As far as an every day using knife for general purposes, any good steel is fine for me. I get great performance in these general, and to be honest, generally light chores out of any good steel. I like knives that take a good edge, retain it reasonably and sharpen up quickly. SAKs do a pretty good job and I have used some quite hard with some distance between sharpenings.
If I were doing farm & ranch work, or some serious outback hunting, then D2 with a good profile is going to be high on my list. Like cutting carpet, ripping through hides on animals can eat a knife blade. Like the carpet, plenty of dust and grit gets down in the fibers and abrades the edge.
However, I have many more knives than I need and plan on adding more because I like them, I enjoy collecting different patterns, handle materials, even steels now and then. I learn a lot from these discussions about how to get the most out of the different steels. Without these discussion, I would try to sharpen D2 like I would 1095 or CV knife. For that I work from a medium to a fine stone and try for a polished edge. I've learned that a fine cutting D2 edge can look toothy, with what seems to be tiny chipping here and there on the edge and still do fine, fast, and impressive cutting. I can actually detract from its cutting ability by focusing soley on a polished edge. These are the kinds of things I learn and enjoy learning from these discussions.
Also, I enjoy testing some different steels, comparing them side by side. Along with that I also enjoy disagreeing, or putting my .02 cents worth when my experience with a particular steel has been different. I've also learned things that have made me have to reevaluate my attitude towards things like 420HC, and be more accepting of it. I've also learned some of the different characteristics of steels.
This is in fact a lot of the fun and enjoyment of these forums. Not only the history of the knives, but sharing attitudes and experiences. If all I wanted was a decent pocket knife I would simply get a Boker Magnum or a Steel Warrior (and as discussed on here, different people have had different experiences with the SWs, some good, some bad.) and go about my business. Then again, I would have no reason to be here, nor would there be anything to discuss if everyone did the same thing.
These discussions and postings are a big part of my enjoying knives and knife gathering. As it happens, my tri-stones are about 7" from my mouse pad. On the opposite side of my stones is an old catalog I use as a pad where I test cut pieces of leather and 1/2 inch manilla rope as I test different steels and edges as I learn what does and doesn't make a good setup for me or for specific purposes. Then there are the pieces of paper I use for push cutting and slicing too. My arm is a bit short haired too from shave testing edges. So, I do cut things for fun. I learn from discussions here how to get more fun out of that cutting and what makes a better all around user knife for me that will do the most things well.
From a learning point and as a bit of information interchange, I care. But as one of the fellows here mentioned, if you really read the postings completely, you will see that while a lot of fellows have their favorite steels, they are pretty happy with anything that cuts well, holds a resonable edge, and sharpens back up. Just as some guys lightly sharpen or at least strop their blades once a day or so, others go for the one good sharpening that lasts for a while approach. Diversity in action which makes for interesting reading.
Okay, nuff Wolf yap. Btw, we can also understand frustration and venting. Just let us know that's what it is.
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