MagnaCut

This has everything you need to know, and an infinite rabbit hole

https://knifesteelnerds.com/2021/03/25/cpm-magnacut/

And

https://knifesteelnerds.com/2021/10/19/knife-steels-rated-by-a-metallurgist-toughness-edge-retention-and-corrosion-resistance/

Like most things, knife steel is a series of tradeoffs. Higher hardness=Longer edge retention, but lower toughness (often substantially less toughness). Typically, high corrosion resistance also=lower toughness + lower maximum hardness (or lower toughness relative to hardness).

Magnacut was designed by Dr Larrin Thomas, a well respected metallurgist and someone who has a long history in knife metallurgy. He is a close analogue in the steel world to BPL. He provides unbiased 3rd party testing of many metals on a standardized setup (CARTA, among others).

Per Larrin’s own comments, he wanted to create a steel that was very usable. Reasonably tough, reasonably hard, and highly stainless. This makes it a great steel for a few reasons. 1. its relatively easy to sharpen with decent stones. That is, it has moderate alloy content compared to crazy steels like S110V or Maxamet with massive carbide content. 2 . its reasonably tough, such that its not particularly brittle relative to other knife steels around 60-64HRc and substantially tougher than some alloys at this hardness. 3. It is extremely stainless. Spyderco has exalted it to their Salt line, which means it passed their maximum corrosion testing. Nearly un-rustable. This video shows it takes an extremely caustic brew to rust it, and even then it cleans right up https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VC5Uc3l1NC8    (Also Larrin is great. A quintessential nerd who we at BLP love and respect. He has a great channel on high alloy steels that is very informative https://www.youtube.com/@KnifeSteelNerds/videos )

There are tougher steels for survival chopping knives. There are higher carbide knives that will keep an edge longer. There are higher corrosion resistant knives with Nitrogen alloys that are literally un-rustable. But each quality has an equal drawback.

Magnacut has a very favorable mix of characteristics when heat treated and ground correctly. (blade geometry and heat treat is a completely separate set of variables, each with their own rabbit hole)

As you can see the “perfect steel” depends on the desired characteristics (much like backpacking gear), and thus is a murky answer. But Magnacut is a pretty great steel that does what a lot of people what want from a knife – highly stainless, reasonably hard/med-high edge retention, and reasonably tough such that it is not overly brittle for most uses.

So is it worth it? Depends. Its not a game changer if you are not already obsessed with knife steels. S30V, S90V, 20CV/204P/M390/Cruwear are all pretty good in their own regard and perform similarly to Magnacut in one category or another.  If you’re a level 9 knife nerd, then Magnacut is pretty cool and unique. But “worth more” just for the name, if youre not pushing the extremes of corrosion resistance?  or looking for a Goldilocks steel? Then there is less difference from a mid-line common steel like S30V or M390 or CPM Cruwear. (however it is substantially harder than H1, H2, and LC200N which are its competition for rust-proof steels, and thus is sharper, longer, in highly corrosive environments like Florida, lakes, boats, ocean, and ocean-adjacent. As an extremely stainless steel, its pretty special.)

A personal plug for the upcoming Spyderco Native Chief Lightweight Salt – it uses Magnacut and achieves a 4″ blade for 3.1oz, which is a pretty great edge:weight ratio. Its a big knife to carry for little penalty, and Magnacut has perfect characteristics for the back country. Also the highly anticipated PM2 Salt and Manix Salt, all in Magnacut, will make great back country knives.

So if you buy a magnacut knife, buy it because the knife is great, not because the tool features magnacut. Magnacut by itself is not special, but it can be made into a special product by the right people. (as with most things)

Also, the Spyderco forum has lots of good reading on the topic. This for one – https://forum.spyderco.com/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=94138 (for those who dont know, Spyderco has one of the most extensive steel selections of any brand and takes their steel very seriously. The Magnacut Salt series that is soon to be released will be highly sought after for good reason.

Marcus that information is stellar. If Spyderco ever offers a Dragonfly in MagnaCut I’m definitely getting one.

That’s a lot to digest.  Thanks for sharing.

Great write-up.  I’m not a knife nerd but you presented the technical info in a format that was easy for your average person to digest.

I looked up the Spyderco Magnacut knife that you mentioned.  For $255, I’m sure it’s impressive, but I’m probably hanging onto my Gerber and Opinel pocket knives for now..  Yowza!