Cruwear Spyderco Para 3 edge retention testing. KC exclusive, part of the Cruwear series.

Cruwear Spyderco Para 3 edge retention testing. KC exclusive, part of the Cruwear series I'm doing. This is one of many that will make it into a video specific to Cruwear wear resistance and hardness. These will be shorter videos and I'll compare all the results in one video later on.
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Edge retention testing data sheets
docs.google.com/spreadsheets/...
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As always I appreciate your time and thanks for watching.

[@NeevesKnives]

👏 👏 I love cruwear, and thanks to you for recommending it to me a while back

[@Outpost_76]

You're welcome

[@PotatoCheese]

Awesome gerald, really looking forward to the full cru video! Great seeing how nice the fine/working edge ratio is on this one.

[@Outpost_76]

This example is getting in to a good spot for fine vs working edge capability. At 63 it really starts to take off.

[@glockgaston2922]

Good video G!! Thanks for all the testing and information and thanks for sharing brother!!👊

[@Outpost_76]

You're welcome

[@edc4fun]

Woohoo CruWear series!

[@sabotagesavant5277]

Good stuff ! Just what I was wanting to hear about, thanks.

[@Outpost_76]

You're welcome

[@thaknobodi]

DLT Cruwear PM2 is my dedicated cardboard knife. With a green strop i can cut all day.

[@robwatumd]

Can you make a chart and add it to the end of each video showing where the knife being tested ranks among all the past tests?

[@barkingspider2007]

Hey... I finally get 4V and now you move on to Cruwear... I guess something to look forward to. Great Video! Thanks again.

[@Outpost_76]

Haha, I thought you had some Cruwear too.

[@aurabound6550]

Hi Mr. Nielsen! It's Thorin's friend Alex!

[@jaystrongbow9435]

This is timely Gerald, great vid as usual!! I have a Crucarta PM2 and I only have 2 sharpening's on it, but like you said, it's a sweet sharpeners steel. I was not a fan of the new full liners with the ODD huge cutout for the compression lock, and the micarta goes from brown to dark brown/black in about a month in the shop. Freaking ugly as hell. The micarta drinks up any residual shop oil you have on your hands. I found a camo PM 2 with a snapped blade on EBay, and put the Cruwear blade it that. It's a proper PM2 now.

[@Outpost_76]

While it won't fix it getting dirty the backspacer Cody sent me takes care of the gap on top and makes it feel like a nice solid piece. I'm not sure if I'll leave mine either, I like G10 much better for most use.

[@jaystrongbow9435]

@@Outpost_76 Right on Gerald, the old G10 with nested liners might be more practical for some PM2 users. I think the Cruwear on the Crucarta release is of descent hardness as I am getting good edge retention.

[@-trmxzer0-235]

I've got original smooth para 3 that was tested at 61.9 from Kenny's testing. And the new micarta cruwear pm2 and it doesn't even feel like it's the same steel. I completely agree that you can tell the difference. I can tell a difference in sharpening my purple dlc manix also. But it's not as drastic as the Cru-Carta compared to the OG smooth g10.

[@Outpost_76]

1.5 to 2 points in hardness is wild how much Cruwear changes.

[@speedykobac]

Thanks for testing. Like you said new Cruwear testing video will come.I am really interested how will perform PM2 Crucarta .

[@Outpost_76]

You're welcome, once I get the current ones done I'll do the Cruwear micarta PM2.

[@MrCander000]

This makes me really want to try Cruwear for myself. I don't have any knives with that steel.

[@Outpost_76]

It's a great sharpeners steel as well as a great user steel. It's worth trying.

[@ericbarnby7289]

I just got a para 3 in S45VN and a PM2 in Cruwear. I’m an electrician, and I use my knives a lot. I am using my para 3 due to the size, but maybe I should use the cruwear more as it seems to be more of a workhorse? And thanks for all of these videos. I appreciate the work you put in.

