moved on. The manufacturers have moved on. It’s been relegated to Amazon knives and off brands and that has further damaged its standing.
@@Rollshambo I think there are some minor variations in it. But you can also have variations in D2. Regardless, I don't mind either. Great video on an often overlooked topic. Would love to see one on 8Cr since that is very "taboo" when talked about, but it's also a decent steel under the right circumstances, especially for those just getting started with knives.
@@DZNTZ You can re-coat your knives fairly easily. I think D2 is a solid budget steel, along with 14C28N. If you can get them for the right price, then really no reason not to pull the trigger.
I've used D2 for over 30 years and will continue to use it for another 30 years. In the 80's it was top tier. If it's done well it still is a great performer.
I totally agree. It wasn’t even 10 years ago that high end well made knives used D2. However, like I’ve discussed on my channel, it’s more about marketing and businesses using slick phrases and keywords, so yeah truthfully D2 is amazing. However Mangnacut sounds cooler
Properly heat treated D2 is extremely underrated. With a good diamond stone its easy to sharpen. I appreciate your honest and fact based opinions. You provide data and advice that is IMHO better than 95 percent of reviewers on YT. Thank you and please keep it coming.
Wow thanks for this, had a custom blade made for my last year and a few people kept saying i made a mistake having used D2 as a steel. After watching this video, i actually feel much better now that all the facts have been presented. Thanks a million definitely subscribing
This is excellent content ! I remember when D2 was the darling, highly desirable for edge retention. In many ways the exploded knife industry is like the fashion industry. All about the newest & often the radical. I'm old, so remember when Buck, Browning, Puma, Western & of course Case ruled the roost. There were some other brands but models didn't change for years. Now every maker has a few drops a year so must discontinue some models. Liked the chart & the way you broke it down.
Glad you like it Tom! I'm going to make it a series and do more comparisons focusing on steels like 14c magnacut Lc200n..I'm trying to make it entertaining and not put people to sleep but I'm sure I'll get a better flow the more episodes I do
Great video! I remember when D2 was just beginning to get popular on budget knives, It was seen as a godsend in the sea of 8cr steel that was, and still is, common. But as you mentioned I guess the community got tired of seeing it everywhere, similar to what happened with S35vn. Both are still great steels in my book
D2 is great. My preference is stainlessness and edge retention over toughness. I can sharpen well and never break blades, but I have ruined knives to rust. The only time I’m disappointed with a steel is from rust… but I can enjoy a knife is 8Cr- I think people underestimate a lot of steels and overestimate their requirements. I think S90v is the best overall steel, but I’m generally pretty happy with anything. I care more about the design, construction, and intended use-if it suits D2 it’s a great steel.
Fire vid as always! These kinds of videos are super great for people trying to get into knives but are overwhelmed by the steel talk. I’ve been a fan of D2 for a while, and have never had an issue with it at all. The “community fatigue” aspect is such a good insight as well. People are definitely tired of seeing it, but it doesn’t negate its great performance.
Got back into knives for fun and as a lens into material and design innovation a few years back. First new knife in 15 yrs was a Civivi Incite in uncoated D2. Has held up as a daily driver and then beater after I got some higher end pieces. Live in high humidity zone but don't have a job where it gets sweaty or exposed to saltwater. Has been chewing up cardboard and zip ties and rope like a champ with minimal attention. Zero rust or cloudiness to blade finish and has held an edge well for me. Next series went s30, s35, and s90. All have been great. The s90 seems to get wicked sharp and stay that way more than the others
Man, this is a GREAT video. Really helps me a lot. I'm just not going to pay these crazy new prices that the big knife companies are charging. I have about 200 folders and 80+% of them are premiums. I'm still going to buy a premium knife if I fall in love with it, and it's not available in a cheaper steel. Just bought a Microtech Socom Elite to go with my Bravo, and I paid out the nose for it. But they are exceptions because they're truly exceptional knives. I'm now buying more Civivi, CJRB, Migurons, Sitiviens, Two Sun, and Kizers than Benchmades, Spyderco, WE, and all the the rest of that crowd. I'm a collector, not a cutter. So thank you for the support. I've steered away from D2 like a lot of steel snobs, but after this video it's back on my list of second-tier, but plenty good-enough steels.
Hey thanks for this video. It put some stuff into good context. I am at actually a machinist that works on CNC mills Lathes and grinders in a mold shop. We work with some of these steels. M390 , Elmax, we used to work with D2 about 4-5 years ago but we don’t really see it in molds anymore so much. M390 and elmax suck to cut very tough even before HT process. I don’t remember D2 being too bad. I’m really not sure what that guy you were talking about D2 ruining his machines? What kind of machines was he using? Or was it operator error because CNC machines don’t get ruined by steels they get ruined by people how don’t know what the hell they are doing. I’ve cut a steel called inconel on a lathe for years the same lathe. That steel is close to 70 Rockwell in its raw form. It’s all about the speeds and feeds and depth of cuts you are taking. Anyway I’m down with D2 for knife steel. Hell they were making knives 20 years ago that the steel was complete garbage compared to what is out now. Tons of good steels to choose from know. Steel snobs for sure. I you are 100% on the mark when you say it’s just been over used and heard too much. But it definitely is all about the HT without a good HT any steel is garbage. D2 needs to be a higher rating for sure.
Not sure about about knives but I’ve made a lot of taps I use for machinery. The last one I made was a 4”-8. I used it for cutting new threads in 36” diameter piston rod connections at NORAD. We have one of the best heat treatment companies around. They do parts for a bunch of gun manufacturers.
Somebody with good heat treats should start putting the hrc right behind the D2 on the blades. I bet they would sell a bunch. I wish they would do that with everything.
I don’t have any coated d2 but all of my d2 blades start rusting in my pocket on a 8-12 hour work shift ( super hot and constantly pouring sweat ) . Budget steel I’ve had better luck with 14c28n .
For rust resistance and toughness nothing beats 14c in a sub 200$ price range..it's my favorite budget steel and the only downside is a lackluster edge retention but that does mean that it's easy to sharpen and also takes a screamin edge
I know what you mean. I work in a humid state doing construction in 100 to 118 degree climate and if you don't constantly spray ballistol and put gun oil on it once a week it will rust very quickly. But I love the edge retention/strength for a sub 30$ knife. I never had a 14c28n knife yet but plan too wether it's a Kershaw leek or civivi voltaic. My favorite knife company is Kershaw and the best Pocket knife I ever used and had had to go to my Kershaw link 20cv made in USA. They are both easy to sharpen with a diamond stone sharpening system from work sharp. I like Kershaw better than Spyderco so far but I'm gonna try and get a k390 endura and give it a shot to see how it compares to my link 20cv and the manix 2 lw I had in spy27.
D2 certainly suffers from fatigue within the collector's mind set. Soon we will see the same thing with 14c28n, 154CM, perhaps even M390/204p/CPM 20CV, because they are treated soft so often. D2, N690, Nitro V, 14c28n 154CM, CPM 154, VG10, AUS10, 440C, 9cr18mov, are all fine steels that will get the job done well for folders. However, they are no longer sexy. Steel is similar to people who have dogs that give them problems. Once looked at by an expert, we find the dog does not have the problem, but rather the owner not knowing what to do, or what they are doing. A little knowledge is a dangerous thing. Would you fly with someone who says "I cannot take off or land, but once I am in the air, I am fine". Finally another overlooked, but superb characteristic of D2 - the price. For those who do not have the budget beyond a certain amount, can still get everything they need with D2 and a little oil, or a little Flitz polish to keep corrosion at bay.
And also due to people “POPULARISING” Certain knife brands, steels, materials and that skyrockets the cost. 20 years ago knives were fine, 8 years ago started getting more popular, 5 years ago EDC this and EDC that. 2 years ago booming, today it is insane popular…
I LOVE D2! Most of my knives are D2, so I am buying other steels for experience and variety. It is dollar for dollar, the best steel out there. That is why I need to try CJRBs rpm steel (it is advertised as a powdered D2).
As a toolmaker who has worked with D2 and made a knife out of it, it’s a great steel for the job, if anybody says otherwise they know nothing about metals
Knew right away when sharpening some boker d2 it was super hard 👍. D2 can have some big carbides left in a finely sharpened edge from my experiences but I’ve had no issues with rusting .
So nice to encounter someone talking sense. I don’t understand people willing to pay crazy amount of money for a fancy steel, especially on EDC knife. If you need a knife for a very specific task that you do on a daily basis - sure, choose the best steel for the job, but buying something like Maxamet just to open boxes, cut some food or a rope from time to time and praising its edge retention is just ridiculous in my opinion. I personally love 154CM - very similar performance to D2, but with more corrosion resistance. And I feel like I’m nowhere near its limits with a regular, daily usage. I just strop it regularly and it stays shaving sharp. That’s just my opinion and my experience, of course 🙂
I really appreciate this video. I just started collecting again after about a 10 year or more hiatus. Wasn’t D2 considered a borderline super-steel not long ago?
Love this topic. I wish more companies would atleast offer lower price steels with the same fit and finish in knives. I bet 90% of consumers don't use their knives to the level that warrants some exotic super steels. Especially collector knives that will just sit in a display or case.
The real problem with D2 is that it really doesn't have a market outside of budget which a lot of other Budget steels are preferred. It gets outshined on Fixed Blades by other steels, most makers don't like forging it and it cost more than other steels (A2/1095/AEB-L etc). On the Folder side of things people want better corrosion resistance (honestly this is an over-rated statistic people say I can't carry it will rust, I live in Florida it takes a lot for D2 or the other one I see dragged in the mud to rust (3v). But the folder world you can get 14C28N for the same price, NitroV for the same or slightly more, S30/S35vn if you look around the $100 range. Basically in a nutshell it isn't that D2 does anything bad, it's just outshined in most areas it could do better. To further prove this look at another steel that is Budget and gets NO love - 440C 3.5 Toughness (same as D2), 4.5 Edge Retention (slightly lower than D2), 7.5 Corrosion Resistance (Significantly higher than D2) and based on my experience with the two steels 440c is easier to sharpen.
