Whatcha' think of AUS-8?

I was just reading an old knife mag the other night, and saw an ad for a Cold Steel knife. The ad stated that AUS8A "Outperforms" ATS34. Not sure if I will go that far, but 8A is a great steel. One of the best all around stainless steels out there. Takes and holds a great edge while being easy to sharpen, pretty tough, very stainless.
 
AUS8 as treated in the CS line is very tough and very stain resistant but it does not stay sharp for long periods of hard use and when it gets pretty dull it requires a fair amount of time on ceramic sticks (which is what I have to sharpen with at work) to get back to shaving sharp in my experience. It is the minimum standard I would consider in a using knife.
 
I am curious about some of the comments that AUS8 is very similar to 440C. I thought AUS8 was equivalent to 440B, and that 440C has more carbon than AUS8. I see custom knives made with 440C, but never with AUS8. Can anyone shed some light on this subject?
 
My guess would be since the AUS-6/8/10 series steels are produced by a Japanese company in Japan, it would be more of a pain to get for custom makers in the US (especially in smaller quantities). And since 440B/440C is readily available in the US and is approximately the same in performance as AUS-8, it's not worth importing AUS-8.

I think AUS-8 also differs from 440C in other elements in addition to having less carbon. The other differences and production methods may make it perform more like 440C. But then again, it could be just that the usage of 440B in knives is rare, so the nearest comparison is 440C.

But again, just my guesses.
 
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