D2 Tool Steel

Please enlighten

These are two excellent steels. D2 has been around longer, and has always been one of the top contenders for a good balance between hardness and toughness. But the new s30v is probably a little higher in those categories. I remember reading that one famous cutler (I do not remember his name now) has switched s30v because of its excellent quality knife.

That said, one of these steels are excellent, but might as well be screwed up if the manufacturer does not heat treat it correctly.

D2 is an excellent steel, but my personal vote would be for s30v. The latter is obtained by the method of powder metallurgy, it is very clean and very thin. finer grain structure means it can be sharpened to a fine point. (Note that the angle formed by the edge is equally important to its ability to cut the sharpness.)