I suspect that if the testing would have been longer, the difference could actually get pretty drastic. I've found that if s30v isn't stropped back right when the first significant dulling is noticed, it doesn't take long to get truly dull.
I was getting a lot of variation in my Bess tests. I read and found Bess recommends pre tensioning the test media to ~ 100 grams. I use a small 5” hemostat to grab the line(any clip will do) and attached a weight to the assembly for the balance of the 100 grams. The variability was reduced after using the consistent tension method.
So I’ve got many examples of S30V and S35VN. As for Spydies I also have S45VN, 20CV, and Cruwear. Should I get some Magnacut or S90V next? Cruwear has impressed me with being rather stainless but I spot up M4 and K390 and it bugs me. I’m not big on coatings either, So some stainless with peak wear resistance or peak toughness is up next.
Magnacut and s90v are both great steels, but they have different strengths. Magnacut is about as corrosion resistant as they come, and it's quite tough for a steel with decent wear resistance, but s90v will hold an edge longer and it's still pretty corrosion resistant (about the same as s30v). But s90v isn't a particularly tough steel (about the same as m390), so it will be a little chippier.
Benchmade s90v (i have the 535-3 and 533-3) has been relatively lacking overall compared to golden or Taichung spydie s90v and not really showing anywhere near the performance s90v is really capable lf. With both my s90v BMs it took 6 and 9 edges/sharpenings before i got consistent numbers in cut tests telling me they both had severely burnt/fatigued steel down at the edge from sharpening and grinding in the bevels. Even once i got in to good steel and was not having 20-30 feet variations in test results from edge to edge i wasnt happy with BMs s90v performance, i have two kubeys in s90v that both out cut Bms s90v. A common theme wjth benchmade knives, my bailout in m4 took 7 edges to get consistent numbers as well. If you really want to see the drastically longer edge life of s90v vs s30v use golden spydie s90v and s30v. Another thing is the s90v will hugely show a difference with more cutting, the amount of cutting your doing isnt really getting the edges near the point of wear that the really high performance steels are going to show drastic difference. S90v isnt a steel thats known for holding its fine edge. Double or triple the cutting amount and thats where you will really see a drastic difference between s30v and s90v. Not saying anything negative about your testing method im just stating my findings.
That's sad to hear about Benchmade. They must really be burning the hell out of their edges in the sharpening process. I agree that the testing I've been doing isn't going to show super steels to their best advantage. I've been doing it this way because it's really reflective of how I use my knives, and I'm sure I'm a bit of a freak in that regard. I don't put a knife in my pocket in the morning unless it will whittle hair, so the actual benefit of extreme edge retention is wasted on me. But I'm still quite interested in it from an academic/collector standpoint. I figure it's equivalent to a car collector who is never going to drive his Lambo at 200 mph ... but it's important that it CAN hit 200. 😃