The point I was attempting to make is that many people don't know why they dislike D2, category by category I named several steels that people don't complain about that d2 outperforms, and with edge retention being what's most important to the majority of people (or at least that's what the polls say) in the budget price range under 100$ nothing is outperforming properly heat treated D2...I'm not saying D2 is the best all around steel, just that people lack context behind their opinions
❤️❤️❤️ my 440C in situations where I dont want to corrode my D2. They are my two favorite EDS (every day steel) ! own a 20CV Kershaw 'link' that I adore, however, it takes more to get it sticky sharp.
Simply put a good gun wax such as flitz was or any ceramic wax on D-2 and No Rust! 440-c is ok, but its derivative, modified is 154-cm and superior to 440-c. Virtually the same edge holding as D-2. For very humid environments is much less prone to staining.
@@Rollshambo I think much of the issue is all the souposed D-2 blades from China. Many are not D-2 at all although advertised as such. Worse, even when D-2, poorly heat treated. Most fall in hte 55-56 HRc Range. D-2 performs best in 62-63 range. It has bive D-2 a very undeserved rep of late. KnifeMaker
Which makes no Sense. You don't forge D-2 as it has too narrow of a range in the heat with such a high Chrome content. Not enough to be truly stainless but far too much for forging. Further, it is far less prone to corrosion that A2 or 1985/1095 steel so a mute point. KnifeMaker
I have the Knife Steel Nurds book by Dr. Larin Thomas and D-2 is a fine Knife steel when proper heat treat has been applied but beginning Knife sharpeners have a hard time getting a good edge on it and discard it as hard to sharpen it is easier to sharpen on diamond plates in my opinion and holds a edge pretty damn good. Enjoyed your little rant on steel . KWM
Thanks Kenneth! Diamond plates changed the game for me with knife sharpening..that and stropping..this is just the first of many, I think I'm going to do a more premium steel for this series next..just not sure so far which one
@rollshambo I guess the question is "What are you using a knife for?" Myself, I generally don't buy expensive knives because I find that most knives are just utility knives. My EDC's with clips are used for scraping, and slicing, and prying. And because I buy less expensive knives, there have been a couple of occasions, where I have snapped the tip off of a favorite knife by prying on something. And not even with that much force. So it always makes me nervous not knowing whether I can trust and unproven knife. I also had a high-end bush "machete" a number of years ago that I paid a couple hundred dollars for (which was a lot of money 20 years ago) , and somebody working for me tried to hack some hardwood, and it snapped off at the handle. And recently I've been reading reviews about so-called machetes (which are often really more like cleavers or bowie knives than machetes) , and people have had the blade snap while chopping dead wood. So toughness is an issue in those situations. So in these cases, I'm guessing that it was a trade-off, with the makers using cheaper steel focusing on: 1. Better corrosion resistance (because that's what people probably complain about the most) 2. Better edge retention. 3. Relegating toughness to the bottom of the barrel, because the truth is, many, MANY people don't even use their knives. And you can see this in the thousands of knives cluttering Amazon, and corner stores and sporting good stores manufactured with a primary emphasis on looking "cool". Personally, because I use my knives in a utilitarian way, I reject 98% of knives that I see because of phony design aesthetics. And thinking this through, I would say that most knives are actually manufactured with the priority on. 1. Cost (as easy to stamp, grind, and assemble by the thousands, as cheap as humanly possible, with as huge a profit as possible). 2. Appearance/marketing/price accessibility = sales 3. Staying rust free so they maintain their appearance. 4. Edge retention 5. Toughness. 6. And somewhere mixed in with all that is utility. I've seen this in other industries, where consumers, start wagging the dog, and manufacturers start putting out inferior products to give people what they think they want, when people don't have the knowledge or experience to understand that you can't have everything. At the same time however, manufacturers should know better. But honestly many of them don't care. Otherwise they wouldn't be turning out crappy products. All that said, I would argue that utility is of the utmost importance. And if that's your benchmark, then in my experience toughness is more important than edge retention in a lot of cases. Because I can sharpen my knife if it gets dull. And most of the time, for what I use my knife for they don't have to be all THAT sharp. If I need something REALLY sharp, I use a razor knife, or a utility knife. I also carry two knives. One clip in my left pocket which I keep sharp, and one in my right pocket which I use for everything else. And now that I'm learning about the difference between toughness and edge retention, perhaps it's good to carry a sharp D2 knife in my left pocket, and something that's tougher that I use for prying and other uses. But, right now, I'm shopping for survival knives. And having had knives break under stress, to me, toughness is much more important then edge retention. Especially because I can keep a secondary knife when I need something really sharp. > know I'm rambling here a little bit but it's an important philosophical distinction when it comes to creating something that's supposed to serve a purpose. Not many people think about that, but a knife, like a good sword, like anything has a philosophy inherent in design, materials, and forming of it. And many knives are just not philosophically pure. Many, many of them are junk. And it makes me nervous when I see a survival knife for sale on Amazon for example, that has very good styling, and a fancy handle, and a highly polished stainless steel blade, and it's only $26. Because I don't feel that I can trust it. It's often an inherently dishonest product. I'm not saying you can't put out a good product for $26. Mora does it. Cold Steel has some great knives in the 35.00 range. Most of my EDC knives are under $30. But it can certainly be hard to trust much of what is out there. Even by brands with good names. For example, if you make a knife, that looks like a survival knife, and claims that it's a survival knife, and has the styling, and the handle materials of a survival knife, and yet the steel will break if you use it as a survival knife, then what's the point? Why make it at all. Except for massive profit. Which speaks to my point. All that said, I'm curious about your thoughts on the priority of toughness, and edge retention, and corrosion. What's more important? Toughness? Or edge retention? For me, the priorities would be 1. Utility 2. Design 3. Cost 4. Toughness 5. Edge retention 6. Corrosion resistance And it also begs the question: if D2 has an edge retention of 5 on a scale of what seems to be 1 to 13 on this list, what is the ideal hardness for a knife that holds an edge, but can also be easily sharpened in the field? Sorry for the ramble, but this subject really got me going. Thanks for the great content. You definitely earned a subscriber. I look forward to your other content. 👍😁🙏
Thanks Matt! I'm always looking for ways to expand the value on this channel! I'm in the process of finding a good way to host the spreadsheet for the channel members but I may end up just linking it in a community post via Google drive, I think I can improve on the style and flow of this series to make it easy for people to digest but gotta start somewhere
@@Rollshambo It was quite educational to see the ranking of the various steels! Thank you for assembling all of that information, it is very helpful and appreciated! Long Live D-2! :)
Couldn't agree more, but in my experience, I always ended up rusting d2 . Even just being in the pocket, which makes it a steel I usually avoid but it's still a good steel, just depends on where you live, how much you sweat, what you plan on using your knife for.
Hey I like the way you do these breakdowns, The only point I want to make is that you shouldn’t take Larrin’s numbers too seriously. His numbers are what you call an ordinal (ordered) scale rather than a ratio scale. For instance, if M390 is a 9 and D2 a 4.5 on the corrosion resistance scale, it doesn’t mean that M390 is twice as corrosion resistant as D2. The scale is more like a rough ordering of steels. Just like you wouldn’t say that a 70 degree day is twice as hot as a 35 degree day.
A lot of the problems was the inconsistent fly by night knife shops heat treat they made it too hard and brittle and it chipped in consumers hands. Proper heat treated D2 is insane especially at 62 HRC
D-2 is a very good Steel if it's heat treated properly. 20 years ago, it was a Super Steel. I think it's just been around a long time and People are just bored with it; there's so many new Steels to choose from. My favorite Folder is my Custom Polished, by myself, AD20S with the Clip/Bowie Blade with it's D-2 Blade. :-) Peace, Stiletto :-)
A bit late to the party. My issue with d2 is how inconsistant it is. The composition does indeed perform like on Larrin's articles. The issue is how companies handle ir or heat treat it. Its a fairly inexpensive steel for some manufacturers, but also a bit temperamental to heat treat. And if a manufacturer doesnt have everything properly dialed in, it is easier for things to go wrong. Combined with lower toughness and larger carbides, it is really easy for it to be "chippy" Personally, i like tougher steels. Larrin's favorite "budget" steel is 14c28n for a reason. Its very easy to get razor sharp... because it was developed for use in razors. Its also very tough and quite stain resistant. Its also easier to get right and harder to get wrong. Id much rather have an unexperience manufacturer handling 14c28n than d2. Id be much more willing to risk my money on buying a 14c28n knife from an unestablished brand than a d2 knife. However, if a company is willing to pay more for k110 or cpm d2, they are also likely more willing to take the time to get things right. If a company offers a knife in k110 or cpm d2, i feel much more comfortable buying that blade than regular d2, despite being super similar compositions (Cpm d2 is d2, but the carbide size is significantly reduced offering more toughness and stability) One last point: Toughness compounds edge retention. Saying d2 will hold and edge as long as Magnacut isnt quite true. Larrin's tests arent the same real world applications as someone like Pete from Cedric&Ada. They perform different tests in different environments. A 62HRC d2 knife wouldnt stand up to the same amount of cutting as a 62HRC Magnacut knife. The Magnacut also wouldnt show chips as readily due to the superior toughness, allowing for even more cutting before something like a paper cut test. Also, Magnacut can be even harder, allowing for even more cutting while not reducing much in toughness. For a stainless, it currently is the best of all worlds (outside of sharpening to a razor sharpness, its a bit tedious)
This is interesting. I have a $24 D2 scandi from China that blew my mind this month. I will review it soon and I have lots to say about it. The D2 on this knife is excellent, also quality control is better than many knives I've spent $100's on. Personally, I like the way D2 gets a unique patina . That's how I know it's legitimately D2. It has a weird patina and odd color when it stains. I like it..higher stainless blades are boring and get very ugly with use...imho .
