sandvik rocks. they make my favorite stainless steels. many of the steels we like in our knives (tool, spring, shock) were ported from plows, drills, hammers, pretty much anything heavy duty in construction or farming. however these, like infi, were designed specifically for knives. 13c26 was designed for razorblades. 12c27mod for kitchen knives. i believe spyderco makes a point of using 'knife only' steels as well, but i could be mistaken.