Knife Steel Table

Steel Type	Composition	Hardness (HRC)	Edge Retention	Corrosion Resistance	Toughness	Ease of Sharpening	Typical Applications	Brands
1095 Carbon Steel	Carbon: 0.90-1.03%, Manganese: 0.30-0.50%	55-58	Good	Poor	Excellent	Easy	Survival, Hunting, Outdoor	Ka-Bar, ESEE, TOPS
CPM-S30V	Carbon: 1.45%, Chromium: 14%, Vanadium: 4%, Molybdenum: 2%	58-61	Excellent	Good	Good	Moderate	EDC, Tactical, High-End Folding Knives	Spyderco, Benchmade, Chris Reeve
VG-10	Carbon: 1.05%, Chromium: 15.50%, Vanadium: 0.20%, Molybdenum: 1.00%, Cobalt: 1.50%	60-62	Very Good	Excellent	Moderate	Moderate	Kitchen Knives, EDC, Tactical	Spyderco, Fallkniven, SOG
D2 Tool Steel	Carbon: 1.50%, Chromium: 11.50%, Vanadium: 0.90%, Molybdenum: 0.80%	60-62	Excellent	Moderate	Good	Difficult	Fixed Blades, High-End Folding Knives	Benchmade, Kershaw, Ontario
AUS-8	Carbon: 0.70-0.75%, Chromium: 13-14.5%, Molybdenum: 0.10-0.30%, Nickel: 0.49%, Vanadium: 0.10-0.26%	57-59	Good	Good	Good	Easy	EDC, Mid-Range Folding Knives	Cold Steel, CRKT, SOG
440C	Carbon: 0.95-1.20%, Chromium: 16-18%, Manganese: 0.75%, Molybdenum: 0.75%	58-60	Good	Excellent	Moderate	Moderate	EDC, Kitchen Knives, Hunting Knives	Buck, Boker, Gerber
M390	Carbon: 1.90%, Chromium: 20.00%, Vanadium: 4.00%, Molybdenum: 1.00%, Tungsten: 0.60%	60-62	Excellent	Excellent	Good	Difficult	High-End Folding Knives, Fixed Blades	Benchmade, LionSteel, Spyderco
Sleipner	Carbon: 0.95%, Chromium: 7.80%, Vanadium: 0.50%, Molybdenum: 2.50%, Manganese: 0.50%	58-60	Very Good	Moderate	Very Good	Moderate	Heavy-Duty Knives, Tactical Knives	LionSteel, Bark River, TRC Knives
Elmax	Carbon: 1.70%, Chromium: 18.00%, Vanadium: 3.00%, Molybdenum: 1.00%	60-62	Excellent	Very Good	Good	Moderate	High-End Folding Knives, Fixed Blades	Zero Tolerance, LionSteel, Microtech
CPM-3V	Carbon: 0.80%, Chromium: 7.50%, Vanadium: 2.75%, Molybdenum: 1.30%	58-60	Very Good	Moderate	Excellent	Moderate	Survival Knives, Tactical Knives	Bark River, Benchmade, Survive! Knives
H-1	Nitrogen: 0.10%, Chromium: 14-16%, Manganese: 0.5-1%, Nickel: 6-8%, Molybdenum: 0.5-1%	57-58	Moderate	Excellent	Good	Easy	Marine Knives, Diving Knives	Spyderco
8Cr13MoV	Carbon: 0.80%, Chromium: 13.00%, Molybdenum: 0.20%, Vanadium: 0.10-0.30%	57-59	Good	Moderate	Good	Easy	Budget EDC Knives, Folding Knives	Kershaw, CRKT, Spyderco
154CM	Carbon: 1.05%, Chromium: 14.00%, Molybdenum: 4.00%, Manganese: 0.50%	58-61	Very Good	Good	Good	Moderate	EDC, Tactical Knives, Fixed Blades	Benchmade, Emerson, ESEE
N690	Carbon: 1.07%, Chromium: 17.00%, Vanadium: 0.10%, Molybdenum: 1.10%, Cobalt: 1.50%	58-60	Very Good	Very Good	Good	Moderate	High-End Folding Knives, Tactical Knives	Boker, Fox Knives, Extrema Ratio
5160 Spring Steel	Carbon: 0.56-0.64%, Chromium: 0.70-0.90%, Manganese: 0.75-1.00%	57-60	Good	Poor	Excellent	Easy	Large Blades, Swords, Survival Knives	TOPS, Ontario, ESEE
420HC	Carbon: 0.45-0.55%, Chromium: 12-14%, Manganese: 1%, Silicon: 1%	56-59	Moderate	Good	Good	Easy	Budget Knives, Hunting Knives, EDC	Buck, Gerber, Leatherman
Sandvik 12C27	Carbon: 0.60%, Chromium: 13.50%, Manganese: 0.40%, Silicon: 0.40%	56-59	Good	Very Good	Good	Easy	EDC, Budget Knives, Outdoor Knives	Mora, Kershaw, Opinel
