At Woodsman Knives we make hunting knives from three primary steels: AEB-L, Magnacut, and 80CRV2. We heat treat every blade in house to control consistency. 

AEB-L 

AEB-L is a stainless steel that was originally used in razor blades, so it takes a keen edge. It's an exceptionally tough stainless steel. It's tougher than Magnacut, S30V, Elmax, and just about every other commonly used stainless. It's even tougher than some carbon steels like 52100 and D2. 

Its edge retention is slightly worse than Maganacut, S30V, and Elmax. It has pretty good, but not exceptional corrosion resistance. 

The reason we love AEB-L is because we can grind our blades super thin, a near zero grind, without fear of edge chipping. This not only boosts cutting performance, but it also boosts edge retention. A knife that's thin behind the edge will continue to cut longer than one that is ground thicker. 

Magnacut

Magnacut is a balanced steel in that it walks the line of corrosion resistance, edge retention, and durability — with a slight leaning toward corrosion resistance and edge retention. 

80CRV2

80CRV2 is a tough and consistent carbon steel. It's also easy to resharpen. Occasionally there will be monosteel knives in 80CRV2, but most often it's used in san mai, go mai, and damascus steel. We source most of our san mai, go mai, and damascus from Baker Forge.