some steels excel at edge retention,some excel and lateral strength or high impact.other excel at corrosion resistance.

it is INFI that excels at all of the above.

also,like vic said,INFI is a really easy to work with,doesnt throw a lot of spark and i've heard that it would have to get extremely hot to effect its temper.

the temp number i heard was very high but i dont remember exactly what it was.higher than your going to get it while grinding and using the normal precautions one uses to keep a blade cool while grinding.

i just love the stuff.

i took the edge on my ASH-1 and FFFBM down really thin because i know they can handle it.as far as corrosion is concerned their is really zero maintenance.i've heard that INFI can rust but i've left'em out all night,stuck in the tree next to the tent and in the rain with no problems at all.the issue with the decarb on the CE's was a fluke.

usually from my experience a steel that takes an edge as well as INFI doesnt hold it as long.S30V holds an edge forever because it takes forever to give it one.

INFI is my all time favorite steel and insiders like mike stewart have said they believe INFI to be A8 tool steel with jerry's proprietary heat treat.

while mike is extremely knowledgeable we have no way of knowing if he is correct or not.from what i've heard the busse crew vehemently deny that INFI is A8.

other than this topic i've never even heard of A8.i wonder why you dont see others using it.

i personally believe that the secret of INFI was passed onto jerry from the ancient egyptians who themselves first learned of it when they where visited by the aliens.