Originally Posted by
JackFanToM
I have read tons of stuff but tend to lend more credence to my real world experience. S110v is great at getting a really keen edge, but is super chippy, s90v is similar. S30 tends to hold a working edge for a long time, but does not keep the very keen edge very long. S35 is a bit better than s30 at holding the keen edge. D2 is good, but can rust and is similar in performance to s30 imo. My only experience with 154cm is benchmade's, and it is garbage...too soft to hold an edge for any prolonged use. I find, based on my limited experience, Elmax and m390 seem to have the best overall balance of edge retention (wear resistance) and toughness (resistance to chipping).
All of my experiences have been with either my own knives, or those of customers, so I have tested a good 3-4 dozen knives in various steels. I have experience with bigger knives done in higher carbon steels like 5160, 1095, 52100, etc. and I find all of these to depend on the heat treat (52100 gets chippy at around 60-61 RWH).