I am having a hard time understanding who wants or needs knife steel any better than what we have now. For most applications, I have found that a well tempered 1095 does pretty much anything I might want to do with a knife. For salt water use, the 440 series and even 420HC seem to work. The Busse-tempered S7 is remarkably tough and affordable. INFI is actually better than I need for most uses. Just my two cents. BTW, the earth is flat. At least here on the coastal plain.