[@Outpost_76]

The Cruwear is going to be tougher, have better edge stability, wear resistance and impact resistance than the S45VN. Use each one for a few weeks and see how they perform.

[@gaberoo9099]

Thanks for the review as usual. Where did you buy it used? Would love to start buying used.

[@Outpost_76]

I got this one from another channels sale. Many places to buy used, some will have better deals than others. Other knife channels usually have good prices, reddit r/knifeswap is another good place. I know blade forums has a sale section as well. Then you have Instagram which can have good deals to Facebook groups and Ebay which usually have higher prices than anywhere else.

[@gaberoo9099]

@@Outpost_76 I know of one channel that does regular sales but he does not do regular paypal (I think only friends and family and I've gotten burned before with that so I'd prefer to add on whatever premium--I think it's 2%--onto his price in order to go through regular paypal). I will offer that and see what the response is.

[@MrAquamarine]

Please test Manly peak in CPM S90V.

[@Outpost_76]

It will be coming with some other S90V.

[@benjaminkim7693]

Nice! Was wondering what that cruwear tested at, I wonder if they very per batch. did you ever rc test the dlt cruwear? Thanks for the content!

[@Outpost_76]

The early 2014 Manix have all been 63 + and the Military as well. It seems after that the hardness was taken down to the 61 to 62 range from the smooth carbon fiber Manix and gray PM2 models until the runs of the Cruwear micarta Shaman where some were soft and others run harder. The Z Wear Shaman and current PM2 are looking like it's back to being harder. It will vary a little per batch and my DLT PM2 Cruwear is 61.5. I'm going to talk about it when I do the videos for each.

[@reneklein3658]

I seem to prefer 4V…nothing wrong with Cruwear though!

[@EDCandLace]

My 4v manix2 and pm2 are among my fav knives to carry and use. 4v is a fantastic user steel and feels sooooo damn good on the stones. Shapton pro 8k and 4v is a match made in heaven. Finish that 4v on a shapton pro 8k (starts to slick off on the 15k shapton pro stone) possibly being the steel that has the most upfront sharpness of any steel I have ever touched. My 4v manix 2 having the blade reground to 95thou its BTE is currently 9thou with a 13dps bevel finished on the 8k shapton pro and stropped down to .025 micron CBN emulsion on Kangaroo leather it is capable of whittling hair with the grain no problem at all and will cut a free hanging hair Apon touching it. It's straight razor sharp and 4v has the edge stability to handle a 13dps bevel at 9thou bte. It's not a user of course it's a show people what sharp really is knife but at the end of the day it can be used if you wanted to. My 4v pm2 is a very regular carry knife of mine as is my 4v manix 2 that hasn't been reground. Trust me if you want your 4v to blow your mind finish it on a shapton pro 8k or naniwa 10k resin diamond stone, the upfront sharpeness is mental. It's not my fav steel (s90v fav stainless and M4 my fav non stainless) but it is damn good and nothing I know of can touch its sharpness off the stones.

[@allthingsknives]

I will say that my 63+ HRC Cruwears debur cleaner and take a nasty edge easily, my 61ish Cruwear definitely requires a little more time on the stones

[@SG-tk3bn]

Hi, Great work as always, can you please explain one for me strange thing. I watched your Shaman M4 test video, in which you tested it ~200 feet fine edge, ~ 360 + working edge. While Cruwear managed to do ~200 fine and ~60 working edge on this video. Yet again people compare this two stells cutting performances as they are similar. Your results are similar as are with other people who tested both steels and still people act like the cutting performances are comparable when they are not even close, judging by all tests that I saw.

[@Outpost_76]

That M4 Shaman is at 64.5 for a hardness while the Cruwear was 61.8 hrc. Cruwear in the 63.5 hrc and up from Spyderco will match or cut more than M4. Spyderco has kept the M4 in the 62.5 to 64 hrc range always. They started out with Cruwear in 2014 in the 63 to 64 hrc range. Around 2016 they began running it softer and the past couple years went back to running Cruwear above 63 hrc again. I'll do a complete Cruwear video soon talking about how different it is at 61.5 hrc vs 64 hrc.

