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LC200N is a stainless knife steel that puts corrosion resistance and toughness ahead of abrasive edge retention. It is a useful option for wet or salt-exposed cutting when you would rather touch up the edge more often than spend as much time worrying about the blade rusting. The hardware and construction of the rest of the knife still deserve attention.
What Is LC200N?
LC200N is a nitrogen-alloyed stainless steel. Zapp describes its production using pressurized electroslag remelting, or PESR, followed by forging. It is not a powder metallurgy grade. Its chemistry and production route help distinguish it from other steels sold for corrosion-focused knives.
Performance Ratings
For the science, we turn to Dr. Larrin Thomas of Knife Steel Nerds, who has kindly allowed us to share his ratings here.
| Property | LC200N |
|---|---|
| Abrasive edge retention | |
| Toughness | |
| Corrosion resistance |
Heat treatment, hardness and geometry affect actual knives.
Explore LC200N’s Tradeoffs
Choose a steel above to highlight its position and see all three exact ratings below. The full map fits your screen.
Stainless
LC200N
- Abrasive edge retention
- 3
- Toughness
- 8.5
- Corrosion resistance
- 10
All 48 rated materials. Numbers group steels at identical coordinates; colors describe stainless classification, not corrosion scores. Neither direction means a universally better knife.
LC200N’s ratings are shown above. Enable JavaScript to select another steel, or browse the full ratings table.
Edge Retention and the Main Tradeoff
LC200N scores 3 for abrasive edge retention, compared with Vanax SuperClean at 5.5. If your cutting wears an edge quickly, that difference is worth considering. LC200N instead offers a combination of high toughness and very high corrosion resistance.
For occasional cutting around water, a sharp edge and useful blade shape may serve you better than maximizing wear resistance alone. Plan on normal edge maintenance rather than treating corrosion resistance as a promise of long cutting life.
Our Vanax profile explains the alternative with higher wear resistance.
Toughness and Corrosion Resistance
Its toughness rating is 8.5 and its corrosion-resistance rating is 10. Those are strong ratings for a stainless cutting steel, but the corrosion score is not a percentage or a guarantee against every environment. A knife's screws, liners or springs may use other materials, so check the whole design when choosing for saltwater use.
Sharpening and Everyday Care
Suitable conventional sharpening stones can work with LC200N; diamond abrasives are also an option. Keep the bevel consistent and remove the burr carefully. There is no need to choose a complicated sharpening routine just because the steel uses nitrogen.
Rinse the knife after saltwater exposure and dry it before storage. That is a useful habit for the hardware and moving parts as well as the blade. Check the maker's care instructions if the knife includes components or a mechanism that need particular attention.
When Would You Choose LC200N?
LC200N makes sense when wet conditions are central to your use and you value toughness more than long abrasive edge life. For repeated dry slicing, a higher wear-resistance steel may offer more of what you need. Choose the handle grip, carry arrangement and complete corrosion-resistant construction with the same care as the blade steel. Our knife steel guide puts those choices in context.
Composition
Our steel composition guide explains what the elements do and how to read these values.
LC200N: Zapp producer-listed average chemistry and explicit maxima, mass %. Zapp: LC 200 N data sheet.
| Element | LC200N |
|---|---|
| Carbon (C) | 0.3% |
| Chromium (Cr) | 15% |
| Molybdenum (Mo) | 1% |
| Manganese (Mn) | ≤1% |
| Nickel (Ni) | ≤0.5% |
| Nitrogen (N) | ≤0.5% |
