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Knife & Sword Steel Comparison Chart

42 steels used in modern and traditional blades. Use the sliders to filter by minimum property level, or filter by intended use. Click any steel name for full details.

Ratings are banded 1–5 (Low to Very High), not exact figures, compiled from established metallurgical literature including Knife Steel Nerds. Toughness and edge retention are opposing properties in virtually every steel — there is no steel that rates "Very High" on both.

Filter by minimum level

Filter by intended use

Show steels suited for:

42 of 42 steels shown

Steel
Use
Hardness
Edge Retention
Toughness
Corrosion Resistance
Both
56–60 HRC
Below Average
Average
Low
Both
56–60 HRC
Below Average
High
Low
Knife
60–64 HRC
Average
Average
Low
Knife
58–61 HRC
Average
High
Low
Both
57–60 HRC
Below Average
Very High
Low
Both
60–64 HRC
Average
High
Low
Both
58–61 HRC
Average
High
Low
Knife
58–62 HRC
High
Below Average
Average
Knife
57–62 HRC
Average
High
Below Average
Knife
58–62 HRC
Average
Very High
Below Average
Knife
60–63 HRC
High
High
Below Average
Knife
61–64 HRC
High
High
Below Average
Knife
62–65 HRC
Very High
Average
Below Average
Knife
61–65 HRC
Very High
Below Average
Below Average
Knife
60–63 HRC
High
High
Below Average
Knife
60–64 HRC
Very High
Below Average
Below Average
Knife
61–64 HRC
Very High
Below Average
Below Average
Knife
60–64 HRC
Below Average
Very High
High
Knife
58–62 HRC
Below Average
Very High
High
Knife
58–61 HRC
Average
Average
High
Knife
60–61 HRC
Average
Average
High
Knife
58–61 HRC
Average
Average
Average
Knife
59–61 HRC
Average
High
Average
Both
56–60 HRC
Below Average
Average
High
Knife
57–59 HRC
Below Average
High
High
Knife
57–59 HRC
Below Average
High
High
Knife
57–59 HRC
Below Average
High
High
Knife
60–62 HRC
Average
Average
Average
Knife
58–61 HRC
Average
Average
Average
Knife
58–61 HRC
Average
High
Average
Knife
58–61 HRC
High
Average
High
Knife
58–61 HRC
Very High
Average
Average
Knife
59–61 HRC
Very High
Below Average
High
Knife
60–64 HRC
High
High
High
Knife
58–60 HRC
Average
Average
Very High
Knife
58–60 HRC
Below Average
High
Very High
Knife
58–61 HRC
Below Average
Very High
High
Knife
59–61 HRC
Average
High
Average
Both
58–61 HRC
Average
Average
Average
Sword
50–60 HRC
Below Average
Average
Below Average
Sword
55–60 HRC
Below Average
Average
Low
Sword
55–59 HRC
Below Average
Very High
Low