Advice - why do I need (another) knife?

[vicv]

huh. cool, thanks! so basically a S30V, right?

Lol. No. Not in any way whatsoever. Besides they are both steel alloys

 

[DRW]

as a "vic" user I always feel left out when it comes to steel talk because basically nobody knows what victorinox uses for their blades...
It's a milder steel, I use it, eventually gets dull, I sharpen it, life goes on.

I don't know much about knives, but once I had the opportunity to get up close with a spyderco police and man that knife feels like a cheap toy. When I grow up I'll get a benchmade bugout 535 just to see what the fuss is all about, hope it won't be another leatherman kinda deal

Bugout is a nice knife. Axis lock is my favorite Benchmade lock. I doubt you will think of Leatherman while holding a Benchmade. I have a few autos for sale on my website, if that's legal in your area. They are used, you'll save on a knife with a lifetime warranty.

 

[fulee9999]

Lol. No. Not in any way whatsoever. Besides they are both steel alloys

uhm. so what's the difference? or how is it different? ( I'm not very well versed in steel as stated before )

Because to my mind, you wrote "roughly .55% carbon and 14% chromium. And some small amount of molybdenum. Around 55-56 hrc"
And when I look up S30V the numbers are pretty close:

 

[fulee9999]

Bugout is a nice knife. Axis lock is my favorite Benchmade lock. I doubt you will think of Leatherman while holding a Benchmade. I have a few autos for sale on my website, if that's legal in your area. They are used, you'll save on a knife with a lifetime warranty.

No, autos and butterfly knives are highly illegal here. Also autos give me the creeps, I always just picture the knife opening on it's own for some reason and stabbing you in the nads..

 

[vicv]

uhm. so what's the difference? or how is it different? ( I'm not very well versed in steel as stated before )

Because to my mind, you wrote "roughly .55% carbon and 14% chromium. And some small amount of molybdenum. Around 55-56 hrc"
And when I look up S30V the numbers are pretty close:

View attachment 28454

View attachment 28455

Well s30v has 1% more carbon in it.(.5% carbon is considered low carbon. 1.5% is very high. High carbon steel is generally .8-1%) That is a huge amount difference. 300% more. So it can get much harder. Also because it has 4% vanadium in it, that combines with the extra carbon to make vanadium carbides. The hardest carbides there are. Also the extra molybdenum adds hardness, hot hardness( ability to resist losing temper due to heating) and pitting resistance. It's also a powder metallurgy steel as there is a lot more alloying elements in it and gives a much finer grained steel. It's like a Ford Focus compared to a Jaguar XK.
Now they both make good knives in their own right, but s30v is much better

 

[fulee9999]

Well s30v has 1% more carbon in it.(.5% carbon is considered low carbon. 1.5% is very high. High carbon steel is generally .8-1%) That is a huge amount difference. 300% more. So it can get much harder. Also because it has 4% vanadium in it, that combines with the extra carbon to make vanadium carbides. The hardest carbides there are. Also the extra molybdenum adds hardness, hot hardness( ability to resist losing temper due to heating) and pitting resistance. It's also a powder metallurgy steel as there is a lot more alloying elements in it and gives a much finer grained steel. It's like a Ford Focus compared to a Jaguar XK.
Now they both make good knives in their own right, but s30v is much better

to be completely honest with you, I'm not sure I want my blade too hard, because steel has the strange tendency to break around me

 

[Olumin]

I actually just bought a modern reproduction of a vintage Puma hunting pattern with a 4116 blade (same as X50cr...). Honestly any steel is fine as long as you keep it sharp. This ones just for the collection tho. Its the trail guide in bone if you're curious. Ive got a soligen made Hartkopf folder, I think they'll make a good pair. I think the knife (aside from blade) is actually made in china, so I guess its not fully German. For the price I couldn't resist. The vintage originals go for a pretty penny these days.

 

[fulee9999]

I found a Bugout535 for a reasonable price, so I jumped ship on it, before it's discontinued
really like the modularity of this knife, you can basically swap any part, and I like that in my gear.
first impression is that it feels really cheap, BUT that was to be expected, as far as I know this supposed to be an EDC-ish knife from benchmade and for that - so far - it seems OK. the opening action is actually really sweet, I just have to get over the size and weight

 

[Olumin]

Flytanium makes metal scales for the bugout, which might mitigate that "toy" feeling you're getting. But I wouldn't want to entice anyone to spend even more money on their knives...

Congratulations on that bugout. But a word of advice: Don't get into expensive knives! or watches..

 

[scalpel_ninja]

I just have to get over the size and weight

Carbon fiber scales will remedy the flex in the Bugout stock scales. As Olumim said, titanium will take care of the weight as well.

 

[fulee9999]

Carbon fiber scales will remedy the flex in the Bugout stock scales.

