There are two main factors that determine the quality of a knife blade: the amount of carbon in the steel and the heat treatment. Hardly any knives retailing for less than $100 are heat treated today (exceptions: knives by Bear & Son and certain United & Gerber knives designed by Fred Carter).
There is always a trade off between ease of sharpening and the ability to hold an edge. The more carbon a blade has, the harder the blade and the better it holds its edge. At 0.8%, 440 has been called "the industry Standard." and "the ideal compromise” because it holds its edge reasonably well but can be sharpened with a simple whetstone. For 1% steels such as 440C, AUS-8, and ATS-34; a diamond sharpener is needed. D2, used in some Queen, Roberson, and Schatt & Morgan contains 1.66% carbon but may be too brittle for many people.
Unfortunately, most knives sold by Buck, Case, Gerber and others are made with the low to medium carbon steel 420HC. This is because 420HC costs less than the higher carbon steels. Its one redeeming quality is that it is very easy to sharpen.
Some people have the idea that stainless steels are inferior to non-stainless. This is because most knife manufactures switched to stainless about the time they stopped heat treating their blades. That is the reason that cheap knives made 30 years ago are far better than cheap knives made since.