CPM-S35VN	Carbon: 1.45%, Chromium: 14.00%, Vanadium: 3.00%, Molybdenum: 2.00%, Niobium: 0.50%	58-61	Excellent	Very Good	Good	Moderate	High-End Folding Knives, Fixed Blades	Chris Reeve, Spyderco, Benchmade
Bohler M390	Carbon: 1.90%, Chromium: 20.00%, Vanadium: 4.00%, Molybdenum: 1.00%, Tungsten: 0.60%	60-62	Excellent	Excellent	Good	Moderate	High-End Folding Knives, Fixed Blades	Benchmade, LionSteel, Spyderco
AEB-L	Carbon: 0.67%, Chromium: 12.80%, Manganese: 0.60%, Silicon: 0.40%	61-63	Very Good	Good	Moderate	Moderate	Kitchen Knives, High-Performance Blades	Bark River, L.T. Wright, TRC Knives
S30V	Carbon: 1.45%, Chromium: 14.00%, Vanadium: 4.00%, Molybdenum: 2.00%	58-61	Excellent	Good	Good	Moderate	EDC, Tactical Knives, High-End Folding Knives	Spyderco, Benchmade, Chris Reeve
ZDP-189	Carbon: 3.00%, Chromium: 20.00%, Molybdenum: 1.40%, Vanadium: 0.10%, Tungsten: 0.60%	62-67	Excellent	Moderate	Moderate	Difficult	High-End Folding Knives, Collectibles	Spyderco, William Henry, Rockstead
20CV	Carbon: 1.90%, Chromium: 20.00%, Vanadium: 4.00%, Molybdenum: 1.00%, Tungsten: 0.60%	59-61	Excellent	Excellent	Good	Difficult	High-End Folding Knives, Fixed Blades	Benchmade, Zero Tolerance, Microtech
CTS-XHP	Carbon: 1.60%, Chromium: 16.00%, Manganese: 0.50%, Molybdenum: 0.80%, Silicon: 0.40%, Vanadium: 0.45%	60-64	Excellent	Very Good	Good	Moderate	EDC, High-End Folding Knives	Cold Steel, Spyderco, Hinderer
14C28N	Carbon: 0.62%, Chromium: 14.00%, Manganese: 0.60%, Silicon: 0.20%, Nitrogen: 0.11%	55-62	Good	Very Good	Good	Easy	EDC, Outdoor Knives, Kitchen Knives	Kershaw, Real Steel, ArtisanCutlery
A2 Tool Steel	Carbon: 1.00%, Chromium: 5.00%, Molybdenum: 1.00%, Vanadium: 0.20%	57-62	Very Good	Moderate	Very Good	Moderate	Survival Knives, Bushcraft Knives	Bark River, L.T. Wright, Battle Horse Knives
O1 Tool Steel	Carbon: 0.90%, Manganese: 1.20%, Chromium: 0.50%, Tungsten: 0.50%, Vanadium: 0.20%	57-62	Good	Poor	Very Good	Easy	Tooling, Knives, Bushcraft Knives	Bark River, ESEE, TOPS
Nitro-V	Carbon: 0.68%, Chromium: 12.70%, Nitrogen: 0.13%, Vanadium: 0.10%, Molybdenum: 0.30%	59-61	Very Good	Very Good	Good	Moderate	EDC, Kitchen Knives, Fixed Blades	White River, Bradford, Millit Knives
Magnacut	Carbon: 1.15%, Chromium: 10.7%, Vanadium: 4.0%, Molybdenum: 2.0%, Nitrogen: 0.2%	60-62	Excellent	Excellent	Good	Moderate	High-End Folding Knives, Fixed Blades	Spyderco, Bark River, Reate
CPM-20CV	Carbon: 1.90%, Chromium: 20.00%, Vanadium: 4.00%, Molybdenum: 1.00%, Tungsten: 0.60%	59-61	Excellent	Excellent	Good	Difficult	High-End Folding Knives, Fixed Blades	Benchmade, Zero Tolerance, WE Knife
LC200N	Carbon: 0.30%, Chromium: 15.00%, Manganese: 0.95%, Molybdenum: 0.60%, Nitrogen: 0.50%	58-60	Good	Excellent	Good	Easy	Marine Knives, Diving Knives	Spyderco
CTS-BD1	Carbon: 0.90%, Chromium: 15.50%, Manganese: 0.60%, Molybdenum: 0.30%, Silicon: 0.37%	60-62	Good	Very Good	Good	Moderate	EDC, Kitchen Knives	Spyderco, Cold Steel, Kershaw
440A	Carbon: 0.65-0.75%, Chromium: 16-18%, Manganese: 1.00%, Silicon: 1.00%	55-58	Moderate	Good	Moderate	Easy	Budget Knives, Kitchen Knives	Schrade, Smith & Wesson, Gerber