CPM D2 VS D2 Knife Steel Battle

This steel battle has been something I was genuinely curious about! The results were certainly unexpected.
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[@jamesreese7111]

Interesting test and results. Not knowing the Rockwell hardness of either is most likely where the true difference lies. The Rat may be 61-63 hrc and the Redout may only be 58-60 hrc. As a knife guy who collects all kinds, I've found that the composition of the steel frequently means far less than the hardness does. Thanks for the test footage, well done!

[@olbubs]

Thanks for watching, your feedback, and encouragement! I agree hardness and edge geometry make a huge difference! I'd love to be able to test this with the same knife from the same maker in the same HRC range, but these were the 2 knives I had 🤣

[@Cheusow]

So cool test! Appreciate it!

[@olbubs]

Glad you enjoyed, that's for watching!

[@CNYKnifeNut]

After testing the sharpness after use, I would do a quick strop and test sharpness again. I still haven't done any actual structured testing of CPM vs ingot D2, but in normal use the stropping response is the biggest difference that I find. I can strop CPM D2 forever before needing an actual sharpening. Also if I'm not mistaken, I believe your bess tester has a margin of error of +/- 25g, so any testing between two samples as similar as this would likely require one of the more precise/expensive testers to better determine the differences. Either way, that's just nit picking. This was a great test.

[@olbubs]

I love it! I did do a strop back on the knives and the CPM D2 did increase more but they both stopped back pretty well! I decided to cut that portion of the video because it felt like it was dragging on a bit. Another conclusion I came to was just that the rat is a really truly excellent D2 sample. They do great work on those knives even if I’ll probably never carry one because of they features I prefer. It’s a great glovebox knife. BTW, my favorite video I’ve ever worked on is going to be coming out Thursday!

[@ForRealConfused]

Just read that your bio said family friendly I appreciate that! Subscribed!!

[@olbubs]

Super glad to hear that and to have you! Thanks for the support!

[@P226nut]

It’s funny that the cheap d2 out performs the cpm, you just confirmed what I already thought, these steels are almost identical

[@olbubs]

I was surprised at the results for sure! Thanks for watching!

[@21Skyline21]

Would be interesting to see K110 Bohler's D2 added to this!

[@olbubs]

Thanks for watching, that’s a great suggestion.

[@matthewofriel5683]

M4 all the way. People say it’s hard to sharpen. Just don’t let it get a dull curved edge. Just polish it on a 6000 grit stone once or twice a week if it is edc. Or polish it as needed

[@olbubs]

Thanks for watching! I'm a big fan of M4

[@umakako]

High quality video, well done sir!

[@olbubs]

Thank you! Much appreciated!

[@CharlieMetcalf]

I have not heard of CPM D2 until your video, but it is neat to see them compared. Probably 90% of my knifes are D2 and I have 0 issues with it.

[@olbubs]

I think D2 is a bit like the vanilla ice cream of knife steels. It’s really solid! I think we are spoiled that it gets to be a budget blade steel at this point! Thanks for watching!

[@CobraKaiNoMercy]

All I know is that D2 is a huge pain in the ass to sharpen 🤣🤣🤣. Never owned a knife made of powdered D2 though, only Ingot D2.

[@olbubs]

Thanks for watching! Some steels certainly sharpen easier than others. Having a sharpening business I have a lot of “practice” 😂 so D2 or even S90V etc don’t bother me to sharpen. Take care!!

[@Monsoonpain]

Great vid...very helpful as im about to make a knife purchase , and im looking for a good D2 blade

[@olbubs]

Thanks so much, glad you enjoyed! There are so many great D2 knives out there!

[@4wilmo]

The mouse trap sent me when I noticed it 😂

[@olbubs]

I’m glad you enjoyed that!!

[@sgtgrantham]

Too bad they don’t make it in left hand version.

[@donrichter3523]

I think that was highly disappointing from the Redoubt. I wonder what the HRC is for both. Maybe Benchmade is neglecting their heat treatment again??

[@olbubs]

It’s hard to say, it certainly sharpened like a well heat treated blade. I think truth be told my test wasn’t long enough to really experience dulling of the edges from the cardboard and rope cuts. When I do some steel battles in the future I have some improvement ideas for the testing.

[@thebluegrass]

Good to know. Thanks!

[@olbubs]

Thanks for watching!

[@kevinAuman1]

Supposedly the cpmD2 is closer in performance to cruwear which is a derivative of D2 but yes id like to see the cruwear thrown into the mix along with or cts-xhp another derivative of D2 and then bohlers K110....

[@olbubs]

Thanks for watching and sharing your ideas! A showcase of several D2 derivatives would be awesome!

[@user-xf4es7eh9y]

XHP has nothing to do with D2. xhp is a straight up chromium steel. its basically somewhere between AEBL and ZDP189. You could also throw steels like vg10 or 154cm in there. other straight chromium steels that are above aebl and below XHP in terms abrasion. All straight chromium steels. D2 is a baby vandium steel. thats what it's all about. that 1% vanadium is what makes D2 what it is.

[@underskillednunderpaid]

M4 VS K390?

