Hi all of you hunters.
I have seen some discussions about carbon steel or stainless in a knife blade. For me, both of them good. Hunters here in scandinavia use both of the steels but mostly carbon steel. Stainless blades if good quality steel holds edge and dont rust but is a pain to resharpen many times. Carbon steel if properly hardened holds edge and is easy to resharpen in field if needed. Thats why i think hunters here in scandinavia prefers mostly carbon steel. Them dont have the time to resharpen a knife for long time. I think there is no right or wrong here. I like both of them. What do you think?
/Kimmo Lilja

carbon is my steel of choice but I do have a couple of SS

Carbon gets my vote!

I think once an edge is put on a high quality stainless steel blade, it does hold the edge longer. That being said, most of us do not make a living using knives like say a meat cutter/butcher. Those folks need a knife that holds an edge and I'll bet the opinions they have are split 50/50. I personally do not care either way if the blade is of high quality and is aesthetically pleasing. Sharpening a knife is kind of therapeutic for me.

Carbon steel is the way to go.

high carbon steel can be tempered much harder than stainless steel. It can be tempered so hard that it can actually shatter like glass. Just because a knife is made from carbon steel doesnt mean its a good quality knife. It all depends on how the knifemaker tempered it. There has to be a happy medium in the tempering process. One that is tempered too hard can take a very very sharp edge, but can easily be chipped while cutting bone. One that is tempered too soft wont hold an edge. You get what you pay for when you buy a carbon steel knife.. The cheap ones...well they are cheap. The good ones come with a price.

Some good knives will have the cutting edge tempered harder than the back of the knife. These in my opinion are the best, because they have a hard cutting edge, but resist breaking because the back is softer which adds some flex (which you cant see) to the overall blade. A good knife will also have a thick piece of steel that goes all the way through the handle to the butt of the knife.

Stainless on the other hand is total crap in my opinion. It is a softer steel and is really only used because it resists staining and rusting...but contrary to what many think...Stainless will rust and corrode. Stainless will not hold an edge nearly as good as a good quality carbon steel knife. It may hold an edge better than a cheap carbon steel knife though.

Go with carbon steel and get in the habbit of whipping it down with a silicone cloth or some light gun oil after every use and it will last a long time. If your carbon knife stains from use or fingerprints, you can start with some 800 grit sandpaper for heavy tarnish/rust and then use some 00 and 0000 steel wool to bring the shine back.

Both knives have their strengths and weaknesses. I have seen carbon blades heat treated and tempered hold an amazing edge. I also know of stainless steels that are very good as well. A good steel for hunting knives is D2, it hold a heck of a good edge, but is harder to sharpen then another steel. 1084 is a good carbon steel used by master smiths all the time. Good steel but not rust proof. CMP154cm is a great stainless steel as well as ATS34, and 154cm, 440c is also a decent steel. Properly heat treating any steel at the correct temperature, for the right amount of time, correct quenching fluid, and proper tempering to the best hardness for the particular steel is what determines the edge holding ability of a steel.

Here is a carbon steel knife im working on now. Its made from an old table saw blade. It still has some polishing to go...and a stag horn split handle, but you can see how you can take a piece of steel thats covered in paint and has pitted surfaces and polish it to a good shine pretty easily.

All good opinions thank's. Most of them like I think also.
spacemonkey: Nice blade you done on the pic.

I've got a couple of nice knives but I'm no collector, I'm a user. I like a blade that sharpens fairly easy and holds a pretty good edge, Carbon seems to be the most user friendly for me.

Stainless for me...And when the meat is on the block, I like my Forschners, 6" flex!