← Steels
Carbon steel
Chrome Vanadium
Case's traditional carbon steel, sold alongside the same patterns in stainless Tru-Sharp. It is softer than modern powder steels by design: it dulls sooner and comes back on a stone in seconds, which is the trade traditional pocket knives have always made.
- Typical hardness
- 55-58 HRC
- Edge retention
- 2/5
- Toughness
- 4/5
- Corrosion resistance
- 1/5
- 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.
