MY GO TO STEELS

AEB-L Stainless Steel- (This steel is marked by a "-" under the maker stamp) AEB-L is one of my absolute favorite steels and my go to for all of my knives. In my opinion it is the most balanced steel on the market today because of its performance to cost balance, as well as its ease of maintenance. Originally developed for razor blades it is an extremely fine grained, fine carbide stainless steel. What that gives you is a stainless steel that has edge retention like A2, toughness like 80CRV2, high edge stability and is as easy as O1 to sharpen in the field! I heat treat and cryo this steel in house to a 60-64HRC depending upon the intended use. Larger camp knives tend to be 60-61hrc to optimize shock resistance, while mid sized bushcraft knives are taken to 62-63hrc, and small EDC blade are 63-64hrc.

A2 Tool Steel- (This steel is marked by an "A" under the maker stamp.) This steel is a time tested high carbon tool steel and is my main go to carbon steel. With better toughness, edge retention and rust resistance than O1 it is a solid high performance carbon steel. While A2 has similar field performance to 3V, its lack of vanadium carbides means it is much easier to field sharpen. A2 has a small amount of rust resistance but it is a non-stainless steel so it will need to be dried and oiled at times to prevent rust, but it also will take a beautiful patian. I heat treat in house using a cryo and low temper to a 60-63HRC depending upon intended use.

Additional steels I use

CPM 154 Stainless Steel- (This steel is marked by two "dots" under the maker stamp) Not to be confused with 154cm, CPM 154 is a modern high performance powder version of a long time tested steel composition. This is in a family of steels made popular by the venerable Bob Loveless and if you have ever had a well made knife in it you know why it is so loved!  With edge retention between 3V and 4V, toughness like A2, good stainless properties and easy to field sharpen its hard to beat the balance CPM 154 brings to the bush. I heat treat in house using a cryo and low temper. 60-63HRC depending upon intended use.

CPM Cruwear/Z-wear pm -  (these steels are marked by a "+"under the makers mark)  Details coming

Grinds...........................................................................................

Convex Grind-  The Convex Grind is in my opinion the best all around grind that will perform a large number of tasks very well and is easy to sharpen and maintain.  While not quite as good at slicing as a flat grind, it is tougher and superior for battening and wood carving/feather slicks. The Convex Grind is a better bushcraft grind than a flat grind, a better slicer than the scandi and it is very easy to maintain your edge in the field.  In my opinion the Convex Grind is the best do it all grind for hunting, bushcraft and utility work.  I grind my convex grinds with a small secondary edge and a thin grind. What this means is that you can just sharpen the edge just like a normal flat grind on a stone and a hard back strop. At the same time, the secondary edge is well blended into the bevel so if you prefer to sharpen on a mouse pad, or a rolling motion on a stone it will work very good as well.  This grind preforms different depending on the thickness you choose. For a better slicer you should go with a 3/32", while for a robust bushcraft knife 5/32" gives you a lot of strength and 1/8" is a good balance of strength and slicing performance.

Show below is my standard convex saber grind referred to as a "sabervex" 

 Shown below is a full height full satin convex.