Any other steel even come close to INFI?

CPM-3V is another steel that has high abilities in many areas. However the way a steel is ground has a significant effect on how it behaves including such things as edge retention. There are many details in the Busse geometry that appear to be trivial at first glance, but have very large effects. For example, the tip on my SHBM is formed from a convex sweep, this makes it very durable in regards to prying/digging in woods, far more so than a v-ground tip, even if the v-tip is slightly thicker. The reason being that convex tips support such prying load across the main body of the tip and not right at the top of the tip as v-ground tips do, which is why the latter often break right near the tip when you are digging in wood.

So, yes, the steel is a factor and yes the heat treatment is a factor, but Busse also has a very good understanding of geometry and without that the first two don't get you anything as you are running blind. He has also done a *lot* of work with other materials and geometries than what they are using now and thus he has a solid ability to interpret performance in a meaningful way. I have seen a lot of makers promote their knives using "tests" that seem to indicate high performance when in reality any knife could do them (stab a car door, cut a penny etc.) . This is one thing that Busse doesn't do. The kinds of performance claims they make are not trivial to achieve. The knives are promoted based on what they can do - not on who uses them, the latter being nothing but hype.

-Cliff
 
Like Andrew said, there are steel(s) that can out-perform INFI in individual categories like toughness, stainlessness, absolute hardness, etc. But as Cliff once noted, INFI's ability to perform so well in so many categories is what raises it above the rest. When you couple that steel with the Busse asymetrical edge and transverse wave heat treat, you've got the best knives on the market IMHO (and the HO of my depleted wallet too ;) ).

Always remember the Holy Trinity Of Knives:
- Steel
- Geometry
- Heat Treat

If any one of the three is off, no matter how good the other two are, you've missed the mark on making a great knife. Jerry's hitting on all three with his INFI blades.
 
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