IS VANAX SUPERCLEAN THE BEST STAINLESS KNIFE STEEL?! - Steel Snobs Episode 6

[@Sleepy_spartan717]

I personally love vanax. I’ve used it at work running a cnc sawjet and carry a large drift for regular work cutting like rubber hose and a ton of zip ties. The blade has held up great, kept a great, stroppable edge for a good long time and has absolutely zero corrosion anywhere, even given the water/granite slush mixture I end up getting on the blade. I can’t say about it being chippy, as I’m careful about what I hit with my edge. But quiet carry at least has great heat treat done on their knives. In the time I’ve had my drift, it’s never had to touch a stone. Just a strop at night after work and it comes back quickly.

[@Rollshambo]

I haven't heard of Vanax being chippy either, it's not amazing toughness but its definitely not bad toughness either..I think we dont see it more often because it's difficult to heat treat properly..but I have a feeling that will change with tine

[@Superbus753]

@@Rollshambowell but if it is done properly…. I mean the one i have from Roman Kasé smokes most steels.

[@Sleepy_spartan717]

@@Rollshambo true. And it send like Taiwan heat treats are on point. The production demkos are great as are the QC releases.

[@matthewkuhl79]

@@Sleepy_spartan717 i have been less than kind to my fixie VANAX blade and have suffered zero chipping, but it's a bit thicker than the 2mm stock on the QC folders (still waiting to get my hands on a Drift)

[@fibitabit8423]

I like my sandrin monza with a tungsten carbide blade. It has 71 hrc. It will dull after i die....

[@Rollshambo]

imagine putting it in your will that they must sharpen it as part of your dying wish😂

[@Superbus753]

@@Rollshambocan be done with resinbonded diamond stones or diamond lapping film. Not too big of a problem just the right materials and a bit of patience.

[@DARKEST_VANTA]

Great video RSB!✨🔪✨ Thanks for laying this all out!

[@Rollshambo]

Glad you liked it!🍻

[@YPEDC]

I’ve never had the pleasure of using Vanax, and truly didn’t know much about it till now. Solid vid bro! 👊🤙

[@matthewkuhl79]

The easiest way to try it out is either a Creely custom or an MKM Vincent. Waiting for a Quiet Carry is mind-numbing.

[@Humphrey_Chimpden]

Thank you. Keep up the good work. I really loved the thumbnail, well done!

[@mikereese15]

Awesome video Roll!

[@TopDog8762]

My prediction, magnacut will come out on top. OK once again I learn that I don't know as much as I think I do. I love this series, Steel Snobs.

[@Rollshambo]

I'd still pick magnacut over vanax in general(with a proper heat treat) but as a stainless(focusing on corrosion resistance first) vanax is going to rust slower than everything else😂

[@Superbus753]

@@Rollshambo i use my vanax blades for sailing and they are stellar for that use. I also use one of them as a neckknife and had no problems. My sweat is so corrosive that i manage to rust pretty all (stainless) steels in a single day. (Thats why i also can only wear watches made from titanium. Everything else just corrodes)

[@kdks7843]

@@Superbus753 I am quite sure that a gold or platinum watch would not rust either.

[@Superbus753]

@@kdks7843 probably true but as a university student a gold or a platinum watch is way too expensive:P

[@windowbreezes]

i love that Vanax leaves less fingerprints than other steels. I was able to try the Kunwu Tao 2 Vanax but its not my style. Just waiting for another model with Vanax

[@ShinyFallingStar]

Thank you for the new episode, hope you can do an episode about m398 and s125v

[@bigjim55able]

This little video represents a lot of work. Great job. My guess was Magnacut. I have a few knives in that, but only one in Vanax (Stout V2), so I have little experience with it.

[@Rollshambo]

Vanax is a rare bird..purely as a stainless I think it would outlast everything in saltwater environs..but for me the main draw is it's rarity in knives(I'm a collector and enthusiast) would love to see It used more so we can get a better feel for it as a community

[@bigjim55able]

@Rollshambo I like to take a knife literally out of the box and put it to work regardless of cost. The Stout is at or near the top of performance in my collection. It glided through a pile of cardboard with no discernable change. The great blade geometry Colin designed has a lot to do with that, along with the steel. I'm quite impressed.

[@windowbreezes]

Talk about PM60 and SLD-Magic next! People mistakenly compare them to D2 but PM60 is more Vanadis

[@Rollshambo]

Thanks for the suggestion I'll be looking into those!

[@annasoH323]

Steel snobs is back boys! I haven't gotten enough work with my Drift but it's one of the first knives I got a sharpened edge that I thought "okay, this is actually sharp now." But, I've also heard that production Vanax needs a few sharpenings (maybe a tempering thing?)

[@Rollshambo]

I couldnt Keep the most popular series away, I didnt have it in me😂 as for needing to be sharpened that Could be the effects of belt burn or factory bevels being too high of an angle(production knives rarely have an ideal edge bevel)

[@LonestarTaoboy]

Let me throw out two other variables: Cost and availability. Then when you factor in the "Cool Factor", Vanax does not lend itself to a common status. Perhaps if it were more widely used, it would make a good option. For kitchen, outdoors, and pocket folding edc, Magnacut will take it's place as "King of the hill". Stainless for the kitchen, toughness for outdoors, and edge retention for a pocket folder. These are generalities, but which steel would you have the confidence to be employed in all three of the above categories?

