I don't particularly care. Most recent knives I own happen to be stainless, while my heirloom knives are carbon. Both will cut quite well if sharpened.

Depends on what the knife is being used for. I prefer carbon steel, except for a fishing knife or a dive knife. Knives used in or around water that will be wet a lot, stainless steel. I also prefer pocket knives to be stainless steel, no worries about rusting in the pocket.

Most of my belt knives are carbon steel, a few stainless ones for wet environments.

I live in a high humidity area and taking care of carbon steels here is a year round challege. For that reason, except for a couple Busse's, I only consider SS.


The Benchmade 581 Barrage w/M390 (SS) just became legal to possess in my state. In my experience M390 with a blade hardness of 59-61 is an impressive improvement in SSs relative to edge holding.

I would also include in the high end of SSs Faulkenhevin's proprietary 3G (a powdered and laminated steel with a HRC of 62).

From all I've heard M390 is an amazing steel! I'm on the waiting list to get a kitchen knife in this steel, patterned on the Masamoto KS Wa-Gyuto. I wish there were more folders, especially smaller ones, in M390 or K390.

I could go on for ever about steels, but instead I'll just keep it short and succinct.

Forging, besides the art factor, is only practical for removing inclusions and impurities from a dirty steel as well as re-arranging carbide grain structures that have gone wild. Gonna make make a blade from an old truck's leaf-spring? Better forge it.

For most modern knifemaking steels forging actually degrades the steel by burning some of the carbon out of it.

Every single steel behaves slightly differently from the others.

Carbon steel usually takes less time to sharpen. I like that carbon steel knives develop a patina (layer of oxidation) over time, with use, because it's almost as if the knife itself is alive.

Some of the newer, high-tech stainless steels (CPM S30V, CPM S35Vn, Elmax, M390, etc.) have a much higher alloy content than carbon steels. As a result, they require a diamond grit sharpening stone to become sharp in a comparable amount of time, because often the steels' carbides are actually harder than the abrasive of a regular whetstone. However, as a result of this higher wear resistance, the edge remains usably sharp longer than that of most carbon steel blades.

Given a diamond abrasive stone, and a non-marine environment, it really just comes down to personal preference, in the end.

As for my preference, I have use for both carbon and stainless steel blades, and make knives from both.

Other than as the task or environment dictates I don't really have a preference. The real choice, IMO, is to make sure, whichever type you pick, to go with a proven quality steel from a proven reliable manufacturer that does a good heat treat to bring out the best qualities in whichever steel type you choose. The newest super steels aren't always the best. Many steel snobs will disagree, but so be it. I believe there is a reason why TOPS knives still uses 1095 carbon steel in a lot of their blades.

I find most reputable knife manufacturers will pick the steel that is most appropriate for the way their knives will be used. My victorinox SAK, for instance, which I EDC, is a good stainless, I am sure chosen by Victorinox because they KNOW most of their knives will either be carried everyday or used in harsh environments. My rat 7 on the other hand, is carbon steel, as are many hard use outdoor knives (yes, some are made of stainless as well, such as the SOG seal 2000 I am looking at as my next knife purchase, but for some reason many of the outdoor blades I look at now seem to be carbon, for example the RD-6 I recently purchased, and TOPS knives as previously mentioned). Many dive knives, which the manufacturers know will be used in wet environments, are stainless for that very reason.

Now, there is another important thing many production manufacturers will look at in a steel, and that is its machinability. A blade that is easy to produce will normally result in a lower price point, whereas those that are more difficult to produce will result in a much higher price point.

Now for the disclaimers. No affiliations with any companies mentioned. Also, I am not a steel or knife guru, just a knife knutt who has has purchased and used his fair share of them and read up on many of the others.

Having one type of knife is like having one gun..it's just boring..lol I have Stainless and Carbon knives, they both have there place. I find it easier to get that razor sharp finish with my carbon blades, but for the most part thats not really nessessary for day to day tasks.
I will say this, the blade that is on my side when I am hunting or hiking is a Carbon steel blade, for the ease of sharpening in the field. The particular knife has a sharpened spine and throws great sparks as well.
Around the house I have a Kershaw Stainless folder, and a Mora High-Q carbon knife; I use them all the time and I'm quite fond of both.
My filet knifes are Stainless of course, but all my axes (Granfors Bruks & Wetterlings) are Carbon steel.
The Gerber LMF II under my drivers seat is Stainless.
Every tool has it's place.

The nice thing about knives is that, over time, you can accumulate a lot of them without going broke. I see no reason to choose between carbon and stainless. I'll buy both and switch 'em up as the mood strikes me. With only minimal care, I have never had a carbon steel knife rust in the field, but admittedly I live in the middle of a large continent, far from salt water.

I really like Barbarians comment about carbon steel seeming to be alive. It really does seem to grow old with you as it ages.

I will, however, always choose stainless for knives that I tuck away for emergencies and don't look at often....car trunk, mountain bike, tackle box, FAK etc.

I generally use Carbon for all my fish/animal fillet needs, just seems you cannot get the same edge on stainless steel. Any generic or utility knives I have are stainless, not quite the same edge but much less time spent on keeping these looking clean and new.