← Steels
Stainless steel
Nitro-V
AEB-L with nitrogen added. Fine-grained, takes a screaming edge, easy to sharpen — a lot of steel for a mid-priced folder.
- Typical hardness
- 59-61 HRC
- Edge retention
- 3/5
- Toughness
- 3/5
- Corrosion resistance
- 4/5
- Ease of sharpening
- 4/5
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.
6 knives in Nitro-V