What stainless steel is best?

I'm partial to cpm154, holds a good edge yet easy to sharpen. but only brand that regularly uses it is barkriver and its expensive. So for a bit more I can get a busses.
 
I have a falkniven with 3G, havent used it hard. of course they say it the best steel on the planet. powdered and exspensive i think
 
Personally I like S90V, M390, ELMAX and CPM-154.

That said I usually carry S30V most of the time, Spyderco Military's.
 
I firmly believe that Crucibles 154CM is the best stainless steel out on the market today. Hitachi has the same version (ATS-34) and Latrobe has 14-4CroMo. All 3 have roughly the same matrix. The steel has excellent corrosion resistant properties probably contributed to the 14% chromium and 4% molybdenum. The carbon content (1.05%) allows the steel to hold an edge after contual use with out immediate sharpening. I've found that the ideal hardness is at or about 59HRC. This is true for my best edge holders, the Microtech Mini Socom and the Protech TR3. $30V I've found to either be too hard for sharpening and brittle, but it does have excellent edge holding.
 
The original question was way too wide open. We can all agree that there are many stainless steels available on the market that are suitable for cutting instruments, and that they all have slightly different properties at different price points.
I would ask the thread originator to be more specific in detailing the application, including acceptable parameters of budgetary restraint. as well as the range of tasks to be accomplished with the tool.
 
All my stainless knives are in VG10 for the time being I have some CPM154 and 154CM blades in the order pipeline with Bark River.

I'm looking for the next run of CPM35VN too.
 
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