First D2 knife I owned was a HK Folding knife that was contracted out and made by Benchmade. I still have it, and it’s still sharp after all these years of cutting cardboard boxes. Never chipped or rolled its edge. Since then I’ve handled other D2 knives (imports), and now I avoid foreign D2 knives unless they’re made in the USA or Europe. If you buy a China/Pakistani knife, its materials and origin are truly a gamble.
Properly treated D2 isn’t terrible but I still prefer 14c28n within the price bracket. I look for ease of sharpening, corrosion resistance, & toughness over edge retention.
I know this is a year old vid, but still on point. All of my edc beaters are D2, I use and abuse both old favs (QSP Penguin, Ontario Rat 1 & 2 )and some newer stuff (Sencut and Kubey) and the steel holds up. If it takes an extra 10 minutes or so to sharpen them back to a working edge, so be it. Even if ya threw it away when it needs sharpened, a couple sub $50 knives a year is a bargain when ya consider the possibility of ruining a $300 or even more expensive knife.
Please do more like this. This is the only video that compares the steel’s together and is easily understandable not a bunch of information that’s hard to make sense of. I would love to be able to have access to that chart.
It kind of reminds me of the 7mm Mauser cartridge. On paper it's not that impressive when compared to the ballistic data of more modern cartridges, but in the field, it performs way above what it should. Everyone who has used a 7mm mauser knows how amazing it is and pretty much everyone who hasn't, knocks it for being old and outdated and not as good as the newer cartridges out there now.
I made a PERSONAL ethical decision to dispose of my firearms collection. I kept one, A 98 with lyman peep 7mm. I bought it in Kodiak Alaska serving USCG. The brownies didn’t bother me, and I returned favor. Chris K
I appreciate this! I got way too hung up on knife steels early on in my collecting. It's important, but so is ergonomics and style. Also I live in a desert so I've yet to have rust on a knife that I didn't leave outside lol
D2 Tool Steel: Used in stamping dies. These punches & dies sections would typically pierce, shear hundreds of thousands of holes in light gage sheet steel before needing to be resharpened!
D2 was once considered a premium steel for knives. I still view it as premium because it is actually so well balanced compared to most of the super steels of today. Corrosion resistance is neither hear nor there for me because I take care of my stuff. If someone is to lazy to clean and oil a D2 blade, they will surely be to lazy to sharpen CruWear, Magnacut, or whatever other premium/super steel they end up with at a much higher premium!
I have been carrying a Civivi mini Praxis as my edc for about a year. I love the D2 blade. I can get it extremely sharp and it keeps a good edge for awhile.
I carry a D2 Kershaw that is my favorite EDC. I edge mine at 20 degrees and hone it regularly. I also oil all my knives with Teflon based oil. No issues with mine.
We badly need more expert voices in the world of metallurgy and knife steels. I have a keen respect for Dr. Larrin Thomas, but any good scientist knows that the more perspectives and expert opinions, the better for finding truth in sciences. I see SO much documentation presented as truth based on Dr. Thomas's work. That's not inherently a bad thing, but he's a person who interprets data in ways that could be different from another person. We need more expert voices in the knife steel world. Key word: expert. Because there are plenty of unqualified men out there making their unqualified opinions known. And I think Dr. Thomas would absolutely agree with me that more voices and opinions are needed. So please go study metallurgy and test metals, or encourage your kids to, or pay someone to do it. Dr. Thomas is a wonderful asset to the knife community, but we simply need more viewpoints and perpectives.
Most of my knives are D2. 10 years or so ago I had to rebuild a pipe notcher at work. The "tooth" that cut the pipe was made from D2 so I started looking into other uses and found that D2 was also used for knives. For the cost vs performance it was the best deal in blades I could find at the time. You can still find a good Chinese knife in D2 around $25.
D2 is a great knife steel. Choose a steel that fills the need. I own many different steels, I prefer 1095 over all them. It does everything I need. I have no use for a steel that can't be sharpened easily in the field. Doesn't make me right for all.
So happy this video popped up! I was so conflicted with people saying D2 is a good budget steel. But then I cam across a few oft using D2 but they’re $100 plus … that being said I DIDNT know whether to buy or not.
@@Rollshambo i saw your video & that’s one of the knives I was referring to. Also the tekto humvee but thought it was expensive for d2. What’s your thoughts on hogue vs axial vs guardian tactical otf? Not into the micro tech hype at all
Good points. Another issue around D2 was a widespread myth that it was super tough... there was some backlash when people realized it's far from. I started making knives of D2 from industrial slitter blades, nice heat treat, they are what they are, kinda hard to sharpen to a fine edge (hair whittling for example) but good working edges are fairly easy and long lasting.
Yeah, this. We just don't often take very full advantage of steels that are super tough. Something like 14c28n with a good hardness is a killer steel for holding an acute edge, and apex acuity effects the edge retention more than the steel itself.. real world dulling is usually a combination of some wear, and some micro chips, bends, and such
As a machinist that has made all types of parts out of D2 it is one tough bugger to machine. You've got to keep it cool because if you let it get hot you're screwed. It WILL "Work Harden" on you and will be harder than your cutter. With that being said, heat treatment is key with this steel. Can make very hard. I agree with your assessment.
I like big knives. The most important features to me are ease of sharpening and toughness. Stainless steel is not so necessary where I live. I'm a backyard blacksmith and I appreciate simple carbon and low alloy carbon steels like 1075, 1084, 80CrV2 and 8670 because they're easier to forge and HT. HT is important, so I bought a heat treat oven. Like Dr. Thomas say's, edge gee-I'm-a-tree is probably more important. Most knives I've bought since the 1960's are budget knives under $100, however, I just splurged and bought a RMJ UCAP in Magnacut.
The issue with D2 is that it's not the easiest steel to heat treat. Therefore budget D2 is a bit of a crap shoot where you should expect more variations in the steel from knife to knife. Makers who specialize in D2 and have mastered the art of heat treating it can get really amazing performance especially when you consider the material cost. You will likely pay a bit more for the experience and skills of the maker. Dozier, brous, and most custom makers with a history working with D2 can give you a really quality knife for less than powdered metallurgy steels. I typically don't stress about the steel so long as it's an appropriate cutlery steel and heat treated by a competent cutler.
Unless one was properly heat treated and the other wasn't I would 100% agree..the sad thing is both of these steels have the penchant to be woefully mistreated
Great video! Been saying for awhile it’s the heat treat! As far as sharpening I use my diamond stones tears through anything I put on them, I do like to use my traditional stones on my kitchen knives however!
Good video. I like the charts for reference. I've used BladeHQ's comparison chart a lot because it has a diamond visual that helps me see more than charts, but they're missing several steels and that's a little bummer. I'd definitely like to see your chart out there. One question though, why shift from a 1-10 rating in one category?
I'm going to make it available for download to the channel members! As for why Larrin Thomas has edge retention go up to 12 and the other categories Only 10 I'm not sure..I would assume that it was based on new steels that pushed the boundaries of what he had already measured..there's only 1 steel that rates that high though..I mean everyone thinks m390 edge retention is great and it rates a 6.5😂
@@Rollshambo yeah, I only have one m390 Bugout and this weekend proved it's edge retention ain't that high. Good thing it was a steal. P.S. Anyone wanna pick up an M390 Bugout? 😁
Larrin said "Maxamet and Rex 121 are so extreme in terms of wear resistance and edge retention that I rated them higher than 10 because otherwise it throws off the ratings for everything else."
@GatorAaron yeah benchmades heat treats aren't the most consistent or pushing the boundaries. That's why I like spyderco better. Plus they burn the edges alot too. That m390 edge might be good after like 6 sharpenings. But from my experience with benchmade, the initial edges aren't good.
You brought up some valid points. Anyone that has been around knives for any length of time knows that heat treat is the most important part. Also its the greatest unknown when your buying a knife and you just have to hope and pray that the manufacturer did it right. There is no regulation for heat treat. D2 sucks, it is hard to sharpen, (yeah I said it) I don't like it and I don't like sharpening knives in the first place. then your going to bring up M390? Guess what? I don't buy users in anything but 9Cr, 14C, VG10, or my favorite 154CM (OK some Nitro V and N690). I have a lot of knives in higher end steels, mostly collectors, knives I only carry to social events. You know to impress the ladies, or other knife nuts.
Fair enough! I do think it's a bit crazy that many people who don't know anything about D2 will slam it but then turn around and praise m390 like it's the ambrosia of the gods. When in reality the 2 are actually much closer than they know other than rust resistance..that said..when I was putting together the list 14c impressed me the most..I don't know why more fixed blades aren't made with it..seems like the perfect steel for a fixed blade with super high toughness, great ease of sharpening and exemplary rust resistance...14c is underrated for a user steel
I am glad you mentioned about heat treatment. He treatment for big production companies of D2 cannot hit the right heat treatment because the heat range is so tight. It’s within 20°. Do you know how hard it is to keep a large batch of knives within a 20° range of minimum temperature and maximum temperature 20° is really hard to do. It’s great knife steel if it’s done small batches extremely small batches Bob dozier does an awesome job with D2. He does D2 knives and very small batches so it’s easier to keep the heat range 20° minus look up the heat treatment protocol in the temperature and you’ll see what I mean. This is why companies like I don’t know big knife companies have a hard time with it because they want to do large batches of blades and they can’t, get all the blades to hit that mark for the temperature. You’re not educating yourself on proper heat treatment forget the Rockwell hardness that’s easy to get to properly. Take it through heat treatment protocol on large batches of blades. It’s very very difficult. That’s why a lot of companies have a hard time doing it correctly if it’s done correctly, the only button, only person I know that is a great blade that will superiorly. I’ll perform Bob Dozier his custom knives.