[@olbubs]

I dig it! That’s a good battle! It would be interesting to see how much of a difference the toughness factor makes!

[@tacticalcenter8658]

If you want a better comparison.... Test doizer usa d2 vs benchmade cpm-d2. Because ontario import d2 has a garbage microstructure for ingot d2 and like 58rc. There is no way the rat does better. And you will notice a huge difference. Dont lie to your viewers. Also Check outpost76 testing. He does fine and working edge tests.

[@olbubs]

Thanks for watching and taking the time to comment. If/when I do more steel battles I’ll continue to try to improve. For what it’s worth, I in no way lied to anyone. I performed an honest test to the best of my ability and offered commentary on the results that I experienced. I’m very much open to the idea that my test was flawed and I made mistakes. However the statement that I lied to my viewers is something that I whole heartedly refute. Take care!

[@tacticalcenter8658]

@@olbubs yeah id say don't quit your day job.

[@olbubs]

@@tacticalcenter8658 🤣 I hope you accomplished whatever it was you were going for here! I truly wish you the best in your life and your goals!

[@tacticalcenter8658]

@@olbubs you said they wouldn't notice a difference between d2 and cpm-d2. That was a lie. Yeah you said your testing could be flawed... So you shouldn't have even said it then.

[@olbubs]

@@tacticalcenter8658 So here’s the thing, I truly believe that after my test that if you hand folks 2 identical knives with no steel label one CPM-D2 and one D2 both heat treated to the same HRC and had them carry them for a month each they’d hardly notice the difference. That’s my honest assessment. I acknowledged that my testing could be questioned because I’m not an arrogant person. I know that I don’t work in a steel testing lab. I’m a Dad of 2 beautiful kids working 50 hours a week in my day job (that I’m not quitting 😜) and running a side business sharpening knives for everyday folks. I also make KZbin videos in the tiniest margin of spare time I have rather than rotting my brain in front of a TV. I sincerely apologize that for you this video lacked the quality worthy of its own existence. My goal is to make each video 1% better than the last and I don’t always meet that goal. Seriously I hope nothing but good things for you. If you are the type of person who prefers to have the last word, the floor is open. My family needs me to cook dinner and I better get back to productive things!

[@spocker22]

Don't use that sharpness test it only tests one tiny section of the blade.. do the paper cut test

[@olbubs]

Thanks for watching and for the feedback. There’s really no one perfect test as the paper cut test has flaws of its own. We’ll all just keep going down the bumpy road of doing our best!

[@plain-ghost]

I feel asleep for a bit in the middle of the video. The content isn't to blame, it's just that sultry voice saying all those words I don't understand. Knocked me out faster than a Seattle Seahawks game.

[@olbubs]

Hahaha! That's great, thanks for watching.

[@HollywoodTacticool]

benchmade has been caught numerous times running their steels soft, which totally messes up their performance, cuz running it soft doesn't necessarily make it less chippy necessarily.

[@olbubs]

Thanks for watching and leaving the comment!! It’s tough to say if that’s what went on here, but a poor heat treat is definitely possible! Take care!!

[@jeffhicks8428]

it's totally different steel. the question is, better at what? better at the low iq nonsense EDC bros mime thinking about? No. The larger courser carbides in the ingot version give it exceptional "edge retention" aka abrasion resistance in real world use. One major issue is, and there are many, it's lack of toughness and thus inability to get very hard or to be used in thin edges which will cut better and for longer. cpm d2 on the other hand is an incredible steel that can be taken well into the ~65 rc range and retain good toughness to make it usable. In terms of edge stability and hardness toughness balance, it's even better than say magnacut for some applications... with the caveat that lack of corrosion resistance isn't a major factor. What knife bros don't realize is that abrasion resistance isn't everything they think it is because they don't actually understand how knives work or what makes them cut well and keep cutting well for a long time.

[@olbubs]

Thanks for watching and sharing your insight Jeff.

[@user-xf4es7eh9y]

Sorry dude. your "toughness test" was bunk nonsense. you want to claim you're testing toughness then actually do it. Wood is not involved in testing the toughness of ANY steel. The way you can test toughness in a measured way would be take a metal rod of a fixed diameter... and find a way to make it impact the edge in a fixed manner. and yes the biggest difference between these steels is the MASSIVE toughness increase.. which is everything. The steel can go to 65 rc and be tougher than the ingot stuff at 59 rc. That means insane edge stability. The finer carbides also mean easier grinding, better edges. etc etc. Again, it's all about that good toughness at real high hardness that makes it so nice. It's got AEBL level toughness.. in a steel thats tenacious asf.

[@olbubs]

Hey Tim, thanks for watching and your thoughtful criticism! I think there’s an important balancing act at play here between testing knives with somewhat reasonable tasks for knives and testing steel for the sake of testing steel. On some level smacking a knife edge against a metal rod is bunk nonsense if the user intends to use the pocket knife as a pocket cutting tool. It seems like you might have a lot to offer on this subject matter, do you currently put out content somewhere on the subject? I’d be interested in checking it out! Take care Tim and have a very Merry Christmas!