7Cr17MoV vs 8Cr13MoV.

What 440A and AUS-8 tell you before any rating

Both steels travel with a better-known name attached, and those names are a quick way to place them. 7Cr17MoV is commonly described as a rough analog of AISI 440A. 8Cr13MoV is considered the compositional twin of AUS-8, and its record treats it as a domestic analog of that steel. Both are generic Chinese mill grades under the GB standard rather than one producer's proprietary steel.

The labels also forecast the trade, and 7Cr17MoV's own record draws the lines. It calls 7Cr17MoV's corrosion resistance roughly comparable to 440A, and it says 7Cr17MoV holds an edge less long than the tier that D2, AUS-8 and 8Cr13MoV share. So the 440A label points toward rust resistance, and the AUS-8 label points toward the edge-holding tier that 7Cr17MoV sits below. How closely 7Cr17MoV really tracks 440A is worked through in 7Cr17MoV vs 440A; for choosing between these two steels, the direction each label points is the useful part.

For a buyer reading a spec line, that makes 7Cr17MoV the rust-resistant side of this pair and 8Cr13MoV the longer-edged side, before a single rating is checked.

The ratings bear the labels out

The published ratings confirm the forecast on both lines. On edge holding, 8Cr13MoV is rated fair to good and 7Cr17MoV modest, and 7Cr17MoV's record places it below 8Cr13MoV's tier outright. On rust, the order flips. 7Cr17MoV is rated very good, which its record puts down to high chromium, about 17 percent. 8Cr13MoV is rated good, a mid-chromium stainless at 13 to 14.5 percent.

Toughness and hardness sit closer together. 7Cr17MoV's toughness is called reasonable for a budget stainless, with the condition that it is not over-hardened. 8Cr13MoV's is good for its class, and its record adds that the steel is forgiving to sharpen, the one sharpening claim either record makes. 7Cr17MoV typically ships at 55 to 59 HRC, while 8Cr13MoV is commonly shipped around 58 to 60 inside a published 55 to 62, so their usual shipping ranges overlap.

That leaves the decision where the labels put it: how wet the knife's working life will be, and how much it has to cut before it sees a sharpener.

Multi-blade traditionals in 7Cr17MoV, linerlocks in 8Cr13MoV

Kershaw offers both steels on this site, and the Kershaw listings named here split cleanly by kind of knife. In 7Cr17MoV they are traditional multi-blade pocket knives with satin blades and stainless bolsters. The Kershaw Brandywine Folder closes to 3.5 inches with clip, spey and sheepsfoot blades on a black G10 handle. The Kershaw Allegory Folder, 4 inches closed, puts clip and spear blades on black polished micarta, and the Kershaw Iredale Folder, 3.63 inches closed, adds a sheepsfoot blade to that clip and spear pair, also on black polished micarta. Turn to G10 vs Micarta for those two handle materials.

In 8Cr13MoV they are single-blade linerlocks with a pocket clip. The Kershaw Shuffle Linerlock has a 2.38 inch BlackWash blade, a purple textured GRN handle and an integrated bottle opener. The Kershaw Analyst sets a 3.25 inch BlackWash, partially serrated tanto blade in glass filled nylon, and the Kershaw Barstow comes with a 3 inch spear point blade in a black oxide BlackWash finish on a black GRN handle. Buck has an 8Cr13MoV linerlock here too: the Buck Haxby Linerlock matches a 3.88 inch satin drop point blade to a carbon fiber handle. Picks within the 8Cr13MoV shelf are the job of the 8Cr13MoV value knife guide, and this page leaves them there.

Among these Kershaw listings, then, the buyer who wants the higher corrosion rating is also choosing a traditional multi-blade knife with no clip in its description, and the buyer who wants the longer edge rating is choosing a clip-carried linerlock.

What each steel asks of the knife's owner

A 7Cr17MoV traditional such as the Brandywine asks for more frequent touch-ups than an 8Cr13MoV linerlock would under the same cutting, since its edge is rated modest against fair to good. In return it carries the steel of this pair rated very good for corrosion, which suits a knife that rides in a pocket through sweat or goes out in wet weather.

An 8Cr13MoV linerlock such as the Barstow or the Analyst runs the other way. Its edge is rated to last longer and its record calls the steel forgiving to sharpen, while its corrosion rating sits one step lower, good against very good. On that knife, drying the blade after wet work matters more than it would on the 7Cr17MoV traditional.

Neither record places its steel above the entry tier. 7Cr17MoV's calls it entry-level and budget, and 8Cr13MoV's calls it an entry-tier stainless on budget and mid-range folders. So choosing between them is choosing a trade, not stepping up a class: rust resistance in a traditional pocket knife, or edge life in a linerlock.