I LOVE good ol' D2! It's a little hard to sharpen but not if you know your stuff. It takes a great, thin, edge. I liken it to having a grain like wood rather than chalk. D2 has a great "soul" and you can feel it when that wicked edge makes contact.
I agree! Everybody’s got an opinion, and the knife snobs have all apparently agreed that D2 is not great. I love it. In my experience, it holds an edge like super steels do. I have a sweet little $70 CRKT folder in D2 that I carry often and love.
I spray my D2 with some EDCi from time to time and I've never seen any signs of rust. And I live in Florida where you can cut the humidity with a knife, even a D2 knife! Currently carrying an elementum in D2 with some aftermarket textured carbon fiber scales.
There's something to be said for taking care of your edc..sometimes I feel like people just want to abuse their equipment then blame the knife when it has issues later
There is no other steel with such great differences in quality as D2. The steel can only tolerate small tolerances during production. But if it has been treated properly, it is a solid, good steel
I love D2. I have thirty or more different knives, in various steels, but only one in D2, and the D2 is my favourite. Amazingly sharp, and as tough as I need.
D2 is serviceable, but there are other steels that beat it all the way across, and there also steels with similar toughness that have much better edge retention and corrosion resistance. I don't think too many people think it's garbage, it's just severely outclassed by other steels. It's a budget steel and it performs like one.
I have about 40 pieces bowie knifes only and is about 22-23 pieces made from D2 steel. According to my own experiences D2 steel (mostly my D2 knife are K110) is a really descent steel and its qualities are according to the maker/smith's skills. I have a 18.5cm blade bowie knife made from d2 steel and it works really good. Maybe i will not using my d2 steel for batoning but for chopping old dry bamboos my d2 steel knife works great.
I just used a friends D2 blade to clean a whole deer the other day, i was impressed how long it stayed sharp... usually by the end of a deer most any knife is completely dull, or at least so dull you cant do detail work
We’ve been using K110 Bohler D2 for 14 years. Premium D2 and heat treatment make it an excellent material. Those that criticize it either have no legitimate experience with K110 or have another agenda. Thx😉👍
Spent years making knives in D2 almost exclusively. My personal opinion is that it performs best as a blade steel when heat treated to the highest attainable hardness and tempered conservatively. And it becomes truly excellent if it is also cryo treated. It obviously has poor toughness in this state, but D2 is not a tough steel to begin with, even if heat treated to optimize toughness.
I’m not talking shit about D2. But with how well Spyderco is heat treating their K390 blades, there’s no reason not to buy their knives in K390. Edge retention is just fucking ridiculous and it’s not difficult to sharpen
Another consideration is edge geometry. Dr. Larrin Thomas admits that edge geometry may be even more important than the other attributes. I think one reason D2 gets a bad rap is that with the lower toughness, folks may put a larger angle on a convex edge, which benefits edge retention, but not sharpness. A savvy person would consider all these attributes and the intended use of a knife before choosing a steel that they may later regret. Also, you should use an appropriate sharpening media that matches well with your steel. Conventional oil stones won't do a great job on D2 with all its carbides. As you mention, a diamond stone does a much better job creating a good edge in a shorter time.
Like other commenters have stated, it’s hard to beat 420hc with a proper heat treat. If I was going to be relying on a knife it wouldn’t be a super steel. It would be a good 420hc blade. All steel will wear down and get dull. Period. But you can sharpen 420hc with a good rock off the ground.
I used a tire changing tool from my S-10 chevy truck to beat on the knife blade of a buck 110 to get thru the rib cage of a 150 pound whitetail buck.i cant even see any marks on the back of the blade.
I also used my case mini trapper to scrape dried hog blood off the floor of a reefer trailer i was pulling.I kept thinking i was ruining the spey blade by abusing it that bad but it had to be done.I couldnt even see any damage to the edge/end of the blade.I thought it would be completely ruined. I am a believer in case 420hc and especially Bucks 420hc.
Bro you are not wrong when you talk about all the different compositions of steel. It is extremely difficult to differentiate between the different steel compositions. Sometimes it even seems as if it's deliberately confusing. And then trying to figure out which country has the best steel. I've owned good and bad blades from all over the globe. I can count on one hand how many brands of knives I've bought more than once...
D2 is not bad. It just has poor corrosion resistance (know from experience.) application and geographical location should be taken into consideration when choosing what’s best for you. D2 is no for me, it rust just from sweat and moisture in my pocket and I’m relatively close to the beach.
I would believe you ,because I used to not like it at first, then when my sharpening game improved, now I really like the steel for its edge retention and value...having said all that I have recently fallen in love with 14c28n and nitro-v for the same reasons that I like D2 ,but also for their corr. resist.
I think a lot of people forgot what a knife is for, To cut soft materials, Mabe, some would say obsidian is better then any steel, In the right environment, it is free, Can be sharpened with a few precise knap wacks, If you drop it, You have 2 knives, And the next one is free too, Like guns, Someone my have the latest models, But when that comet hits earth. Or the man made mushroom cloud happens, Their choice is a 69 caliber flint lock, They can make black powder, Knap flints, And fire salt to gravel untill some meltable metal is found...
Well I'm going to go for CPM D2 from now on then thanks for the tip because magna cut vg-10 nitro v s35, all those other crazier high-end steels are insane what they're asking for
I love D2… during winter. In summer though, I sweat a lot at my job and rust D2. If i love the knife enough, I’ll slap some knife shield on it and carry it. But why risk it? I will absolutely admit that I’m an oddball who places corrosion resistance above any other steel attribute. But I still love D2. What is your personal favorite steel?? Absolutely amazing video, definitely earned a subscription from me!
Heat treatment and edge geometry matched to the task its used for are more important than steel type imo. Even cheap Chinese steels can do decently well if they have at least one of those two and matched to the task, anything better and good QC is fine for most people. It takes a lot of experience using and hand sharpening different steels to really notice the small differences between most of them, especially the top handful.
I really hate to see some of the comments here about D2. . I'm a medically retired Custom maker with over 47 years in the business. I pioneered the 2+2+2+ temper over 40 years ago. I'm never seen one of my personal D2 knives rust or even so much as discolor.
I run it at 63-64 HRc and there is no chipping even at very thin edges. None!
An often quoted saying is that D2 takes a terrible edge and holds it forever. My Mentor, Mr Bob Loveless was the man who maked this saying popular. Mr Bob would have been stunned at just how strong of an edge holder at a very high degree of sharpness D2 can demonstrate. Sharpen with diamond matrix stones and the edge will not want to glaze out which it is prone to do with natural stones as well as silicon carbide and alu. oxide. Strop with diamond emulsion, never buffing compound or green chrome. The diamond or CBN gives a very aggressive micro toothy edge that is amazing.
Oddly, it is common knowledge that the modern high vanadium steels perform best with this method, yet none mentions it when it comes to D2. It is just as important here.
KnifeMaker
Very very good point. I have a Kershaw Heist in D2. The bladestock is 0.090" (2.3mm) and drops down to just 0.0303" behind the edge! With a toothy edge off a diamond stone, it is scary sharp. Like to the point I get nervous touching the edge...
Thanks for chiming in with your experience with this D-2 steel! I have a Queen Cutlery folder that I bought years ago as a collector knife. It has well tempered D-2 blades that took a long time to sharpen, but they really hold an edge! I also have a 5 inch "bush craft" style knife that I recently purchased and it to is D-2 steel and is keeping a very sharp edge after many hours of processing fat wood that I drug home from the woods a while back!
I have knives in 420HC, 440C, San Mai VG-10, CPMS35VN, 3V and like all of them, but nobody will come telling me that my D-2 isn't a worthy knife steel!
If you’re a knife maker and you’ve made D2 blades, then you have to know that it is not an easy steel to heat treat in large batches because of the tolerance of the highest maximum heat in the lowest maximum heat. It’s too tight of a tolerance to do large batches, small batches of knives like Bob Dozier who is legendary with D2 he mastered his D2 blades freaking unbelievable that’s why they cost so much
Of course I’m talking about Bob Dozier’s custom knives
Buried A KELTECH, 9 mm , 4 months , Prescott AZ , forest. Turned a red color , ,discolor , read , V,N, BOOK , JUNGLE , Potato gun guy buried a m 16, said red , discolor, discolor point ,
Properly treated D2 is actually fantastic knife steel for normal use. It's just harder for those with less experience sharpening. Actually, if I went through all my knives (hundreds), I probably have more in D2/K110 than any other steel. Even better when you have a coated D2 that is more resistant to corrosion. There is more value in a $20-40 knife in D2 than a $200+ knife with premium steel.
I'm not sure why but k110 feels different to me than d2 when I sharpen it ..even though chemically they are the same steel...what voodoo is bohler cooking up😂
It’s harder for people with experience sharpening too… it’s not an easy sharpen, regardless. Sharpening a knife steel that’s designed with sharpening in mind is a more enjoyable experience than putting a good edge on a tool steel that doesn’t want to be sharpened. D2 is fine, but if you use a knife and keep it sharp there are steels that most of us would rather see (even at the same price). In the real world, with steels that are more stainless, sharpen easier to a razor edge, and cost the same - why use D2? Coatings wear, you get spot rust, it’s hard as hell, and as said it’s inconsistent. There is some truth to its being overused and uncool, but that’s because it’s been used in a LOT of iffy knives and there’s plenty of poorly processed D2 out there. Bad optics. It’s fine, it had its time, but it doesn’t make a ton of sense in 2023. It’s not bad, but the knife world has moved on. The manufacturers have moved on. It’s been relegated to Amazon knives and off brands and that has further damaged its standing.
