Which steels today would be considered "super steels"?

For me "super steel" has to be a stand out steel. ...either GREAT at one thing or very good in all aspects.

I believe AST34 was the first named "super steel"? Great Edge retention, durable and definitely "stainless".
 
As others have mentioned "super steel" is a very fluid term, but usually used to denote an alloy, usually new to the cutlery industry (but has probably been around for a few years in other applications), that promises to excel in one or many aspects of knife relevant performance compared to other steels available. That could be stainlessness (H-1), toughness (CPM-3v), wear resistance (CPM-125v), etc. Some steels manage to improve some of those aspects without sacrificing others, and are usually made using the latest high tech powder/particle metallurgy, and those are usually accepted as "super steels" as well, stuff like M390 and CTS-XHP fall into that group. I'd include many nitrogen bearing steels (Vanax, N680, Infi) in the supersteel category due to their unusually high corrosion resistance that doesn't sacrifice toughness or edge holding.
 
And then there's the Titanium/Gold alloy that Ironman used in his new suit. Combines weight with lightness. :-)
 
Guess Kryptonite would be the ultimate. Even Superman had trouble working with that metal. :D
 
nccole said:
For me personally, CTS-204P, 20CP, XHP, CPM-S90V, S110V, S125V, 10V, 9V, 15V, M4, Bohler K390, K294, M390. To me "super steels are ones that have high wear resistance and hold an edge for a long time. For toughness, there are ones like CPM 3V, 4V, S7, and others I am not familiar with because I don't care as much about extreme toughness. There are probably more I am forgetting, and some are actually the same just offered by a different company. Unfortunately, I have tried very few of these:(
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This plus cpm rex 121, and zdp-189.
All I know is I don't need anything better than vg10 for a folder, that said my edc is 204p..
 
I think super steel is a stupid buzz word that changes with the flavour of the month. When I first got into knives everybody was shitting their pants over s30v, then a few makers used it in knives that weren't 300$ and everyone calls it just ok now, same with 154cm. I wonder if people would be so impressed with super steel when they learn it was designed to cut toothpaste tubes 3000 times a minute in some factory in Bangladesh.
 
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