I both make knives and use a knife I made with S-30V steel. The steel performs as well as the others I use,i.e. CPM154CM, D-2, 154CM. Doesn't take quite the edge some of the other "super steels" do, but if properly heat treated, it's better than a lot of the factory stuff you see; such as 440A,B,C, 420 and 420HC etc. The key words are properly heat treated. There was a lot of hype back when it first appeared that it was the first stainless steel designed strictly for cutlery use. It's not true, ATS-55 was first, but it does tend to drive the price of the steel up. It's basically 154CM with a bit more carbon and 4.0% vanadium added. Which is a good thing. Optimum Rockwell C hardness for it is 59-61,however factory knives are often at a Rc of 58, which increases toughness but lowers hardness a bit. I think Gerber lists the hardness of their blades, so that gives you a reference.
