420HC

Buck's Paul Bos heat treat is what makes this ordinary steel good. Dulls sooner than premium steels and takes ninety seconds to fix.

Typical hardness

56-58 HRC

Edge retention

1/5

Toughness

4/5

Corrosion resistance

4/5

Ease of sharpening

5/5

1-5 is a relative ranking drawn from published composition and hardness, not a lab measurement. Higher is better on every axis, and no steel is a 5 across the board — edge retention and toughness pull against each other.