Unboxing a cool special steel in my Spyderco CPM-15V Para 3 knife… this gives REX121 a run!

[@DuhYaThink]

Applied Weapons Technology 👍🏻

[@the_knights_edge]

That 15v definitely has the edge retention

[@mikranger1078]

Very Cool Video TY !

[@mattolfson9230]

That is a pretty sweet build.

[@happiknife7716]

Those scales are really nice! Not the frn ones but the replacement scales.

[@mrmouse-ol9pw]

The audio cut out...whats the piece on the compression lock? Pls and ty. Can u not scale swap the lw version? Excuse my ignorance but if i have this knife what type of scales can i upgrade to. Hate frn. First spydie

[@BDevi0us]

Thanks for posting Rob 🍻 I've been eyeing this knife to put on my RG Custom scales. Currently have the Magnacut blade on the scales. The only thing holding me back is the stonewash blade? 🤷🏻‍♂️ 15V > Magnacut Magnacut from experience is not very good with edge retention 😢

[@Robs_Nerdy_Knives]

For me, that may true unless the HRC is 63-64.

[@MB-jg4tr]

Magnacut's strong point is corrosion resistance, with a good balance of toughness and edge retention. This of course depends on the Heat Treatment a lot, as the HT protocol for magnacut is very specific & demanding. The majority of magnacut producers out there are not heat treating it properly. Still, properly made magnacut doesn't have anywhere near the edge holding of high grade tool steels. I think Cruwear/cts-pd 1 is a better preformer, though it's not stainless, but in my experience living in a very wet/high humidity area, it is fairly corrosion resistant. K390 is also amazing, and more corrosion resistant than one would think, but you do need to take care of the steel. Which steel is best for you Really depends on usage & blade design/geometry. BBB's CPM-15v has crazy high wear resistance/edge retention & decent toughness, good enough that you don't have to worry about edge chipping under regular use. And it's still fairly easy to sharpen. But it has low corrosion resistance so you'll definitely need to oil or keep15v dry.

[@josh33025]

Why are these not sold out yet? Did they make a huge batch or something. The previous runs sold out in minutes.

[@rshear618]

My guess is that everyone is broke from the holidays and the frn lightweight versions are less desirable than the g10 versions. Also not as many aftermarket scale options for the lightweight versions.

[@Robs_Nerdy_Knives]

I got it knowing I’d swap the blade itself.

[@MB-jg4tr]

It's a sprint so usually limited to 1200, sometimes 1400 produced total. My guess is the frn scale color with limited aftermarket upgrades. Maybe the stonewash for some? Not sure, kinda think the stonewash is neat

[@FearNoSteel]

@@MB-jg4tr They made a higher volume of these to meet the demand from previous batches.

[@MB-jg4tr]

@@FearNoSteel oh hey BBB, how many did they make?

[@PureLuckXVII]

What is special about the heat treat?

[@Robs_Nerdy_Knives]

It gives the blade edge retention comparable to and likely better than REX121 or Maxamet.

[@jimmys249]

Better than rex121 I don't know, the composition of the steel still is what it is. I understand it's got better toughness and edge retention though compared to Larrin's testing that I assume used crucibles data sheet for HT. Really dialing it in specific for a knife probably helps avoid any compromises that would benefit other uses, but not have any benefit to a pocket knife. I wonder if that effect is more pronounced in the extreme steels than it is in simpler ones? I don't know.

[@bigbl8717]

I'd be very surprised if it beat out Rex121, just based on the testing I've seen. Maxamet maybe. The big think for me, though, is 15V will be significantly tougher than those 2, and THAT can be a game changer.

[@soggywaffles7697]

⁠@@Robs_Nerdy_Knives​​⁠​​⁠​⁠​⁠Shawn Houston has explicitly stated in the Spyderco forums that the properties of his 15V aren’t quite as extreme as Maxamet or Rex 121. In fact if you look up the thread, the way he describes it as being between K390 and Maxamet implies his protocol is more about toughness and ease of sharpening than reinforcing the already high edge retention.

[@MB-jg4tr]

​@@Robs_Nerdy_Knives 15v edge retention isn't anywhere close to rex121 and slightly below maxamet, but the special BBB Heat Treat protocol gives it much more toughness than either & specifically much more ease of sharpening.

[@loosieclocker]

BBB is a savant

[@curtissyarbrough8547]

What’s the point putting out a video. With no info? It cool its neat very informative description.

[@Robs_Nerdy_Knives]

It’s an unboxing of another Para 3 that I have owned 12 of and this is just that. First impressions & thoughts on 15V, while swapping out the blades with my CruWear DLC blade. . Look for a review or my thoughts on the steel from my personal use. I’m not a tester or hard use person, I can certainly suggest other channels if you need to use the knife like 0.02% do. I carry it and use it my every day scenarios.

[@TWknives]

🫡

[@kandcdish]

With that blade shape the knife is limited as to its daily uses so I don't believe the steel type will make that great of a difference. IMO. CPM15v might be more appropriate for a bush crafting knife which is more of a hard use knife. There is much hype about CPM magnacut being so great but I've learned through using it it's no better than CPMs45vn. I've used most of Spyderco's steels and prefer CPMs45vn over all the others. My daily uses are cutting bailing twine on hay bails, shrink wrap on round hay bails, opening packages and letters, trimming small tree limbs and roots, cutting plastic pots off plant root balls, opening plastic mulch and potting soil bags, cutting lids from plastic buckets, etc., etc. Plenty of choices for everyone.

[@MB-jg4tr]

Spyderco's Seki k390 is tops if you haven't tried it, my favorite steel for a folder by far