@@Rollshambo I think there are some minor variations in it. But you can also have variations in D2. Regardless, I don't mind either. Great video on an often overlooked topic. Would love to see one on 8Cr since that is very "taboo" when talked about, but it's also a decent steel under the right circumstances, especially for those just getting started with knives.
@@DZNTZ You can re-coat your knives fairly easily. I think D2 is a solid budget steel, along with 14C28N. If you can get them for the right price, then really no reason not to pull the trigger.
@Joel B how can you recoat a D2 blade that had black coating? Like a Benchmade Griptilian? What about bluing compound?
I've used D2 for over 30 years and will continue to use it for another 30 years. In the 80's it was top tier. If it's done well it still is a great performer.
I totally agree. It wasn’t even 10 years ago that high end well made knives used D2. However, like I’ve discussed on my channel, it’s more about marketing and businesses using slick phrases and keywords, so yeah truthfully D2 is amazing. However Mangnacut sounds cooler
Properly heat treated D2 is extremely underrated. With a good diamond stone its easy to sharpen. I appreciate your honest and fact based opinions. You provide data and advice that is IMHO better than 95 percent of reviewers on YT. Thank you and please keep it coming.
Excellent points. People PERCIEVE certain characteristics more than they EXPERIENCE them in use.
Wow thanks for this, had a custom blade made for my last year and a few people kept saying i made a mistake having used D2 as a steel. After watching this video, i actually feel much better now that all the facts have been presented. Thanks a million definitely subscribing
This is excellent content ! I remember when D2 was the darling, highly desirable for edge retention. In many ways the exploded knife industry is like the fashion industry. All about the newest & often the radical. I'm old, so remember when Buck, Browning, Puma, Western & of course Case ruled the roost. There were some other brands but models didn't change for years. Now every maker has a few drops a year so must discontinue some models. Liked the chart & the way you broke it down.
Glad you like it Tom! I'm going to make it a series and do more comparisons focusing on steels like 14c magnacut Lc200n..I'm trying to make it entertaining and not put people to sleep but I'm sure I'll get a better flow the more episodes I do
When I first got into knives. D2 and s30v were the most desirable steels that you could have on your knife
The D2 blade functions beautifully on the Buck model 119 wood handle version of this knife 💎
Great video! I remember when D2 was just beginning to get popular on budget knives, It was seen as a godsend in the sea of 8cr steel that was, and still is, common. But as you mentioned I guess the community got tired of seeing it everywhere, similar to what happened with S35vn. Both are still great steels in my book
I remember when D2 petty much custom only.
s35vn is out.. damn. That's lovely metal
D2 is great. My preference is stainlessness and edge retention over toughness. I can sharpen well and never break blades, but I have ruined knives to rust. The only time I’m disappointed with a steel is from rust… but I can enjoy a knife is 8Cr- I think people underestimate a lot of steels and overestimate their requirements. I think S90v is the best overall steel, but I’m generally pretty happy with anything. I care more about the design, construction, and intended use-if it suits D2 it’s a great steel.
Fire vid as always! These kinds of videos are super great for people trying to get into knives but are overwhelmed by the steel talk. I’ve been a fan of D2 for a while, and have never had an issue with it at all.
The “community fatigue” aspect is such a good insight as well. People are definitely tired of seeing it, but it doesn’t negate its great performance.
Got back into knives for fun and as a lens into material and design innovation a few years back. First new knife in 15 yrs was a Civivi Incite in uncoated D2. Has held up as a daily driver and then beater after I got some higher end pieces. Live in high humidity zone but don't have a job where it gets sweaty or exposed to saltwater. Has been chewing up cardboard and zip ties and rope like a champ with minimal attention. Zero rust or cloudiness to blade finish and has held an edge well for me. Next series went s30, s35, and s90. All have been great. The s90 seems to get wicked sharp and stay that way more than the others
Man, this is a GREAT video. Really helps me a lot. I'm just not going to pay these crazy new prices that the big knife companies are charging. I have about 200 folders and 80+% of them are premiums. I'm still going to buy a premium knife if I fall in love with it, and it's not available in a cheaper steel. Just bought a Microtech Socom Elite to go with my Bravo, and I paid out the nose for it. But they are exceptions because they're truly exceptional knives. I'm now buying more Civivi, CJRB, Migurons, Sitiviens, Two Sun, and Kizers than Benchmades, Spyderco, WE, and all the the rest of that crowd. I'm a collector, not a cutter. So thank you for the support. I've steered away from D2 like a lot of steel snobs, but after this video it's back on my list of second-tier, but plenty good-enough steels.
Hey thanks for this video. It put some stuff into good context. I am at actually a machinist that works on CNC mills Lathes and grinders in a mold shop. We work with some of these steels. M390 , Elmax, we used to work with D2 about 4-5 years ago but we don’t really see it in molds anymore so much. M390 and elmax suck to cut very tough even before HT process. I don’t remember D2 being too bad. I’m really not sure what that guy you were talking about D2 ruining his machines? What kind of machines was he using? Or was it operator error because CNC machines don’t get ruined by steels they get ruined by people how don’t know what the hell they are doing. I’ve cut a steel called inconel on a lathe for years the same lathe. That steel is close to 70 Rockwell in its raw form. It’s all about the speeds and feeds and depth of cuts you are taking. Anyway I’m down with D2 for knife steel. Hell they were making knives 20 years ago that the steel was complete garbage compared to what is out now. Tons of good steels to choose from know. Steel snobs for sure. I you are 100% on the mark when you say it’s just been over used and heard too much. But it definitely is all about the HT without a good HT any steel is garbage. D2 needs to be a higher rating for sure.
Not sure about about knives but I’ve made a lot of taps I use for machinery. The last one I made was a 4”-8. I used it for cutting new threads in 36” diameter piston rod connections at NORAD. We have one of the best heat treatment companies around. They do parts for a bunch of gun manufacturers.
Somebody with good heat treats should start putting the hrc right behind the D2 on the blades. I bet they would sell a bunch. I wish they would do that with everything.
I don’t have any coated d2 but all of my d2 blades start rusting in my pocket on a 8-12 hour work shift ( super hot and constantly pouring sweat ) . Budget steel I’ve had better luck with 14c28n .
For rust resistance and toughness nothing beats 14c in a sub 200$ price range..it's my favorite budget steel and the only downside is a lackluster edge retention but that does mean that it's easy to sharpen and also takes a screamin edge
I like 14c too 50/50 to me. I never rusted one though
I know what you mean. I work in a humid state doing construction in 100 to 118 degree climate and if you don't constantly spray ballistol and put gun oil on it once a week it will rust very quickly. But I love the edge retention/strength for a sub 30$ knife. I never had a 14c28n knife yet but plan too wether it's a Kershaw leek or civivi voltaic. My favorite knife company is Kershaw and the best Pocket knife I ever used and had had to go to my Kershaw link 20cv made in USA. They are both easy to sharpen with a diamond stone sharpening system from work sharp. I like Kershaw better than Spyderco so far but I'm gonna try and get a k390 endura and give it a shot to see how it compares to my link 20cv and the manix 2 lw I had in spy27.
D2 certainly suffers from fatigue within the collector's mind set. Soon we will see the same thing with 14c28n, 154CM, perhaps even M390/204p/CPM 20CV, because they are treated soft so often. D2, N690, Nitro V, 14c28n 154CM, CPM 154, VG10, AUS10, 440C, 9cr18mov, are all fine steels that will get the job done well for folders. However, they are no longer sexy. Steel is similar to people who have dogs that give them problems. Once looked at by an expert, we find the dog does not have the problem, but rather the owner not knowing what to do, or what they are doing. A little knowledge is a dangerous thing. Would you fly with someone who says "I cannot take off or land, but once I am in the air, I am fine". Finally another overlooked, but superb characteristic of D2 - the price. For those who do not have the budget beyond a certain amount, can still get everything they need with D2 and a little oil, or a little Flitz polish to keep corrosion at bay.
And also due to people “POPULARISING”
Certain knife brands, steels, materials and that skyrockets the cost.
20 years ago knives were fine, 8 years ago started getting more popular, 5 years ago EDC this and EDC that. 2 years ago booming, today it is insane popular…
I LOVE D2! Most of my knives are D2, so I am buying other steels for experience and variety. It is dollar for dollar, the best steel out there. That is why I need to try CJRBs rpm steel (it is advertised as a powdered D2).
As a toolmaker who has worked with D2 and made a knife out of it, it’s a great steel for the job, if anybody says otherwise they know nothing about metals
Knew right away when sharpening some boker d2 it was super hard 👍. D2 can have some big carbides left in a finely sharpened edge from my experiences but I’ve had no issues with rusting .
So nice to encounter someone talking sense. I don’t understand people willing to pay crazy amount of money for a fancy steel, especially on EDC knife. If you need a knife for a very specific task that you do on a daily basis - sure, choose the best steel for the job, but buying something like Maxamet just to open boxes, cut some food or a rope from time to time and praising its edge retention is just ridiculous in my opinion. I personally love 154CM - very similar performance to D2, but with more corrosion resistance. And I feel like I’m nowhere near its limits with a regular, daily usage. I just strop it regularly and it stays shaving sharp. That’s just my opinion and my experience, of course 🙂
I really appreciate this video. I just started collecting again after about a 10 year or more hiatus. Wasn’t D2 considered a borderline super-steel not long ago?
Depending on what you consider "not long ago" 😅.
