Scrappy, all the steels you listed make great knives. I have worked will all of them except M4. I had that one on my list for next but liked the look of CPM S110V (on paper) and now am pretty much soaked up in that one. Here's my take on the other 5.
CPM S60V. This was the first CPM stainless. It was an improvement for knife blades over say some of the other in use at the time. Like ATS 34 ect. The problem was the low attainable hardness. Pretty much the best that you could do was RC58. Hardness equals strength so if we could have been able to get it to 60 then would have been able see the full potential. It still made/makes a great knife blade but not much of it around any more.
CPM S90V. Developed as an upgrade for 60V. The aim was better corrosion resistance and higher obtainable hardness. The hardness potential is there but it takes a very high HT temp to get it there. The high temp limits production runs and also Paul Bos is reluctant to run for the custom guys it since it is so hard on his furnance. It is a good steel at RC57/58 but outstanding at 60/61. Both CPM S60V and S90V are hard to grind and finish. They also consume grinding belts at 100% over other more common knife steels. This is true of all the CPM steels (except for CPM D2) below as well
CPM S30V. This one is one of the best multi purpose blade steels. It heat treats nicely and it is easy to get RC60. It lends itself to production blades and custom makers. Corrosion resistance is good or better than say 440C. Toughness even at 60 is adequate for a very fine edge. My favorite application for 30v is fillet knives and some kitchen knives. It also makes a great EDC. Keep in mind that Crucible makes tool steels for the plastics industry, dies, feed screws, ect. On S30V they realized the potential for knife blades and asked some of the makers what we wanted in a good all around steel and worked on something with that in mind. Like all the CPM's good heat treating is essential and there have been some learning curves to get it all balanced. I works fine at RC 58 but has the full potential nearer 60.
CPM 154. The same chemistry as the 154CM but the change to the CPM structure made a noticeable difference. Finer structure allows higher hardness and better performance. I can push this one to 63 easy and with 154Cm the limit is about 61. This steel and S30v work about the same. I like it a little better for hunters due to the improved hardness. Makes a great fillet and kitchen knife as well. To get the higher hardness takes a temper at 975 but I have not seen any degradation in either toughness or corrosion resistance due to this temper cycle. It may show up in the lab but so far no problems in the field use. A good all around steel, pretty friendly to work and makes an excellent blade.
CPM D2 This one was more of an interesting experiment for Crucible. ( I speak for me not them). The improvement over the D2 grade is mostly in the structure. The finer grain allows a higher hardness and better toughness. I made 4 knives with this one so probably not a fair appraisal but got as good or better results with CPM 145 so decided to focus on that grade.
CPM 10V This one is not stainless but has great attainable hardness and adequate toughness even at 63/64. The 10% vanadium combined with the hardness make it the edge holding champ. This is the steel I compare all others against for overall performance. The best application is for a hunter where edge holding is more important than corrosion resistance.
CPM S110V. Introduced as an upgrade for S90V. This steel has the most potential of all so far for a great knife blade. Take a look at the chemistry. Vanadium, Niobium, Moly, Chrome, Colbalt and a whole lot of carbon. I just started working with this one and with the right heat treat it is in the same categrory as 10v for edge holding. I have pushed it up to 64 and seems to have adequate toughness for a very thin grind edge. Crucible shows outstanding corrosion resistance on their data sheet. As the steel sees more use in the field.--and more feedback is available I think this one will stand out. Availabilty is limited and it is a challange to work with -- grind and polish and drill and mill and saw cut are tough, but I think overall it will stand out and be worth the extra effort. We have to thank Kershaw for putting this one into use.
This is all my take and others will have different results and opinions I'm sure but FWIIW..
One more thing. I see a lot of discussion on edge chipping with various steels. On these high alloy steels at high hardness they were developed for the plastics industry where wear resistance and corrosion resistance are the most important. Also many are grinding and sharpening to a very fine edge. Even though these steels are very strong it is easy to exceed the stress level since the material backing up the edge is very small. Stress equals force divided by the area. Big force and small area equals failure. This is especially true if side loads and dynamic loads are applied The CPM steels have to be done at a pretty high hardness RC 57 plus--hardness equals strength-- to prevent the edge from rolling. The fine edge has to stand up there in order for the wear resistance provided by the carbides to come into play. Many of us would rather have fine edge chipping rather than rolling as the failure mode. If you get fine chipping the edge keeps cutting. If you roll it will continue to fatigue and eventually break anyhhow. If this happens you are back to the sharpening stone. Just a little design philosophy.. Phil
at 63 HRC M4 is still very tough. Almost all national cutting competition knives are made of M4