Edge Retention Test Between 1066, 1075, 5160 and 1095 Blade Steels

Urban Knife Guy shares his experiences with a limited edge retention test between 1066, 1075, 5160 and 1095 Blade Steels.
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[@urbanknifeguy]

www.amazon.com/shop/urbanknifeguy bashcraftgear.com If you like the content, you can support the channel by shopping at the Urban Knife Guy Amazon Store and Bashcraft Gear store to buy the knives, gear, and kits for urban EDC and jungle survival that I use and discuss in my videos as well as swag and merch. Thanks!

[@jkanecutlery]

5160 is fantastic camp knife steel. It’s incredibly tough and holds an edge just fine after processing wood in my experience.

[@urbanknifeguy]

I agree it is a great chopping steel and for general outdoor use. But I do find it rusts the easiest and can be prone to pitting if not maintained meticulously.

[@lucianofreaza302]

Thanks for the video! Here in Brazil, 1070, 1075 and 5160 steels are very popular. 1095 is not used as much as in North America. I guess wood in South America is harder so a tough steel is important. Because of the humidity and salt air on the coast, mass market manufacturers make a lot of stainless steel knives.

[@ColdHarborOP]

Great video, man. I dig the Cedric & Ada vibe and appreciate seeing the knives in actual use.

[@urbanknifeguy]

Appreciate it! Thanks for watching!

[@patriot925]

1075 is underrated. With proper heat treatment you can get it just as hard as 1095, but is tougher and less brittle than 1095. Bottom line, you cannot get carbon steel any harder past the eutectoid level, which is 0.77. Adding more carbon just makes it more fragile with no increase in hardness. Out in the field, a wear failure is no big deal, unlike a brittleness failure (breakage), which is catastrophic. Better to be on the safe side. 1075 rules. A friend of mine back in high school said he had a Ka-bar (1095) that broke on him. Never forgot that story...

[@urbanknifeguy]

Thanks for sharing your thoughts and adding value to the discussion!

[@BIGHOUSEBLADE53]

Good video. 👍

[@urbanknifeguy]

Thanks 👍

[@Drunken_Frog_40000]

1066 and 5160 are great steels for bigger choppers, machetes, axes etc but I wouldn't take non of these steels for knife. Well, maybe 1095 but definitely not Scandinavian grind, flat grind, maybe. If you'll try steel like dc53, Lohmann pgk or sleipner you'll forgot 1066, 1070 etc very quickly.

[@jimbusmaximus4624]

I have a few knives in 1095, 1075, and 5160. My most used is the 5160. It holds a decent edge and also seems to better resist rust/corrosion than my others. Plus it's a much tougher steel. I like your controlled test method here I think its a great way to measure edge retention. ✌🏼

[@urbanknifeguy]

Thanks! Do you find the 5160 rusts the easiest?

[@jimbusmaximus4624]

@@urbanknifeguy no sir, actually my 5160 seems more resistant to rust. The only exception is Kabar's 1095, I've never found any rust on that. My other knives in 1095 and 1075 will rust if I don't coat them with oil or ballistol before I put them away. I don't have that problem with 5160.

[@urbanknifeguy]

@jimbusmaximus4624 thanks for your reply. Could be the difference in climate and humidity here.

[@jimbusmaximus4624]

@@urbanknifeguy also I should mention it does have a patina. My 1095 blades don't. Is your 5160 having problems with pitting? Because it's supposed to be a pretty good steel for resisting that.

[@urbanknifeguy]

@jimbusmaximus4624 I personally don't have a problem as I am.quite meticulous with cleaning and oiling my Knives immediately when I come back from the field. But several people I know who do have 5160 blades complain they rusts fast and eventually has minor pitting. But I have no idea what their maintenence routine is. I also forced patinas on my 5160 blades and have no problem with rust.

[@Robert_Thomas832]

Interesting test. As long as you can resharpen then I guess it's not a problem with any of these knives. I have a couple of BPS in 1066 - useful knives, one scandi and the other full flat grind. Thanks.

[@urbanknifeguy]

Yes all can be resharpened and stopped easily. I find the 1095 is the best in this respect.

[@Snarlacc]

Do you have any idea how hard they are? Because on the simpler carbon steels that would likely make a bigger difference than the steel itself. The hardest knife should win out. You could try which knives scratch others and arrange them by who can scratch whom, I would be interested how much that reflects the edge retention result.

[@Sophocles13]

You should have at least sharpened them all with the same system and same geometry if you want any sort of useful conclusion

[@urbanknifeguy]

No I sharpened them as they were designed. I agree if it were a pure test of steels, you are right. So I probably should word the title better. The purpose was to compare the edge retention between different popular knives. Thanks for your comment!

[@gregbarry5875]

I appreciate your efforts here, but with sharpness meters widely available, this is kind of wated time. That would be so much more scientifice and therefore accurate. OMG....you were not able to draw a conclusion !?!?!?!? You just wasted 7 minutes of my life!!!!!

[@urbanknifeguy]

Thanks for your feedback and sorry for that!

[@gregbarry5875]

@@urbanknifeguy Why didn't you draw a conclusion ??? That is obviously what everyone wants to know !?!?!

[@urbanknifeguy]

@gregbarry5875 Actually, I did make some conclusive observations. 1095 has the best edge retention but thickness behind the edge and blade stock affects the sliciness. So, it depends what you intend to cut. If you want to make sharp cuts through fine material or fine shavings then the thickness matters (3mm thickness is ideal). However, for thicker material and for chopping, the thicker blade stock is required. Therefore, the viewer has to apply the conclusions based on individual use application. Hope that helps!