420HC vs S30V.

The 110 Slim Select and the 110 Hunter Sport

The Buck 110 comes in both steels on this site, and the listings named here put the same blade length in different steels. The Buck 110 Slim Select Lockback Black gives a 3.75 inch stonewash 420HC clip point blade and a black glass filled nylon handle, 4.88 inches closed. The Buck 110 Hunter Sport Lockback gives a 3.75 inch satin CPM S30V clip point blade and a black anodized aluminum handle with a green micarta inlay, 5 inches closed. Each listing gives the USA as its origin.

So the blade length and blade shape match, while the steel, the finish, the handle and the closed length differ. The Hunter Sport costs more than the Slim Select, and the steel side of that difference is the part a spec table can speak to. CPM S30V steel takes one rating from 420HC and gives up two, which makes the step from one 110 to the other a trade rather than a straight climb. Which side of it suits you depends on what usually ends your edge.

The one rating S30V wins

Edge retention is the line where S30V pulls ahead. Crucible's powder metallurgy stainless carries about 1.45 percent carbon and about 4 percent vanadium, and its record credits a high vanadium carbide content with strong wear resistance, rated very good. 420HC, at roughly half a percent carbon, is rated modest there.

Wear resistance, in practice, is time between sharpenings. An S30V edge should keep working through abrasive material (cardboard and rope) for longer before it needs a stone. That is the whole case for the upgrade, and it is a strong one for someone who cuts a lot, sharpens rarely, or would rather not stop partway through a job to touch up an edge. It carries less weight for someone who sharpens by habit, since a 420HC edge is quick to bring back.

Two ratings run the other way

Toughness is where the upgrade costs something. S30V's record rates its toughness moderate and warns that it "can be chippy if ground too thin or over-hardened". The 420HC steel record rates toughness very good and ties that rating to the steel's standing on hard-use fixed blades. On a folder, the gap shows up in how an edge fails. Dulling is fixed on a stone in the usual way; a chip means grinding the whole edge back past the missing steel. S30V's own standing against S35VN is argued separately in S30V vs S35VN.

Corrosion runs the same direction: S30V is rated good and 420HC excellent. Neither rating makes a blade rustproof, but a 110 that rides in a damp pocket, gets rinsed and folded away wet, or lives in a boat bag is where the higher rating matters.

Put together, the S30V upgrade makes the 110 better at one thing and less forgiving at two. If your knife meets staples, knots and twisting cuts, or goes back in the pocket wet, the 420HC ratings favor you. If it mostly slices clean, dry material, S30V's edge retention is the rating you will notice.

Gerber makes the same trade on different models

Gerber puts the same choice on separate models rather than one family. The Gerber Sharkbelly Lockback gives a 3.5 inch satin 420HC sheepsfoot blade and a black GRN handle, 4.5 inches closed. The Gerber Fastball Linerlock Green gives a 3 inch stonewash CPM S30V Wharncliffe blade and a green aluminum handle, 4.13 inches closed, and the Gerber Terracraft Fixed Blade Green puts S30V on a 4 inch stonewash blade with a full tang and a green G10 handle, 9 inches overall. Each of these listings gives the USA as its origin. The Fastball costs more than the Sharkbelly, and their blade shapes differ as well, so on Gerber's side the steel is one choice among several.

The steel part of that choice reads the way it does on the 110, and 420HC meets S35VN on a page of its own, 420HC vs S35VN. On both makers' pairs named here, the S30V listing is the one that costs more and buys time between sharpenings, and the 420HC listing is the one that costs less and keeps the higher toughness and corrosion ratings.