I'm not too worried about the flexing, it's a thin piece of plastic, I already knew what I was getting into, but I will probably get a Ti and a carbon scale, the selection is vast, even just on etsy and amazon

Congratulations on that bugout. But a word of advice: Don't get into expensive knives! or watches..

Thankfully (?) I don't even nearly have enough disposable income to get into knives and I simply cannot justify collecting watches to myself, eventho there are quite a few I'd really really want...

 

[ledbetter]

The Bugout weighs 1.8 oz!!! It was designed to do the most with the bare minimum. Don't mess with perfection. Well, maybe carbon fiber. It will only add a fraction of an oz and stiffen it up. Reminds me of people with sports cars who add giant rims not realizing(or caring)that wheel weight reduces performance dramatically.

 

[fulee9999]

The Bugout weighs 1.8 oz!!! It was designed to do the most with the bare minimum. Don't mess with perfection. Well, maybe carbon fiber. It will only add a fraction of an oz and stiffen it up. Reminds me of people with sports cars who add giant rims not realizing(or caring)that wheel weight reduces performance dramatically.

yeah, and now I get why people made fun of Wranglerstar for dissing this knife. It supposed to be light, which makes it feel weak or cheap, but I'm pretty sure the engineers at Benchmade made sure that this tiny little plastic will hold fairly good.
To be honest even if it doesn't, you can disassemble the whole knife with a few screws and get a new/different scale. Until you don't damage/bend the actual blade, everything else is user serviceable.

 

[Olumin]

Thankfully (?) I don't even nearly have enough disposable income to get into knives and I simply cannot justify collecting watches to myself, eventho there are quite a few I'd really really want...

You're probably better off. No one actually needs anything more then 440c, anything "better" is marketing or for collectors who don't really use most of their knives.. Like me...
The fixed blade I've been carrying lately is in N690, basically the same as 440c in performance. That's despite me having blades in S90v, 20cv or m390. The truth is its just fine... & much quicker to sharpen..

Same goes for "hard use" overbuilt folders. No such thing, thats what a full tang fixed blade is for. They are great pieces of machining art & great collectors pieces.

That's my philosophy anyway. I still love high-end knives, but its important to keep in mind that, most of the time, they aren't actually better cutting tools, just fancier ones. Except the sebenza!
Its kinda the same with watches, functionally, an ETA quartz is mostly as good as it gets. With mechanical movements? well... Probably Rolex. But that's actually budget compared to some of the so called "haute horlogerie" brands out there...

 

[fulee9999]

With mechanical movements? well... Probably Rolex. But that's actually budget compared to some of the so called "haute horlogerie" brands out there...

true that, this is my favorite in that category

but still, from engineering POV I still think the Philippe Dufour Duality is one of the best creations out there

 

[Olumin]

I really like the movements Nomos is making, especially for the price. Its high quality traditional watchmaking without gimmicks. As a watchmaker I appreciate that. I just don't like their case & dial designs unfortunately, its too simple for me. I also had to find out that they wear a lot larger then one might think & I tend to like small watches.

The watch I most often wear is a late 70s Seiko, with a 32mm case diameter. That wouldn't even fly as a ladies watch nowadays lol. I hope the trend for smaller watches will return eventually. Its especially silly when you open up modern watches & the movement is only taking up half the case or less. Cases might have gotten bigger, but the movements didn't.

 

[scalpel_ninja]

The (potential) Achilles heel of the Bugout and any other Axis lock knife is corrosion on the omega springs and breakage. I've broken one in my 940. Instead of sending it in, I bought piano wire and shaped my own by wrapping it around drill bits of different sizes. It's pretty easy to perfect after a few tries. I kept the original spring and fragments as a reference; and if I need to send it in for any other warranty work, I will drop the originals back in the knife to keep the warranty intact (and get Benchmade to replace them at the time).

 

[scalpel_ninja]

You're probably better off. No one actually needs anything more then 440c, anything "better" is marketing or for collectors who don't really use most of their knives.. Like me...
The fixed blade I've been carrying lately is in N690, basically the same as 440c in performance. That's despite me having blades in S90v, 20cv or m390. The truth is its just fine... & much quicker to sharpen..

Same goes for "hard use" overbuilt folders. No such thing, thats what a full tang fixed blade is for. They are great pieces of machining art & great collectors pieces.

That's my philosophy anyway. I still love high-end knives, but its important to keep in mind that, most of the time, they aren't actually better cutting tools, just fancier ones. Except the sebenza!

I agree. I've owned both the base Bugout and the S90V/CF version. The S90V is overkill, chippy, and more difficult to sharpen. I'd say the best balance for me is the base blade steel in CF scales.

 

[kerneldrop]

You're probably better off. No one actually needs anything more then 440c, anything "better" is marketing or for collectors who don't really use most of their knives..

Someone say hard use neck knives ?

 

[JimIslander]

Another knife is always a good decision. After 13 months, this custom Lucas Forge Kephart arrived today.