Hell good old 1095 works fine for me but I do like 51200(SR101)!

IMO INFI is too expensive and 3V pits when it rusts !

Not touching that with a 30 foot pole...

LOL what!? <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/footinmouth.gif" alt="" />

I have to agree with everyone. If money is of no concern and I like the design of the knife I'm going with INFI if I have the choice. In my opinion most other steels are based on compromising on price or design.

If price was no issue, INFI or SR77, or SR101.

However, just to throw gas on a fire......(OH YEAH!), lets ad another factor in..........you have been in the woods for two months, your knife is DULL, and all you can find is a flat rock in the river, to sharpen it with. At this point in the survival game, i would actually want plain ol carbon steel, as it is REAL EASY to sharpen in the field with a flat stone.

like i said , throwing gas....

INFI.

Enough said.

What P-Easy does in the woods, stays in the woods (at least I hope).

1) for wilderness survival 6.5" to 10"

2) for "urban jungle" survival 4.5" - 6"

for 6.5" - 10" I would likely want INFI but SR77 would not be bad as long as its coated (just my opinion).

for 4.5-6", Carrying a knife that long will likely not gain favor from the local police, regardless of what the blade length limit says. I would have said VG-10 but the length is just over what I would consider its limit. If its a Dozer or Busse Kin heat treat then D2 could certainly work. SR101 or INFI, of course, would also work.

I always think it's odd when i see "BM" on the forums. As a nurse it means something TOTALLY different.

Will take the SR101 1st...SR77 next...ounce for ounce...dollar for dollar

After paying a lot of money for some rare and very high end steels...like Cowry X, R2, OU31,various stainless damascus steels...the truth is that any steel from a good custom maker who knows his craft...particularly the heat treatment...will work fine...but you cannot generalise on certain things like "sharpening in the field"...that depends on the Rc hardness of the blade...O1 tool steel with a high Rc is likely to be hard to sharpen.

The thing is that some steels at similar Rc heat treatments do exhibit ease of sharpening over other steels but other steels give of their best at higher Rc hardness than others...so it is down to what you specifically want...and whether you are prepared to pay an awful lot more money for the best steels which perhaps in "real use" the improved level of performance is hard to appreciate. Particularly if you "strop" the blade back to a razor edge after a days hard use...because there are many steels able to give that level of performance...the best steels have edge retention you can measure in "days" of hard use if sharpened properly so the edge is not too thin.

Edge angles are a key issue...many blades are taken thin enough to "roll" but prior to this feel better as they are "razor" sharp...so paying more for expensive steel only works if you know how to get the best out of the edge.

Personally for me I would go on "design" suitability and a good maker for a knife before the issue of "steel"...although I thought differently before trying them...but the design, comfort balance and size works far better for sorting out which is the best knife...than the steel.

As an example my favourite 5 inch knives are a 5 inch drop point in Cowry X by Hattori...and the Ratmandu in SR101...one is a $1000 knife...the other is around $250...they both are great knives although far apart in price...and the more expensive one is not able to justify the price difference in performance...unless you really were pushing the limits and not able to strop the edge back and needed a knife to work for "days" maybe even "weeks" without sharpening...then the steel difference would come into play...but those circumstances are very unlikely to occur.

I'd say Infi for both, but D2 would certainly work for #2 as would some other steels. I agree with SF that the HT and other factors come into play when considering the best steel for these uses. A Dozier D2 blade would certainly be up to it as would several CPMS3V and S30V blades. Many non-stainless blades would work but corrosion might affect them over time if there was no way to oil them, etc.

My vote for both would be Infi though. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />