VG-10 Steel Explained: Properties, Sharpening, and Best Uses
VG-10 is a cutlery-grade stainless steel produced in Japan. The name stands for V Gold 10 — gold meaning quality — and it is also written as V-Kin-10 in Japanese. Developed by Takefu Special Steel...
AUS-8 Steel Explained: Properties, Sharpening, and Best Uses
AUS-8 is a Japanese stainless steel made by Aichi Steel, a member of the Toyota Group. For decades it has been one of the most common blade steels in mid-range production knives, prized for a bala...
S35VN Steel Explained: Properties, Sharpening, and Best Uses
S35VN has become one of the most common premium steels in modern EDC knives — and for good reason. It sits in a sweet spot between edge retention, toughness, and ease of sharpening that few steels...
AR-RPM9 Steel Explained: Budget Powder Steel for EDC
AR-RPM9 is a powder-metallurgy stainless steel that has become a fixture of Artisan Cutlery's mid-range lineup. It appears across the catalog — from the Ahab and Arroyo to the Beest, Cazador, Andro...
S35VN vs S30V: Which Premium Steel Is Better for EDC?
CPM-S35VN and CPM-S30V are two of the most popular premium stainless steels in the knife world, and they are close relatives. Both are powder-metallurgy steels made by Crucible Industries, and both...
Knife Steel Hardness Explained: What HRC Means for Your EDC
What HRC Actually Measures When a knife manufacturer lists a steel hardness like 60 HRC, it is quoting a result from the Rockwell hardness test. The C scale test presses a diamond cone into the ste...