MagnaCut Blades?

[adamm88]

All my magnacut knives feel slicy, i think they hold a good edge and can take some abuse. They will rust if left with stuff on it for a long time but i wouldn't consider them a carbon knife. Iv never used a montana knife co knife but they look nice. My magna cut experience comes from bark river and a dpx folder.

 

[WyoWild]

Magnacut is a very balanced steel and has no problem with edge retention. It is also fairly easy to sharpen compared to other steels with similar edge retention abilities. It is very balanced between steel toughness and edge retention. Toughness referring to its ability to resist chipping at the blade edge. Their are certainly steels with better edge retention but they are often very difficult to re-sharpen; especially in the field.

This year I upgraded to a White River Knives Hunter model in Magnacut. I use a KME sharpener to get a very consistent and sharp edge.

I skinned and boned out my mule deer and upon returning home went to re-sharpen my knife (as in my habit) but it still felt pretty sharp. In fact I was still able to shave hair off my arm with it. As a result I just hit it with a leather strop and it was good to go. The next week I skinned and quartered an antelope and same thing was still shaving sharp. So processed two animals without re-sharpening just using a strop in-between.

In the past I have used primarily S35VN and S30V. In my experience Magnacut stays sharp longer than S35VN. It has similar edge retention to S30V but is much easier to re-sharpen. Just carry a small leather strop in the field and you would have no issue with an elk.


This site has a lot of good background info on the metallurgy behind knife steels.

Knife Steels Rated by a Metallurgist - Toughness, Edge Retention, and Corrosion Resistance - Knife Steel Nerds

Steel Metallurgist Larrin Thomas uses tests of knife steels to rate the steels and explains the factors that control performance.

knifesteelnerds.com

 

[WyoWild]

In my experience Magnacut holds an edge pretty good. I would tak it over the S30V, S90V, N380, D2, and 154CM that I have used.

It sharpens better than all of those as well.

Edge retention is more than just abrasion resistance, from pure abrasion perspective S30V, S90V, and N380 are better with S90V being the best, but they lack edge toughness and in daily use or use on an animal dull from chipping out.
Magnacut has worse abrasion resistance than those, but it does not chip out. In actual use, Magnacut holds a functional edge longer for me. Not only is the steel easier to sharpen, but an abrasion worn edge sharpens easier than a chipped out edge.

My experience is the exact same as Marbles.

This is the blade I have been using and could not be happier: https://whiteriverknives.com/hunter/