Good d2 done right is really really good. Your voice is meant for this content. Good stuff
Love this topic. I wish more companies would atleast offer lower price steels with the same fit and finish in knives. I bet 90% of consumers don't use their knives to the level that warrants some exotic super steels. Especially collector knives that will just sit in a display or case.
The real problem with D2 is that it really doesn't have a market outside of budget which a lot of other Budget steels are preferred. It gets outshined on Fixed Blades by other steels, most makers don't like forging it and it cost more than other steels (A2/1095/AEB-L etc). On the Folder side of things people want better corrosion resistance (honestly this is an over-rated statistic people say I can't carry it will rust, I live in Florida it takes a lot for D2 or the other one I see dragged in the mud to rust (3v). But the folder world you can get 14C28N for the same price, NitroV for the same or slightly more, S30/S35vn if you look around the $100 range. Basically in a nutshell it isn't that D2 does anything bad, it's just outshined in most areas it could do better. To further prove this look at another steel that is Budget and gets NO love - 440C 3.5 Toughness (same as D2), 4.5 Edge Retention (slightly lower than D2), 7.5 Corrosion Resistance (Significantly higher than D2) and based on my experience with the two steels 440c is easier to sharpen.
The point I was attempting to make is that many people don't know why they dislike D2, category by category I named several steels that people don't complain about that d2 outperforms, and with edge retention being what's most important to the majority of people (or at least that's what the polls say) in the budget price range under 100$ nothing is outperforming properly heat treated D2...I'm not saying D2 is the best all around steel, just that people lack context behind their opinions
❤️❤️❤️ my 440C in situations where I dont want to corrode my D2. They are my two favorite EDS (every day steel) ! own a 20CV Kershaw 'link' that I adore, however, it takes more to get it sticky sharp.
Simply put a good gun wax such as flitz was or any ceramic wax on D-2 and No Rust! 440-c is ok, but its derivative, modified is 154-cm and superior to 440-c. Virtually the same edge holding as D-2. For very humid environments is much less prone to staining.
@@Rollshambo I think much of the issue is all the souposed D-2 blades from China. Many are not D-2 at all although advertised as such. Worse, even when D-2, poorly heat treated. Most fall in hte 55-56 HRc Range. D-2 performs best in 62-63 range. It has bive D-2 a very undeserved rep of late.
KnifeMaker
Which makes no Sense. You don't forge D-2 as it has too narrow of a range in the heat with such a high Chrome content. Not enough to be truly stainless but far too much for forging. Further, it is far less prone to corrosion that A2 or 1985/1095 steel so a mute point.
KnifeMaker
I would definitely appreciate it if the list was made public!! Great video an thorough explanation.
I have the Knife Steel Nurds book by Dr. Larin Thomas and D-2 is a fine Knife steel when proper heat treat has been applied but beginning Knife sharpeners have a hard time getting a good edge on it and discard it as hard to sharpen it is easier to sharpen on diamond plates in my opinion and holds a edge pretty damn good. Enjoyed your little rant on steel . KWM
Thanks Kenneth! Diamond plates changed the game for me with knife sharpening..that and stropping..this is just the first of many, I think I'm going to do a more premium steel for this series next..just not sure so far which one
@rollshambo I guess the question is "What are you using a knife for?"
Myself, I generally don't buy expensive knives because I find that most knives are just utility knives. My EDC's with clips are used for scraping, and slicing, and prying.
And because I buy less expensive knives, there have been a couple of occasions, where I have snapped the tip off of a favorite knife by prying on something. And not even with that much force. So it always makes me nervous not knowing whether I can trust and unproven knife.
I also had a high-end bush "machete" a number of years ago that I paid a couple hundred dollars for (which was a lot of money 20 years ago) , and somebody working for me tried to hack some hardwood, and it snapped off at the handle.
And recently I've been reading reviews about so-called machetes (which are often really more like cleavers or bowie knives than machetes) , and people have had the blade snap while chopping dead wood. So toughness is an issue in those situations.
So in these cases, I'm guessing that it was a trade-off, with the makers using cheaper steel focusing on:
1. Better corrosion resistance (because that's what people probably complain about the most)
2. Better edge retention.
3. Relegating toughness to the bottom of the barrel, because the truth is, many, MANY people don't even use their knives.
And you can see this in the thousands of knives cluttering Amazon, and corner stores and sporting good stores manufactured with a primary emphasis on looking "cool".
Personally, because I use my knives in a utilitarian way, I reject 98% of knives that I see because of phony design aesthetics.
And thinking this through, I would say that most knives are actually manufactured with the priority on.
1. Cost (as easy to stamp, grind, and assemble by the thousands, as cheap as humanly possible, with as huge a profit as possible).
2. Appearance/marketing/price accessibility = sales
3. Staying rust free so they maintain their appearance.
4. Edge retention
5. Toughness.
6. And somewhere mixed in with all that is utility.
I've seen this in other industries, where consumers, start wagging the dog, and manufacturers start putting out inferior products to give people what they think they want, when people don't have the knowledge or experience to understand that you can't have everything.
At the same time however, manufacturers should know better. But honestly many of them don't care. Otherwise they wouldn't be turning out crappy products.
All that said, I would argue that utility is of the utmost importance.
And if that's your benchmark, then in my experience toughness is more important than edge retention in a lot of cases. Because I can sharpen my knife if it gets dull.
And most of the time, for what I use my knife for they don't have to be all THAT sharp. If I need something REALLY sharp, I use a razor knife, or a utility knife.
I also carry two knives. One clip in my left pocket which I keep sharp, and one in my right pocket which I use for everything else.
And now that I'm learning about the difference between toughness and edge retention, perhaps it's good to carry a sharp D2 knife in my left pocket, and something that's tougher that I use for prying and other uses.
But, right now, I'm shopping for survival knives. And having had knives break under stress, to me, toughness is much more important then edge retention. Especially because I can keep a secondary knife when I need something really sharp.
> know I'm rambling here a little bit but it's an important philosophical distinction when it comes to creating something that's supposed to serve a purpose.
Not many people think about that, but a knife, like a good sword, like anything has a philosophy inherent in design, materials, and forming of it. And many knives are just not philosophically pure. Many, many of them are junk.
And it makes me nervous when I see a survival knife for sale on Amazon for example, that has very good styling, and a fancy handle, and a highly polished stainless steel blade, and it's only $26. Because I don't feel that I can trust it. It's often an inherently dishonest product. I'm not saying you can't put out a good product for $26. Mora does it. Cold Steel has some great knives in the 35.00 range. Most of my EDC knives are under $30. But it can certainly be hard to trust much of what is out there. Even by brands with good names.
For example, if you make a knife, that looks like a survival knife, and claims that it's a survival knife, and has the styling, and the handle materials of a survival knife, and yet the steel will break if you use it as a survival knife, then what's the point? Why make it at all. Except for massive profit. Which speaks to my point.
All that said,
I'm curious about your thoughts on the priority of toughness, and edge retention, and corrosion. What's more important? Toughness? Or edge retention?
For me, the priorities would be
1. Utility
2. Design
3. Cost
4. Toughness
5. Edge retention
6. Corrosion resistance
And it also begs the question: if D2 has an edge retention of 5 on a scale of what seems to be 1 to 13 on this list, what is the ideal hardness for a knife that holds an edge, but can also be easily sharpened in the field?
Sorry for the ramble, but this subject really got me going. Thanks for the great content. You definitely earned a subscriber. I look forward to your other content. 👍😁🙏
This was awesome! Thank you for all of the research and work it took to make this video! Looking forward to this series
Thanks Matt! I'm always looking for ways to expand the value on this channel! I'm in the process of finding a good way to host the spreadsheet for the channel members but I may end up just linking it in a community post via Google drive, I think I can improve on the style and flow of this series to make it easy for people to digest but gotta start somewhere
@@Rollshambo It was quite educational to see the ranking of the various steels! Thank you for assembling all of that information, it is very helpful and appreciated! Long Live D-2! :)
Couldn't agree more, but in my experience, I always ended up rusting d2 . Even just being in the pocket, which makes it a steel I usually avoid but it's still a good steel, just depends on where you live, how much you sweat, what you plan on using your knife for.
Valid valid points my good man. Can't argue numbers
The asterisk is always the heat treat, if you go D2 make sure the oem follows their heat treat protocols
Hey I like the way you do these breakdowns, The only point I want to make is that you shouldn’t take Larrin’s numbers too seriously. His numbers are what you call an ordinal (ordered) scale rather than a ratio scale. For instance, if M390 is a 9 and D2 a 4.5 on the corrosion resistance scale, it doesn’t mean that M390 is twice as corrosion resistant as D2. The scale is more like a rough ordering of steels. Just like you wouldn’t say that a 70 degree day is twice as hot as a 35 degree day.
A lot of the problems was the inconsistent fly by night knife shops heat treat they made it too hard and brittle and it chipped in consumers hands. Proper heat treated D2 is insane especially at 62 HRC
Would love a knife in D2 at 62 HRC!
As a die maker, I can tell you D2 is very tough stuff if heat treated and tempered properly.
The Bestech slasher xl is the best d2 knife along with the Sencut screne. Never had one rust on me.
D-2 is a very good Steel if it's heat treated properly. 20 years ago, it was a Super Steel. I think it's just been around a long time and People are just bored with it; there's so many new Steels to choose from. My favorite Folder is my Custom Polished, by myself, AD20S with the Clip/Bowie Blade with it's D-2 Blade. :-) Peace, Stiletto :-)
A bit late to the party.
My issue with d2 is how inconsistant it is. The composition does indeed perform like on Larrin's articles.
The issue is how companies handle ir or heat treat it.
Its a fairly inexpensive steel for some manufacturers, but also a bit temperamental to heat treat.
And if a manufacturer doesnt have everything properly dialed in, it is easier for things to go wrong.
