The performance of a knife depends a great deal on the quality of steel used in the blade. Two most common types of blade steel are carbon and stainless steel. How do you decide which one is a better buy over the other? Here are the two most popular blade steels and their respective advantages:

Carbon steel

Carbon is not the most recommended material for pocket knives. Carbon steel is brittle and is more prone to chipping and snapping. Carbon steel knives maintain a good edge and are ideal for full tang knives as it does not need to balance on a pivot point.

Stainless steel

Stainless steel is the winner when it comes to choosing the best material for your pocket knife. The adaptability of stainless steel allows it to be tempered for a short or a long tang and thus makes it ideal to be used in pocket and other folding knives.

What makes one type of steel advantageous over the other?

The quality of steel defines your knife. Too soft and the steel fails to hold an edge; too hard and it ends up getting chipped and snapped. You have to find the balance between the two- something that can be sharpened easily but retains the edge. Most of the steels are mixed with other elements, heated at a certain temperature and then treated to produce high quality versions.