I also prefer s35vn. S30v has chipped on me more and seems to be abit more of a pain in the neck to sharpen.
That said it is still a great steel, just not my favourite. But if there is a knife I like and it only comes in s30v I would still consider myself lucky that the knife came in such a premium steel.
I think s30v was touted as the ultimate "knife maker's" steel as a bunch of figures from the knife industry were involved in its formulation.
Question to the real steel gurus. What is generally tougher s30v or 154cm? I understand that having many carbides can lead tonan instable edge. (This is part of what powdered steels are trying too combat. How to have all those dissolved carbides without them clumping together and making brittle points. )
154cm is generally tougher.
The PM process is used for high alloy, big carbide steels to make them more usable (especially for us knife guys)
Otherwise when the ingot cools during the traditional process the alloy/carbide cools faster and forms large networks that are about impossible to break up with heat treatment.
This makes a knife that has low toughness and is more difficult to sharpen then the same steel that has the PM process.
But a PM steel will generally have lower toughness then non PM steels.
Since the higher carbide volume means more inclusions in the steel matrix, that can absorb less energy before failure.
It's confusing though because alot of the carbide forming elements do other things that can help promote toughness such as reducing grain growth and preventing softer structures from forming during cooling.
Many, many factors, so you can't just look at a chart and say for sure since the different times, temperatures and transformations from heat treatment is a huge part of the final out come and determines what goes where and how much and what size.
There isn't a simple explanation of it all because the more answers you get the more questions it creates.
Generally though, if you want the toughest steels you want more ductility that comes from lower strength (less carbon) and lower wear resistance (less carbide forming elements)
It's not just the HRC number
It's the materials that steel has and the microstructure created
But the application is super important and can be the biggest factor
What's tough for a knife isn't tough enough for an axe and vice versa since toughness is actually a blend of strength and ductility.
While an axe would favor more ductility with a thicker Geometry to hold it's shape, a thin knife would fold and roll in use since there is less steel supporting the edge you would need more strength rather then ductility to make a tough knife that will hold it's edge.
People often confuse ductility with toughness but toughness is a blend.
Otherwise unheatreated, soft steel would be considered the toughest steel for all applications.
What's confusing is that toughness favors ductility but it isn't ductility it's the proper blend of strength and ducilty with plastic failure over brittle failure.
Generally, 154cm will do that better then S30v in a knife
Less brittle failure, chipping, more toughness
CPM 154 will be even better.
S30V will cut longer, and cut more aggressively though.
So two different users will experience different amounts of edge holding depending on how the knife is being used and dulled even if the have the same knife and steel.
However,
If a user blunts the edge from raw abrasive cutting then S30v would be preferable with a thin edge
If a user experiences more damage from making contact with hard materials that dull the knife then the 154cm is more preferable with a thicker edge.
So it's not universal, The best knife in the world for me would be destroyed in seconds by someone that uses there knife like a cold chisel.
The knife that would hold up for them would make me miserable since I couldn't cut anything even with a sharp edge, it would have to be so thick I would experience more wedging then cutting.
In the end, there are so many factors and combinations that really you just have to try for yourself.
But we only have so much time and money so it pays to do alot of reading to get an idea of what you really want.
Thats been my experience
YMMV and that is fine
