Great news about your EDC in 4V, which to my mind is an American version of Vanadis 4 Extra. I’ll be waiting at my keyboard. Love your stuff and appreciate the research and testing you put into your knives.
But I’m surprised that you think 4V is a chippy, crumbly steel. That hasn’t been my experience. When I tested ZT 0180’s V4E in a hard chopping test on bailing wire, it came out as a top performer, roughly as good as 3V, including the Delta 3V and Bluntcut’s custom reheat of a 3V blade, which before that re-heat treat was prone to chipping.
There have been lots of tests where the reviewers beat the snot out of the ZT 0180 and it turned in an amazing performance.
Here’s one by Bodog on the forum:
http://www.bladeforums.com/threads/zt-0180-hard-use.1305088/
DeadboxHero also did a thread on some hard testing of the 0180, which I can’t find. I also got one of Daniel Malanika’s 4V (close to V4E) pukkos, which is a special run set up by DeadboxHero. It’s run at 64 Rc with a Peter’s heat treat. I’ve tested the edge by whittling hard wood aggressively, including lateral prying in the wood, and it’s held up perfectly well. Not chippy at all.
Zero Tolerance heat treated its 0180 to 60-62 Rc.
Uddeholm promotes Vanadis 4E for applications where chipping is an issue:
http://www.uddeholm.com/files/PB_Uddeholm_vanadis_4_extra_english.pdf
My impression is that 4V is a little less tough than 3V, but holds an edge better, and it’s tougher (resistant to chipping) than M4.