What we carry in 8Cr13MoV and VG-10
VG-10 holds an edge longer and resists rust better than 8Cr13MoV, while 8Cr13MoV is rated good for toughness and forgiving to sharpen. On this site the two price ranges never meet: 8Cr13MoV listings run $13.49 to $56.03, and VG-10 listings start at $98.96. The steel explains part of that gap. The handle, lock and brand around it explain the rest.
| 8Cr13MoV | VG-10 |
|---|---|
| Type | |
| stainless (Chinese GB standard) | stainless |
| Made by | |
| Generic Chinese mill grade; treated as a domestic analog of AUS-8. | Takefu Special Steel (Japan) |
| Composition | |
C ~0.80%Cr 13-14.5%Mo ~0.15%V ~0.10% | C ~1.0%Cr ~15%Mo ~1.0%V ~0.2%Co ~1.5% |
| Hardness | |
| 55-62 (commonly shipped around 58-60) HRC | 60-62 HRC |
| Edge retention | |
| Fair to good; a well-regarded value steel that outperforms lower Cr-Mo Chinese grades. | Very good, a long-standing benchmark premium Japanese stainless, especially in kitchen cutlery. |
| Toughness | |
| Good for its class, forgiving to sharpen. | Good, though can be a bit more brittle than tougher modern stainless at the high end of its HRC range. |
| Corrosion resistance | |
| Good, solid mid-chromium stainless. | Very good. |
| Where it sits | |
| Ubiquitous entry-tier stainless on budget/mid folders and multi-tools; considered the compositional twin of AUS-8. | Upper-mid to premium tier; iconic in Japanese kitchen knives, also used in Western folders. |
| On this site right now | |
| 88 listings, 69 distinct models, $13.49 to $56.03 | 11 listings, 8 distinct models, $98.96 to $242.10 |
The price gap between 8Cr13MoV and VG-10 on this site is not a matter of degree. The most expensive 8Cr13MoV knife here, the Kershaw Radar Framelock A/O at $56.03, still costs less than the least expensive VG-10 knife at $98.96. There is no overlap to shop in.
The shelves differ in size as much as in price. 8Cr13MoV covers 88 listings across 69 models, 87 of them Kershaw and 1 Buck, with a median of $37.13. VG-10 covers 11 listings across 8 models, all Böker Plus, with a median of $134.96. The VG-10 median is more than three times the 8Cr13MoV median, which is the gap most people notice when two folders look alike in a photo. Neither shelf has a listing marked made in the USA, so country of manufacture does not explain the difference here. For a shopped and ranked pick from the larger shelf, the 8Cr13MoV value knife buying guide does that job.
Part of the price step from 8Cr13MoV to VG-10 is real metallurgy, and the published records show which part. VG-10 is rated very good for edge retention against fair to good for 8Cr13MoV, and very good for corrosion against good. Those are the two directions where the premium steel earns its money: fewer trips to the sharpener, and more margin before a damp pocket or a kitchen job leaves a mark.
The recipes show why. VG-10 carries about 1.0% carbon against about 0.80% for 8Cr13MoV, roughly 15% chromium against 13 to 14.5%, and far more molybdenum, about 1.0% against 0.15%, plus about 1.5% cobalt. The hardness lines sit the same way: VG-10's published window of 60 to 62 HRC is at or above the 58 to 60 HRC where 8Cr13MoV is commonly shipped, inside a published 8Cr13MoV range of 55 to 62. The records also place them in different tiers: 8Cr13MoV at the entry tier, treated as the compositional twin of AUS-8, and VG-10 in the upper-mid to premium tier. The 8Cr13MoV steel page and the VG-10 steel page each carry the full account.
A higher price does not buy a steel that is better at everything. The VG-10 record carries a brittleness caution for the upper part of its hardness range, set against the tougher modern stainless grades. The 8Cr13MoV record calls its toughness good for its class and the steel forgiving to sharpen. In practice that means a basic stone has an easier time with the cheaper blade, and that the cheaper blade is the less painful one to damage, lose or lend.
The other thing a steel line cannot explain is the rest of the knife. Listing names on the VG-10 shelf mention titanium and cocobolo, as with the Böker Plus Urban Trapper Petite Cocobolo at $174.56, and handle materials, the lock, the finish and the brand all carry cost. The gap between the two medians is the price of a different class of knife, not a price tag on the alloy alone. None of this is measured per knife: Knives Now does not test the heat treat of individual knives, so the ratings above describe the steels.
The better question than which steel wins is which life the knife is going to have. If it opens boxes, rides in a work truck, gets lent out and occasionally lost, and gets sharpened on whatever stone is handy, 8Cr13MoV is built for that. Its forgiving sharpening and good toughness suit a knife that is used hard and maintained casually, and the shelf here gives you dozens of models to choose from.
If the knife is for fine cutting, stays in your pocket for years, and you would rather sharpen less often, VG-10's longer edge retention and higher corrosion rating are what the extra money pays for, along with the handle materials that come with this tier. Treat the edge with some care, because a hard, thin edge is the one that chips when it is pried or twisted.
Two neighboring comparisons pick up where this one stops. A different step up from 8Cr13MoV is laid out in D2 vs 8Cr13MoV. For the hunting and outdoor version of the VG-10 decision, see 420HC against VG-10. The whole range is mapped in the Knives Now Steel Lab.
The figures on this page are the published specification ranges for the alloy, cross-checked against manufacturer datasheets and independent metallurgical references. They describe the steel, not any one knife. Hardness in particular is a range a mill and a knifemaker work inside, and Knives Now does not test the heat treat of individual knives, so nothing here is a claim about what a specific listing measures.
Cross-checked against the sources above. Figures verified 2026-07-19.