Combined with lower toughness and larger carbides, it is really easy for it to be "chippy"
Personally, i like tougher steels. Larrin's favorite "budget" steel is 14c28n for a reason. Its very easy to get razor sharp... because it was developed for use in razors. Its also very tough and quite stain resistant. Its also easier to get right and harder to get wrong. Id much rather have an unexperience manufacturer handling 14c28n than d2. Id be much more willing to risk my money on buying a 14c28n knife from an unestablished brand than a d2 knife.
However, if a company is willing to pay more for k110 or cpm d2, they are also likely more willing to take the time to get things right.
If a company offers a knife in k110 or cpm d2, i feel much more comfortable buying that blade than regular d2, despite being super similar compositions
(Cpm d2 is d2, but the carbide size is significantly reduced offering more toughness and stability)
One last point:
Toughness compounds edge retention. Saying d2 will hold and edge as long as Magnacut isnt quite true. Larrin's tests arent the same real world applications as someone like Pete from Cedric&Ada. They perform different tests in different environments.
A 62HRC d2 knife wouldnt stand up to the same amount of cutting as a 62HRC Magnacut knife. The Magnacut also wouldnt show chips as readily due to the superior toughness, allowing for even more cutting before something like a paper cut test.
Also, Magnacut can be even harder, allowing for even more cutting while not reducing much in toughness.
For a stainless, it currently is the best of all worlds (outside of sharpening to a razor sharpness, its a bit tedious)
This is interesting. I have a $24 D2 scandi from China that blew my mind this month. I will review it soon and I have lots to say about it.
The D2 on this knife is excellent, also quality control is better than many knives I've spent $100's on.
Personally, I like the way D2 gets a unique patina . That's how I know it's legitimately D2.
It has a weird patina and odd color when it stains.
I like it..higher stainless blades are boring and get very ugly with use...imho .
I for sure would love that spreadsheet my man... Good talk about steel and D2!
Screenshot it ! 👍
First D2 knife I owned was a HK Folding knife that was contracted out and made by Benchmade. I still have it, and it’s still sharp after all these years of cutting cardboard boxes. Never chipped or rolled its edge. Since then I’ve handled other D2 knives (imports), and now I avoid foreign D2 knives unless they’re made in the USA or Europe. If you buy a China/Pakistani knife, its materials and origin are truly a gamble.
Properly treated D2 isn’t terrible but I still prefer 14c28n within the price bracket. I look for ease of sharpening, corrosion resistance, & toughness over edge retention.
I know this is a year old vid, but still on point.
All of my edc beaters are D2, I use and abuse both old favs (QSP Penguin, Ontario Rat 1 & 2 )and some newer stuff (Sencut and Kubey) and the steel holds up. If it takes an extra 10 minutes or so to sharpen them back to a working edge, so be it.
Even if ya threw it away when it needs sharpened, a couple sub $50 knives a year is a bargain when ya consider the possibility of ruining a $300 or even more expensive knife.
Please do more like this. This is the only video that compares the steel’s together and is easily understandable not a bunch of information that’s hard to make sense of. I would love to be able to have access to that chart.
It kind of reminds me of the 7mm Mauser cartridge. On paper it's not that impressive when compared to the ballistic data of more modern cartridges, but in the field, it performs way above what it should. Everyone who has used a 7mm mauser knows how amazing it is and pretty much everyone who hasn't, knocks it for being old and outdated and not as good as the newer cartridges out there now.
I made a PERSONAL ethical decision to dispose of my firearms collection. I kept one, A 98 with lyman peep 7mm. I bought it in Kodiak Alaska serving USCG. The brownies didn’t bother me, and I returned favor.
Chris K
@@sharzadgabbai4408 Exactly what is ethical in disposing your firearms. British? Liberal? Other?
I appreciate this! I got way too hung up on knife steels early on in my collecting. It's important, but so is ergonomics and style. Also I live in a desert so I've yet to have rust on a knife that I didn't leave outside lol
D2 Tool Steel: Used in stamping dies. These punches & dies sections would typically pierce, shear hundreds of thousands of holes in light gage sheet steel before needing to be resharpened!
Have a Kershaw Iridium Duralock that’s D2 and I love it. The blade stays sharp a long time and as long as you maintain it, it’s a fine blade.
D2 was once considered a premium steel for knives. I still view it as premium because it is actually so well balanced compared to most of the super steels of today. Corrosion resistance is neither hear nor there for me because I take care of my stuff. If someone is to lazy to clean and oil a D2 blade, they will surely be to lazy to sharpen CruWear, Magnacut, or whatever other premium/super steel they end up with at a much higher premium!
I have been carrying a Civivi mini Praxis as my edc for about a year. I love the D2 blade. I can get it extremely sharp and it keeps a good edge for awhile.
I own a mini praxis as well and it's nasty sharp
I carry a D2 Kershaw that is my favorite EDC. I edge mine at 20 degrees and hone it regularly. I also oil all my knives with Teflon based oil. No issues with mine.
We badly need more expert voices in the world of metallurgy and knife steels. I have a keen respect for Dr. Larrin Thomas, but any good scientist knows that the more perspectives and expert opinions, the better for finding truth in sciences. I see SO much documentation presented as truth based on Dr. Thomas's work. That's not inherently a bad thing, but he's a person who interprets data in ways that could be different from another person.
We need more expert voices in the knife steel world. Key word: expert. Because there are plenty of unqualified men out there making their unqualified opinions known.
And I think Dr. Thomas would absolutely agree with me that more voices and opinions are needed. So please go study metallurgy and test metals, or encourage your kids to, or pay someone to do it.
Dr. Thomas is a wonderful asset to the knife community, but we simply need more viewpoints and perpectives.
Most of my knives are D2. 10 years or so ago I had to rebuild a pipe notcher at work. The "tooth" that cut the pipe was made from D2 so I started looking into other uses and found that D2 was also used for knives. For the cost vs performance it was the best deal in blades I could find at the time. You can still find a good Chinese knife in D2 around $25.
I repent of my D2 slander. I will be waiting for the eventual "what is the ultimate budget steel" video.
D2 steel is very dense, strong and retains its edge very well, if properly heat treated. This makes it a very heavy blade steel.
Video much appreciated! Thanks for doing the work. Yes, if you haven't made the list available to the public, please do.
D2 is a great knife steel.
Choose a steel that fills the need.
I own many different steels, I prefer 1095 over all them. It does everything I need.
I have no use for a steel that can't be sharpened easily in the field.
Doesn't make me right for all.
So happy this video popped up!
I was so conflicted with people saying D2 is a good budget steel. But then I cam across a few oft using D2 but they’re $100 plus … that being said I DIDNT know whether to buy or not.
If you're looking for a great otf that isn't over 100$ check out the SOS otf, I reviewed it and it's a fantastic option
@@Rollshambo i saw your video & that’s one of the knives I was referring to. Also the tekto humvee but thought it was expensive for d2.
What’s your thoughts on hogue vs axial vs guardian tactical otf?
Not into the micro tech hype at all
Good points. Another issue around D2 was a widespread myth that it was super tough... there was some backlash when people realized it's far from. I started making knives of D2 from industrial slitter blades, nice heat treat, they are what they are, kinda hard to sharpen to a fine edge (hair whittling for example) but good working edges are fairly easy and long lasting.
Yeah, this. We just don't often take very full advantage of steels that are super tough. Something like 14c28n with a good hardness is a killer steel for holding an acute edge, and apex acuity effects the edge retention more than the steel itself.. real world dulling is usually a combination of some wear, and some micro chips, bends, and such
As a machinist that has made all types of parts out of D2 it is one tough bugger to machine. You've got to keep it cool because if you let it get hot you're screwed. It WILL "Work Harden" on you and will be harder than your cutter. With that being said, heat treatment is key with this steel. Can make very hard. I agree with your assessment.
The main problem with D2 is its affordability and adoption by budget knife makers.
I like big knives. The most important features to me are ease of sharpening and toughness. Stainless steel is not so necessary where I live. I'm a backyard blacksmith and I appreciate simple carbon and low alloy carbon steels like 1075, 1084, 80CrV2 and 8670 because they're easier to forge and HT. HT is important, so I bought a heat treat oven. Like Dr. Thomas say's, edge gee-I'm-a-tree is probably more important. Most knives I've bought since the 1960's are budget knives under $100, however, I just splurged and bought a RMJ UCAP in Magnacut.
The issue with D2 is that it's not the easiest steel to heat treat. Therefore budget D2 is a bit of a crap shoot where you should expect more variations in the steel from knife to knife. Makers who specialize in D2 and have mastered the art of heat treating it can get really amazing performance especially when you consider the material cost. You will likely pay a bit more for the experience and skills of the maker. Dozier, brous, and most custom makers with a history working with D2 can give you a really quality knife for less than powdered metallurgy steels. I typically don't stress about the steel so long as it's an appropriate cutlery steel and heat treated by a competent cutler.
I have a D2 Boker otf & it's incredible & meets my expectations fully.
90% of knife users wouldn't know the difference between D2 and M390 in daily use
Unless one was properly heat treated and the other wasn't I would 100% agree..the sad thing is both of these steels have the penchant to be woefully mistreated
Great video! Been saying for awhile it’s the heat treat! As far as sharpening I use my diamond stones tears through anything I put on them, I do like to use my traditional stones on my kitchen knives however!
Good video. I like the charts for reference. I've used BladeHQ's comparison chart a lot because it has a diamond visual that helps me see more than charts, but they're missing several steels and that's a little bummer. I'd definitely like to see your chart out there.
One question though, why shift from a 1-10 rating in one category?
