Maxamet and CruWear are some of the best steels on the market. We’re going to take a look at which one is better.

Here’s the short answer:

Maxamet has better edge retention, while CruWear is more balanced, with good edge retention, toughness, corrosion resistance, and ease of sharpening. If you want better edge retention, Maxamet is the way to go. If you want a well-rounded steel, CruWear is the better choice.

With the short answer out of the way, let’s take a closer look at each steel, which one is better, and why.

Deep Dive on Maxamet

Maxamet is a supersteel known for its incredible edge retention. It’s made by Carpenter Steel through a proprietary process. Because of this, it’s difficult to know the exact composition of the steel, but it’s thought to have something along the lines of:

• 2.15% carbon, 
• 4.75% chromium, 
• 10% cobalt, 
• 0.3% manganese, 
• 13% tungsten, and 
• 6% vanadium.

Carbon helps to improve wear resistance and strength (though too much carbon can lead to brittleness). Chromium helps with corrosion resistance. Cobalt, tungsten, manganese, and vanadium all help increase the strength and wear resistance of the steel.

Maxamet has great edge retention (arguably the best of any steel out there), but it sacrifices just about every other attribute for this. It’s not very tough or corrosion resistant, and its high edge retention makes it hard to sharpen.

Deep Dive on CruWear

CPM-CruWear is a high-end steel that’s made to be well balanced. It’s not necessarily amazing in any one area, but it’s well-rounded and can perform well in just about any area. It’s made by Crucible Industries using their Crucible Particle Metallurgy (CPM) process that makes the grain size uniform. This causes the steel to be stronger and less likely to suffer any catastrophic failures.

Its composition includes:

• 1.10% carbon
• 0.35% manganese
• 1.10% silicon
• 7.50% chromium
• 2.40% vanadium
• 1.15% tungsten
• 1.60% molybdenum

Both silicon and molybdenum increase the wear resistance and strength of the steel.

CruWear doesn’t shine in any one area, but it can perform well in many different tasks. It’s a jack of all trades situation.

Maxamet versus CruWear

Maxamet is great in a single area: Edge retention. It arguably has the best edge retention of any steel out there, but it comes at the cost of toughness and corrosion resistance. And of course, a steel with more edge retention usually means it’s harder to sharpen.

On the other hand, CruWear is a well-rounded steel. It’s got good edge retention, toughness, ease of sharpening, and corrosion resistance. While it’s not amazing in any one of these areas, it’s a solid all-around choice.

If you need a knife that stays sharp for super long, pick Maxamet. If you need anything else, it’s better to go with CruWear.

In terms of cost, both are high-end steels, so they aren’t cheap. Generally, though, Maxamet is more expensive than CruWear. If cost factors into your decision, then CruWear may be the better choice.

Recommended Knives

Here are our favorite knives in each steel.

Spyderco Para Military 2 – Maxamet

The Spyderco Para Military 2 is one of the most popular knives out there. It’s a workhorse of a knife with G-10 handle scales, a thumbhole opening, Spyderco’s smooth-closing compression lock, and with this version, has the super steel Maxamet. The Maxamet steel turns this knife from good to great.

Check it out here (link to Amazon).

Benchmade Adamas – Cruwear

The Adamas is a heavy-duty folding knife that is great for heavy tasks. The Adamas weighs 6 ounces, has a 4-blade, and has a G-10 handle. Overall the Adamas is a very good EDC knife that is great for any EDC task.

Check out this knife here (link to Amazon)

Conclusion

Both Maxamet and CruWear are great steels, but they have different strengths. Maxamet is great at edge retention, but not much else. CruWear is a well-rounded steel that would be a good choice if you need anything other than amazing edge retention.