Yes, very high. I was referring to the S35VN by Mr. Hinderer for his XM folder and not the collaboration knives. I had it a point too high. From his site - CPM-S35VN (60-61 HRC) Sorry for any confusion.
Yeah, I knew you were talking about your XM's HRC. Even at 60-61 that still seems quite a bit harder than most are running it. I have no doubt at that hardness it is performing very well. I know initially from watching CrimsonTideShooter's videos that Spyderco and CRK seemed to be running the steel too soft and he had problems with rolling his fairly obtuse angled edges. Maybe he can chime in and give some insight on the topic.
Of course, I also recall CTS saying that ELMAX is just a bit better than S30V. Not 100% sure about that statement, though.
No doubt S35VN at 60-61 is a very good steel. I'm sure it's toughness at that hardness is just about all one would need in a folder or anything along those lines. But, ELMAX has held an edge for me very well also. I even chopped/batoned my way through 1" of braided hydraulic line rated at 3,000 psi. I had literally no damage to the edge, not even small fractures or chips. I was very surprised. Don't want you to think I was out to destroy my 0561, but I am a very curious person by nature. It of course did show a little bit of wear. Even better, this was a few weeks after I got the knife, and I did this with ZT's factory edge, which was in all honesty the sharpest production knife I have ever received. I have an Edge Pro with Chosera's, but still haven't touched up the edge after the almost 2 months I have had it. I just checked my arm, it's still shaving sharp on every bit of the blade, and still push cuts phone book paper.
I will admit also to not having used a ZT in S35VN. I have tried Spyderco's quite a bit, and CRK's to an extent, but I haven't used them anywhere as hard as my ZT 0561 in ELMAX. But it's safe to say at this point, with Bohler and Carpenter hot on the trail of Crucible, blade steel has never been so good. And honestly, either steel the OP chooses will be very good.
But, with 0551's going for $300+ on auction sites and the like, you may as well pick up a 0560 or 0561 and get ELMAX and a host of other improvements. And at $260 it's a steal.
