Knives come in a huge variety of steels. Which there are different levels of quality when it comes to cutlery steel, in general no steel is “better” than another. They are just different and fit different needs.

There are three basic criteria for judging a steel, hardness (specifically edge retention), toughness, and stain resistance. Contrary to popular belief, a harder steel will usually NOT be tougher. Harder steels are generally more brittle. Thing glass versus plastic. The tougher steels tend to be softer. So a very hard steel is great for a utility knife or a pocket knife. They will hold an edge for a long time and are generally not needed to perform very heavy duty work. For a harder use knife a softer steel is often preferred because it will not chip or crack as easily. The steel will bend or deform instead of breaking (again, think glass).

Stain resistance is important when working in moisture. People that work around salt water, that do food prep, or field dress animals should not just think of stain resistance as a matter of fighting rust, but also as edge retention. If you use a steel with very low stain resistance to field dress a deer, the edge retention will suffer greatly as it is effected by the salt content in the blood. So using a steel with great edge retention but poor stain resistance negates the edge retention when used in a moist environment.

Some of the great steels for pocket knives are S30V, D2, 154CM, ATS34, VG10, ZDP189, 440C, and AUS8. These steels hold an edge well, and have a decent to high stain resistance. D2 especially has great edge retention, but it has the lowest stain resistance (it is actually a very stain resistance tool steel, not a stainless steel). Of the listed steels 440C and AUS8 will be the softest.

Some great steels for tougher knives are O1, L6, A2, 1085, and 1095. These steels vary quite a bit with L6 being super tough be easy to rust and A2 being less tough but much harder and resistance to rust.

Here is a little eye candy. A Bob Dozier knife in my favorite all-around steel (D2).