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Major_Infidel
316
Sep 18, 2016
For those of you who may not be intimately familiar with all of the countless number of knife steels available today, CPM-3V legitimately falls into the category of a premium cutlery steel. Traditionally when it comes to edged products, you're looking to strike a balance between hardness and toughness. Each is important in maintaining cutting performance and typically, you have to give up a bit of one to get a little more of the other. 3V is noteworthy in that its unique combination of alloying elements both enhances edge retention (through wear resistance) while at the same time improves its resistance to lateral stresses (chipping) at the cutting edge.
This isn't to say that CPM-3V is the cutlery steel to replace all others. CPM-10V, for example, has several times the wear resistance of 3V, while S-7 is about twice as tough. Thus matching the blade steel with your intended uses is still important. Nevertheless, 3V has raised the bar where utility blades that benefit from increased performance in both categories are concerned.
With approximately 7.5% chromium content, 3V is more corrosion resistant than straight carbon steel blades, though still not a true stainless steel. It is worth noting, however, that some anecdotal evidence exists to suggest that 3V's corrosion mechanism can lead to pitting, as opposed to the surface corrosion that is experienced with most carbon cutlery steels. As such, you will want to take some care to protect the blade in adverse conditions.
At almost twice the cost of Cold Steel's stainless steel version of this knife, the price may seem a bit steep to some. In fairness, 3V is a more expensive steel to purchase as a raw material and it is harder on the cutting and grinding equipment used to produce the blades. It's up to the individual to decide whether the improvement in performance (which is quantifiable) justifies the added expense.
The only significant wildcard I see is how well Cold Steel has nailed down the heat treating process for 3V and how consistently the optimal temperatures are applied to each blade in a heat treating batch. The quality of the heat treat has a profound effect on the steel's performance and only the reviews of independent field testers can shed light on this parameter.
Ghost32delta
0
May 3, 2022
Major_InfidelElmax and 3v are for my money the best survival steels. Its about as far as a steel can go performamce wise while still able to be sharpened by hand on a stone in the field.