Warren--

Thanks for the link. Excellent information.

The article equates Elmax with D2 steel, and shows the same Ease of Sharpening and Edge Retention for them.

Desert Snake--

Thank you for clarifying for me. I "think" I am torn between S30V and S20V for the replacement Benchmade blade.... But will probably go with S20V since it holds an edge better (according to Benchmade).

Page 92 of the 2019 Benchmade catalogue at https://www.benchmade.com/media/forms/2018_Benchmade_Catalog.pdf provides graphics comparing the qualities of the steels they use. If you want to do the "hammer through wire and other hard stuff" there are other steels that should excel at that but which won't hold an edge very well--thinking about CPM3V here because it outranks all the others in Strength and Toughness.

Incidentally, the qualities of D2 do not impress me...at least based on the graph from Benchmade and the information in the article on sharpening.

Larry
_________________________
Larry W. Williams
RKCC #CM-041
ABKA #046
RKS #1246