LEARN ABOUT SURVIVAL KNIFE STEEL TYPES

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When shopping for a survival knife, you will see a variety of types of steel. You have probably wondered what is the difference between different types of steel and how to know what to look for.

The type of steel in your survival knife makes a big difference, and you need to make sure you understand the pros and cons of different types to make sure you are ready for a survival situation.

The basic ingredients of steel
The two key ingredients of steel are iron and carbon. Carbon and other materials can be added to increase the hardness, toughness, and strength of the steel.
The 3 main factors to consider
Hardness
Hardness is the ability of steel to resist wear. A harder blade will stay strong for longer, and will also be harder to sharpen.

Hardness
Toughness refers to the steel's resistance to cracking under impact (for example, the toughness of a blade will prevent it from peeling off when you cut wood). Generally, as the hardness of a blade increases, its hardness decreases, and vice versa.

Strength
Strength refers to the tensile strength of the steel (for example, the force of a blade will prevent it from bending or breaking when you drop a stone or a door).
The most common types of steel
Many of the survival knives you will see are made of carbon steel and stainless steel. There are a few other less common types, including alloy steels and tool steels.

The following are the characteristics of carbon steel and stainless steel, with some recommended examples of each type:

Carbon Steel
Characteristics of carbon steel (in general):
  • Easier to sharpen
  • Can be done extremely sharp
  • Harder than stainless steel
  • Hold on one edge
  • Rust more easily, so keep it dry and wipe it with mineral oil
  • Some carbon steel recommendations:
  • 1095
  • A2
  • D2
  • Carbon V

Stainless steel
Characteristics of stainless steel (in general):
  • Rust resistant
  • Often more prone to chips than carbon steel (more fragile, less hard)
  • More difficult to sharpen than carbon steel
  • Some stainless steel recommendations:
  • ATS-34
  • 440C
  • S30V
  • 154 CM

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