Cruwear Spyderco Para 3 edge retention testing. KC exclusive, part of the Cruwear series. 

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This example is getting in to a good spot for fine vs working edge capability. At 63 it really starts to take off.

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Haha, I thought you had some Cruwear too.

1.5 to 2 points in hardness is wild how much Cruwear changes.

You're welcome, once I get the current ones done I'll do the Cruwear micarta PM2.

While it won't fix it getting dirty the backspacer Cody sent me takes care of the gap on top and makes it feel like a nice solid piece. I'm not sure if I'll leave mine either, I like G10 much better for most use.

@@Outpost_76 Right on Gerald, the old G10 with nested liners might be more practical for some PM2 users. I think the Cruwear on the Crucarta release is of descent hardness as I am getting good edge retention.

It's a great sharpeners steel as well as a great user steel. It's worth trying.

It will be coming with some other S90V.

The Cruwear is going to be tougher, have better edge stability, wear resistance and impact resistance than the S45VN. Use each one for a few weeks and see how they perform.

The early 2014 Manix have all been 63 + and the Military as well. It seems after that the hardness was taken down to the 61 to 62 range from the smooth carbon fiber Manix and gray PM2 models until the runs of the Cruwear micarta Shaman where some were soft and others run harder. The Z Wear Shaman and current PM2 are looking like it's back to being harder. It will vary a little per batch and my DLT PM2 Cruwear is 61.5. I'm going to talk about it when I do the videos for each.

I got this one from another channels sale. Many places to buy used, some will have better deals than others. Other knife channels usually have good prices, reddit r/knifeswap is another good place. I know blade forums has a sale section as well. Then you have Instagram which can have good deals to Facebook groups and Ebay which usually have higher prices than anywhere else.

@@Outpost_76 I know of one channel that does regular sales but he does not do regular paypal (I think only friends and family and I've gotten burned before with that so I'd prefer to add on whatever premium--I think it's 2%--onto his price in order to go through regular paypal). I will offer that and see what the response is.

My 4v manix2 and pm2 are among my fav knives to carry and use. 4v is a fantastic user steel and feels sooooo damn good on the stones. Shapton pro 8k and 4v is a match made in heaven. Finish that 4v on a shapton pro 8k (starts to slick off on the 15k shapton pro stone) possibly being the steel that has the most upfront sharpness of any steel I have ever touched. My 4v manix 2 having the blade reground to 95thou its BTE is currently 9thou with a 13dps bevel finished on the 8k shapton pro and stropped down to .025 micron CBN emulsion on Kangaroo leather it is capable of whittling hair with the grain no problem at all and will cut a free hanging hair Apon touching it. It's straight razor sharp and 4v has the edge stability to handle a 13dps bevel at 9thou bte. It's not a user of course it's a show people what sharp really is knife but at the end of the day it can be used if you wanted to. My 4v pm2 is a very regular carry knife of mine as is my 4v manix 2 that hasn't been reground. Trust me if you want your 4v to blow your mind finish it on a shapton pro 8k or naniwa 10k resin diamond stone, the upfront sharpeness is mental. It's not my fav steel (s90v fav stainless and M4 my fav non stainless) but it is damn good and nothing I know of can touch its sharpness off the stones.

From all the examples tested they have been consistent in the 61.5 to 62 range.

That M4 Shaman is at 64.5 for a hardness while the Cruwear was 61.8 hrc. Cruwear in the 63.5 hrc and up from Spyderco will match or cut more than M4. Spyderco has kept the M4 in the 62.5 to 64 hrc range always. They started out with Cruwear in 2014 in the 63 to 64 hrc range. Around 2016 they began running it softer and the past couple years went back to running Cruwear above 63 hrc again. I'll do a complete Cruwear video soon talking about how different it is at 61.5 hrc vs 64 hrc.

@Outpost 76 Thanks for explaining it to me. Best regards.

I suppose you would recommend PM2 Cruwear DLT over, other steels ?

I don't have one myself.

What the main use going to be? I'm going to cover something along this question in a video about testing vs real use, how it differs and why D2 isn't always a bad choice even though I'm not a fan of that steel.

@@Outpost_76 It's going to be my EDC not really hard use. I don't have a problem sharpening D2 so that's not an issue for me. I think l like the Civivi Praxis better from the videos I've watched. It seems to have slightly better action, and the G-10 is beveled on the edges unlike CJRB. If the $35 CJRB Taiga was in 9cr18MoV I would definitely go with the Civivi Praxis. But the Taiga is a little less money and "might" have better edge retention with D2.

As I test more Magnacut I'll talk about it. Even down at 61.5 Cruwear still has a killer up front sharpness. I agree it's a very balanced steel that has a huge versatility.

For Cruwear yes, when it gets into the 63 to 64 rc zone from production companies the performance gains are very good. This Para 3 is 62 rc and compared to the mid 63 rc Manix it's down over 100 feet of cutting in a 1 inch section.

@@Outpost_76 I wonder how much time is involved in that extra step of hardening as well as the finishing machining work that has to be done on a knife with a higher hardness rating?