[@SG-tk3bn]

@Outpost 76 Thanks for explaining it to me. Best regards.

[@SG-tk3bn]

I suppose you would recommend PM2 Cruwear DLT over, other steels ?

[@ivanovfarit]

Accordin to your data it seems to me there is no huge difference between so called super steels and forexample 14c28n? Is it right?

[@makwaclaw6124]

I have the knife center paramilitary 2 and para 3 in cruwear both non dlc. Do you by chance know what those were ran at in the hrc?

[@Outpost_76]

From all the examples tested they have been consistent in the 61.5 to 62 range.

[@danielwasused]

👀

[@flipflat4814]

I need help from a knowledgeable person in the knife Community, and you are it sir. I have been trying to decide between the $42 Civivi Praxis in 9cr18MoV or the $35 CJRB Taiga in D2. I think l like the Praxis a little better, but the D2 blade steel on the CJRB Taiga makes it tempting for the on paper added edge retention of D2. However I realize not all D2 is created equal, do to the heat treat and many other factors. I've heard Civivi's D2 is decent however I don't know if CJRB's D2 is up to the same level as Civivi's. It likely is, but I really don't know for sure. I also realize 9cr18MoV isn't a slouch either, if done right it slightly better than "good" 440C or bad D2. I guess what I'm asking is if I can get close to double the edge retention with the D2 CJRB Taiga I would rather have that as my choice. But if Civivi Praxis in 9cr18MoV has nearly the same edge retention as the CJRB Taiga, I would perf the Praxis over the Taiga. I wish someone had a Civivi 9cr18MoV vs CJRB D2 edge retention video hint hint 😉😁. If they were the same blade steel it would ba an easy decision for me👍. Thanks for any input✌.

[@Outpost_76]

What the main use going to be? I'm going to cover something along this question in a video about testing vs real use, how it differs and why D2 isn't always a bad choice even though I'm not a fan of that steel.

[@flipflat4814]

@@Outpost_76 It's going to be my EDC not really hard use. I don't have a problem sharpening D2 so that's not an issue for me. I think l like the Civivi Praxis better from the videos I've watched. It seems to have slightly better action, and the G-10 is beveled on the edges unlike CJRB. If the $35 CJRB Taiga was in 9cr18MoV I would definitely go with the Civivi Praxis. But the Taiga is a little less money and "might" have better edge retention with D2.

[@John-xk7uo]

Any chance you have a pm2 with cpm 10v you want to sell?

[@Outpost_76]

I don't have one myself.

[@javiervillalobos7]

Hey Outpost! We have been told that Magnacut is a "Stainless Cruwear" even by Larrin himself, but looking at the hard data you have produced, Cruwear still kicks ass in front end sharpness, and not even 65hrc Magnacut has been able to touch it yet. This is one of Cruwear's greatest strengths apart from being a very well balanced steel. Clearly we still need to explore even more, but would you care to include your toughs around this topic as your awesome work evolves?

[@Outpost_76]

As I test more Magnacut I'll talk about it. Even down at 61.5 Cruwear still has a killer up front sharpness. I agree it's a very balanced steel that has a huge versatility.

[@John-xk7uo]

Would you please do a detail video on securing knives ( spyderco) in the tsprof? Please there is no real good video. Thanks in advance .

[@krustysurfer]

Middle of the road performance ?

[@Outpost_76]

For Cruwear yes, when it gets into the 63 to 64 rc zone from production companies the performance gains are very good. This Para 3 is 62 rc and compared to the mid 63 rc Manix it's down over 100 feet of cutting in a 1 inch section.

[@krustysurfer]

@@Outpost_76 I wonder how much time is involved in that extra step of hardening as well as the finishing machining work that has to be done on a knife with a higher hardness rating?