I'm going to make it available for download to the channel members! As for why Larrin Thomas has edge retention go up to 12 and the other categories Only 10 I'm not sure..I would assume that it was based on new steels that pushed the boundaries of what he had already measured..there's only 1 steel that rates that high though..I mean everyone thinks m390 edge retention is great and it rates a 6.5😂
@@Rollshambo yeah, I only have one m390 Bugout and this weekend proved it's edge retention ain't that high. Good thing it was a steal.
P.S. Anyone wanna pick up an M390 Bugout? 😁
Larrin said "Maxamet and Rex 121 are so extreme in terms of wear resistance and edge retention that I rated them higher than 10 because otherwise it throws off the ratings for everything else."
@GatorAaron yeah benchmades heat treats aren't the most consistent or pushing the boundaries. That's why I like spyderco better. Plus they burn the edges alot too. That m390 edge might be good after like 6 sharpenings.
But from my experience with benchmade, the initial edges aren't good.
You brought up some valid points. Anyone that has been around knives for any length of time knows that heat treat is the most important part. Also its the greatest unknown when your buying a knife and you just have to hope and pray that the manufacturer did it right. There is no regulation for heat treat. D2 sucks, it is hard to sharpen, (yeah I said it) I don't like it and I don't like sharpening knives in the first place. then your going to bring up M390? Guess what? I don't buy users in anything but 9Cr, 14C, VG10, or my favorite 154CM (OK some Nitro V and N690). I have a lot of knives in higher end steels, mostly collectors, knives I only carry to social events. You know to impress the ladies, or other knife nuts.
Fair enough! I do think it's a bit crazy that many people who don't know anything about D2 will slam it but then turn around and praise m390 like it's the ambrosia of the gods. When in reality the 2 are actually much closer than they know other than rust resistance..that said..when I was putting together the list 14c impressed me the most..I don't know why more fixed blades aren't made with it..seems like the perfect steel for a fixed blade with super high toughness, great ease of sharpening and exemplary rust resistance...14c is underrated for a user steel
I am glad you mentioned about heat treatment. He treatment for big production companies of D2 cannot hit the right heat treatment because the heat range is so tight. It’s within 20°. Do you know how hard it is to keep a large batch of knives within a 20° range of minimum temperature and maximum temperature 20° is really hard to do. It’s great knife steel if it’s done small batches extremely small batches Bob dozier does an awesome job with D2. He does D2 knives and very small batches so it’s easier to keep the heat range 20° minus look up the heat treatment protocol in the temperature and you’ll see what I mean. This is why companies like I don’t know big knife companies have a hard time with it because they want to do large batches of blades and they can’t, get all the blades to hit that mark for the temperature. You’re not educating yourself on proper heat treatment forget the Rockwell hardness that’s easy to get to properly. Take it through heat treatment protocol on large batches of blades. It’s very very difficult. That’s why a lot of companies have a hard time doing it correctly if it’s done correctly, the only button, only person I know that is a great blade that will superiorly. I’ll perform Bob Dozier his custom knives.
Some of my favorite knives are made from D2. LT Wright, KOA and other knife makers that use D2 make outstanding knives, especially for hunters.
I LOVE good ol' D2! It's a little hard to sharpen but not if you know your stuff. It takes a great, thin, edge. I liken it to having a grain like wood rather than chalk. D2 has a great "soul" and you can feel it when that wicked edge makes contact.
I agree! Everybody’s got an opinion, and the knife snobs have all apparently agreed that D2 is not great. I love it. In my experience, it holds an edge like super steels do. I have a sweet little $70 CRKT folder in D2 that I carry often and love.
I spray my D2 with some EDCi from time to time and I've never seen any signs of rust. And I live in Florida where you can cut the humidity with a knife, even a D2 knife! Currently carrying an elementum in D2 with some aftermarket textured carbon fiber scales.
There's something to be said for taking care of your edc..sometimes I feel like people just want to abuse their equipment then blame the knife when it has issues later
There is no other steel with such great differences in quality as D2. The steel can only tolerate small tolerances during production. But if it has been treated properly, it is a solid, good steel
I love D2. I have thirty or more different knives, in various steels, but only one in D2, and the D2 is my favourite. Amazingly sharp, and as tough as I need.
D2 is serviceable, but there are other steels that beat it all the way across, and there also steels with similar toughness that have much better edge retention and corrosion resistance. I don't think too many people think it's garbage, it's just severely outclassed by other steels. It's a budget steel and it performs like one.
one thing I really like about D2 Steele is when sharpened properly it stays sharp.
Randall Made uses D2, and always been great. Carried in Afghanistan and Africa, and it was fantastic. Everything is in the Heat-treat🤙🏽
I have about 40 pieces bowie knifes only and is about 22-23 pieces made from D2 steel. According to my own experiences D2 steel (mostly my D2 knife are K110) is a really descent steel and its qualities are according to the maker/smith's skills. I have a 18.5cm blade bowie knife made from d2 steel and it works really good. Maybe i will not using my d2 steel for batoning but for chopping old dry bamboos my d2 steel knife works great.
I just used a friends D2 blade to clean a whole deer the other day, i was impressed how long it stayed sharp... usually by the end of a deer most any knife is completely dull, or at least so dull you cant do detail work
D2 wasn't always budget friendly , I'm sure glade it is now .
It all comes to the price! Considering that a knife can be lost easy, the price to performance for a D2 knife is perfect.
I've always loved D2 I love 440c too but I'm educated in knife steel.
We’ve been using K110 Bohler D2 for 14 years. Premium D2 and heat treatment make it an excellent material. Those that criticize it either have no legitimate experience with K110 or have another agenda. Thx😉👍
Spent years making knives in D2 almost exclusively. My personal opinion is that it performs best as a blade steel when heat treated to the highest attainable hardness and tempered conservatively. And it becomes truly excellent if it is also cryo treated. It obviously has poor toughness in this state, but D2 is not a tough steel to begin with, even if heat treated to optimize toughness.
Outstanding vid bro!! The steel info dive with the charts&explanations made a lot of sense.
I read somewhere that CTS-XHP is like a stainless D2 🤔
I’m not talking shit about D2. But with how well Spyderco is heat treating their K390 blades, there’s no reason not to buy their knives in K390. Edge retention is just fucking ridiculous and it’s not difficult to sharpen
Another consideration is edge geometry. Dr. Larrin Thomas admits that edge geometry may be even more important than the other attributes. I think one reason D2 gets a bad rap is that with the lower toughness, folks may put a larger angle on a convex edge, which benefits edge retention, but not sharpness. A savvy person would consider all these attributes and the intended use of a knife before choosing a steel that they may later regret. Also, you should use an appropriate sharpening media that matches well with your steel. Conventional oil stones won't do a great job on D2 with all its carbides. As you mention, a diamond stone does a much better job creating a good edge in a shorter time.
Like other commenters have stated, it’s hard to beat 420hc with a proper heat treat. If I was going to be relying on a knife it wouldn’t be a super steel. It would be a good 420hc blade. All steel will wear down and get dull. Period. But you can sharpen 420hc with a good rock off the ground.
I used a tire changing tool from my S-10 chevy truck to beat on the knife blade of a buck 110 to get thru the rib cage of a 150 pound whitetail buck.i cant even see any marks on the back of the blade.
I also used my case mini trapper to scrape dried hog blood off the floor of a reefer trailer i was pulling.I kept thinking i was ruining the spey blade by abusing it that bad but it had to be done.I couldnt even see any damage to the edge/end of the blade.I thought it would be completely ruined. I am a believer in case 420hc and especially Bucks 420hc.
Bro you are not wrong when you talk about all the different compositions of steel. It is extremely difficult to differentiate between the different steel compositions. Sometimes it even seems as if it's deliberately confusing. And then trying to figure out which country has the best steel. I've owned good and bad blades from all over the globe. I can count on one hand how many brands of knives I've bought more than once...
D2 is not bad. It just has poor corrosion resistance (know from experience.) application and geographical location should be taken into consideration when choosing what’s best for you. D2 is no for me, it rust just from sweat and moisture in my pocket and I’m relatively close to the beach.
I would believe you ,because I used to not like it at first, then when my sharpening game improved, now I really like the steel for its edge retention and value...having said all that I have recently fallen in love with 14c28n and nitro-v for the same reasons that I like D2 ,but also for their corr. resist.
I just can't get into 14c28n. Hold a crap edge. Pitiful!
@@michaell397 thats a bummer I have had good results on my Vosteed and QSP
I think a lot of people forgot what a knife is for,
To cut soft materials,
Mabe, some would say obsidian is better then any steel,
In the right environment, it is free,
Can be sharpened with a few precise knap wacks,
If you drop it,
You have 2 knives,
And the next one is free too,
Like guns,
Someone my have the latest models,
But when that comet hits earth. Or the man made mushroom cloud happens,
Their choice is a 69 caliber flint lock,
They can make black powder,
Knap flints,
And fire salt to gravel untill some meltable metal is found...
I appreciate this video. I have always found D2 to be great.
Well I'm going to go for CPM D2 from now on then thanks for the tip because magna cut vg-10 nitro v s35, all those other crazier high-end steels are insane what they're asking for
I love D2… during winter. In summer though, I sweat a lot at my job and rust D2. If i love the knife enough, I’ll slap some knife shield on it and carry it. But why risk it?
I will absolutely admit that I’m an oddball who places corrosion resistance above any other steel attribute. But I still love D2.
What is your personal favorite steel??
Absolutely amazing video, definitely earned a subscription from me!
I have a D2 cryo budget knaf. Rusting quick. Trying to force patina
Heat treatment and edge geometry matched to the task its used for are more important than steel type imo.
Even cheap Chinese steels can do decently well if they have at least one of those two and matched to the task, anything better and good QC is fine for most people. It takes a lot of experience using and hand sharpening different steels to really notice the small differences between most of them, especially the top handful.