[@Rollshambo]

Honestly ...and this might shock some people so get ready for the Dramas..I'd go with s35vn on the "trust" factor..it has a lower likelihood of having a poor heat treat unlike magnacut/m390/vanax...assuming a proper heat treat and hrc on any of them magnacut would out perform vanax on everything except the harshest corrosion situations so if I knew it was good magnacut then that would be the choice..

[@Sal_car88]

Ease of sharpening could be its own category and would level the field. Great video, man.

[@Rollshambo]

Ease of sharpening could be represented but since it's less of a property and more of a side effect of lower hrc/wear resistance I'm assuming that's why Knife Steel Nerds doesn't have it listed with a rating...how cool would it be to have a freak steel that held an edge forever but was also easy to sharpen? Maybe that's the true future

[@Superbus753]

@@Rollshamboactually many times i find harder steels easier to sharpen. Unfortunately many steels in production knives are underdone. This lead to somewhat gummy steel and burrs that wont be eaisily removed. Also retained austenite is playing a role here. Hardness isnt too much of a problem with diamond stones, bonded diamond stones and strops with diamond emulsions. Sharpening super hard steels with no retained austenite by Roman Kasé is way easier than to sharpen gummy production stuff.

[@JosephOlson-ui2pg]

I heard SPY27 was good performance in edge holding but easy sharpening. If we had the industrial diamond sharpening equipment back in the days of 440V... It would have been heroic. That's the issue: we want to do it ourselves and get it to our own edge without a lot of fuss, like telling what we want to some bored knife sharpener or knowing the jargon to talk about what we're looking for

[@matthewkuhl79]

i wish VANAX was more widely available. Sure, it isn't a "universal" application steel but it's definitely my favorite. Even its "budget" carbon counterpart Elmax is a treat.

[@kathleensmith370]

great video and information

[@EDCandLace]

Just give me A11 class steel that's well done and I need no other pocket knife steel.

[@Rollshambo]

Hmmm..going to have to look into that!

[@wgkincheloe2458]

I've had great luck with 14C, S35VN, and Magnacut. But I've also had real good luck with coated D2. I'd like to try Elmax and Vanax, but haven't been able to afford picking up something like A Quiet Carry, Giant Mouse, or Kunwu

[@johnblackmon4005]

Love video on vanax

[@cintage]

Magnacut needs to be considered as the strongest competitor to Vanax.

[@paulmills426]

Rex121 please. Lol. I'll take the rust and the chips. At least 1knife I have to have some rex121 in my life...

[@Rollshambo]

Just wait till you have to sharpen it😂 but hey that would only have to happen once ever 10 years so you'd probably be ok anyways haha

[@Superbus753]

@@Rollshambonot tooo bad with diamond stones (especially with a good ht that allows for easy burr removal)

[@JosephOlson-ui2pg]

​@@Rollshambogood point the harder it is to sharpen, the less you will need to do it might actually be the entire solution

[@davidhelka8929]

Is vanax superclean really that clean

[@Rollshambo]

It's not just clean...its super clean😂

[@kdks7843]

@@Rollshambo 🤣

[@JosephOlson-ui2pg]

Funny!!!

[@Superbus753]

I have two knives in vanax. Both sport very good edge geometry and both are excellent. One is the spk shark and the other is a shard by Roman Kasé (Kknives Switzerland). The shard with Romans ht smokes most other blades even blades with good geometry and steels that should have way more edge retention like s90v. Production knives just aren’t done as good as Roman does it.

[@JosephOlson-ui2pg]

And that's my issue. Production models can go huge on design and features with per unit economy making them affordable, but the production companies are a business with huge competition lawyers and advertisers cost 90% of the costs passed onto customers so we've gone from customer is king in grandpa's time to customers are cash cows to milk in our time. They run expensive alloys to get business but it's not the same as running the alloys to their potential because they don't in order to ward off warranty and return issues. Production companies can do extra exciting things, but full performance no. Everyone else is doing more performance, fit - finish and quality because that's where their niche is.

[@BladeLabMiami]

What super steel is best is entirely subjective. It just depends on your priorities. Is Vanax the best? Not for me, because edge retention is more important to me than toughness and corrosion resistance. If corrosion resistance is very important to you, then Vanax may be the best for you.

[@JosephOlson-ui2pg]

Anything that maxes out one characteristic won't by default be top tier in other desirable characteristics. That's a major reason why there's no one ultimate alloy...and one ultimate knife to own. I like how innovative CPM Magnacut is with half the Chrome of 440 V which CAN be awesome ( and why there's so much junk that says 440) but Magnacut does it with ten percent more iron in balance. Magnacut isn't ultimate in anything BUT balance of characteristics. It has a lot of all desirable characteristics, just not top tier for those who want to play mini-maxing

[@Knivesarelife]

Yup you all need that for paper and box's smh lol

[@Rollshambo]

Absolutely, last thing I want when breaking down the wife's amazon boxes is rust😂

[@JosephOlson-ui2pg]

Funny again!

[@CBORK27]

Everything is overrated regarding knives market, except D2.

[@Elmax17.5dps]

Which is severely underrated.

[@JosephOlson-ui2pg]

Oh man! I was gonna say it's overrated and thus overused. I hate when I can't get a production model except in D2 and S30V!!! The CRKT models with the button lock in the pivot and "new" Spyderco models. I bought Reate PL-XT and PL-XF to get that feature with button in the pivot and only Parascale for it in CRKT. And Parascale only because it was a fellow Idahoan that designed it. I wish D2 and S30V would drop off the face of the Earth. I don't care that they are good or good enough or have fans. I don't want FORCED to buy it or not get the other features of the models with them. I want freedom