Are you looking to clean your garden or fighting knives for the correct steel? Check out these 5160 steel knife reviews.
But before buying this steel, you probably want to know everything about the steel. Is steel suitable for knives? How popular in the market these steel? How strong is 5160 steel? And more questions.
So, suppose you’re buying knives for the first time. In that case, especially if you’re on a budget – the smart approach is to start with a few well-made essentials, and then build your collection with lower-priority tools as your budget allows.
If you are confused and want great knives steel then you may go for W2 steel vs D2 these two steel are the best value for money and time.
1. Buck knives 808 Talon Review
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Are you looking for the best quality 5160 steel knives? Then the buck knives 808 talon review is the best way for anyone. Because it is a large survival knife, even it is almost like a machete. The blade is versatile, both during camping trips and when maintaining the garden.
That is specially designed to clear jungle paths. However, as from features, its blade is enhanced with a hawkbill shape. So the knife is almost like a hook. To sum up, when you have this one you can easily remove all the jungle from your garden within a few minutes.
On the other hand, it comes with a 25 cm razor-sharp; the Talon can a lot more. For example of the blade, for instance, is enhanced with a saw. The knife is very coarse for this perfect size, but it is always great to have such a tool around during a survival situation.
Even great when you are out in the field with limited means. When you purchase this one, you need to consider the corrosion resistance: moisture, acids, salt, and blood can leave discolorations. So, Buck enhanced the blade with a cerakote coating. The knife steel sustainable coating protects it against rust but can eventually also wear out. So it is essential to clean the knife after use and occasionally great it.
What is 5160 steel?
It is a high carbon and chromium spring steel. That provides users outstanding toughness, even a high level of flexibility, and excellent fatigue resistance.
On the other hand, the alloy steel 5160 steel is also used in the automotive field in several different heavy spring applications, especially for leaf springs. One of the top notes is that the 5160 steel can be difficult to weld and machine and require special procedures.
5160 steel properties
After researching about the chemical composition and the HRC of the 5160 steel, that comes with the following features:
Edge Retention: The steel with a maximum HRC of 60, provides excellent edge retention but not the best compared to carbon steel.
Corrosion Resistance: The 5160 steel comes with a low Chromium presence (0.9%), and offers low corrosion resistance.
Wear Resistance: It is a mixture of carbon, chromium, and Magnesium that offers excellent wear resistance.
Sharpness: The knife’s steel is so hard, the harder it is to sharpen it, it’s not the case for our 5160, and you can easily sharpen.
Machinability: The steel is very hard for machining, and the steel needs to be annealed before machining for maximum speeds and feeds.
Welding: Other than the high Carbon and Chromium in this Steel, the 5160 steel has poor Weldability.
Toughness: It has a high toughness due to its mix of Chromium, Manganese, and Carbon.
Heat Treatment:, it is hardened in oil. The perfect temperature is 1525 F for quenching, and the tempering is between 800- 1300 F.
Forging: The Steel is forged between 1149°C -1204°C or 2100°F – 2200°F
If you’re not able to select the right knives steel, then you may check out our latest list of the steel’s here- 154CM Steel VS D2 Steel.
Is 5160 steel good for knife?
In our opinion, the 5160 steel for knives is perfect for those looking for a sword-type knife. Even the knife steel, except for corrosion resistance, has good edge retention, ideal hardness, enough toughness, and wear resistance. So when you need very reasonable steel for a knife that resists “the beating”, then the 5160 steel is a great choice.
On the other hand, when you work in a wet environment, or you’re a fisherman, hunter, or you use it in the kitchen, I wouldn’t recommend the 5160 steel since it’s prone-corrosion’s going to rust very quickly.
5160 steel hardness
The 5160 steel knife is a high carbon and chromium alloy. Sword manufacturers widely adopt it due to its unique properties.
It is excellent for knives, and it is well-suited to tools that require a high degree of impact resistance and need to be capable of taking and keeping an edge through extended use like swords and large knives.
Even the steel has toughness due to its mix of chromium, manganese, and carbon.
5160 steel composition
| Materials | Quantity | Works |
| Carbon | 0.64% | It will increase hardness Wear/corrosion resistance Unfortunately a high amount of it decreases strength. |
| Chromium | 0.9% | Perfect for tensile strength and Edge retention. On the other hand it enhances corrosion resistance and wear resistance |
| Manganese | 1% | It improves hardness and brittleness. |
| Silicon | 0.3% | Perfect for strength. |
| Phosphorus | 0.035% | Improve strength. |
| Sulfur | 0.04% | Improves machinability. |
5160 steel vs 1095 steel
Like 5160 steel for knives, 1096 steel is most popular in the market too. It is used in many US Military fighting knives. The 1095 steel stands for .95% carbon content in the steel.
On the other hand, 5160 steel is spring steel. It is even the most popular knife steel in swords and the same survival knives due to its flexibility. However, the 5160 steel is spring steel that lacks some edge retention compared to the 1095 steel.
| 5160 steel | 1095 | |
| TOUGHNESS | 10/10 | 8/10 |
| EDGE RETENTION | 2/10 | 3/10 |
| EASE OF SHARPNESS | 9/10 | 7/10 |
| CORROSION RESISTANCE | 3/10 | 3/10 |
5160 steel vs 420hc
In this part, 420hc comes with low-end steel and a modification of the old 420 old steel. That offers pretty the same corrosion resistance as 5160. It comes with 13% Chromium which offers excellent corrosion resistance, unlike our rust-prone steel. Besides, 5160 steel is better in terms of toughness and offers perfect sharpen ability than 420hc.
You may also be interested to have a look at our top list of steels – 5cr15mov vs 7cr17mov.
5160 steel – Final Verdict
Finally, 5160 steel knife reviews highly recommend these steel knives. Because when you search for a sword, then these steal the best for you.
They are great for cleaning your garden, jungle, and outdoors. As for features, knife steel is more expensive for manufacturers to make a knife with 5160 steel – due to the production process – than other steel, such as 1095.
Here’s a short recap of 5160 steel:
- The steel is flexible.
- It’s durable.
- The steel comes with less edge retention compared to 1095 steel.
- It’s spring steel.
- The steel is primarily found in swords or large knives.