So which steel is best for swords? The late Bob Engnath used AISI 1050 to approximate the performance of traditional Japanese swords as much as possible. Ontario Knife Company uses AISI 1070 for their Spec Ops swords. Some manufacturers in Malaysia and the Philippines use AISI 5160. They are all comparable steels and there isn't much to recommend one over the other.

However, if properly heat-treated, AISI 5160 is probably tougher than most other grades, but the key word here is "properly".

Most blades made in India, Malaysia and the Philippines do shoddy work when it comes to heat treatment. So even though they're using great steel, the resulting blades do not achieve the full potential of the steel from which they are made!

Let's take Bob Engnath's blades, for example. He uses AISI 1050, even though a Malaysian company uses AISI 5160, which is generally considered a tougher steel than 1050. Yet, because Bob's blades are so well heat-treated, his 1050 blades will outperform a Malaysian blade!

In conclusion, you can have the best steel in the world, but if you don't heat-treat it right, any blade you make of it will turn out as garbage!