Only thing to add is that I can certainly justification for guys working the trades who need a very sharp blade that will last a day or several days without being sharpened on the assumption they will have access to good (read: diamond or similar) sharpening systems at home to keep the blade sharp. All this say, I can see how modern steels with their better edge retention have a real value to some guys in the trades.
That's a bit different from the standard backcountry or wood working use case that more favors easy sharpening and fine edge.
Really, finding the exactly the right steel isn't as hard as one might think to carry on a construction site. One would think that a "super steel" or some tremendously hard steel would be great. It isn't.
I am basing this on 40 years in the trades, most of it as a hands on carpenter/woodworking/finisher, so your mileage may vary.
My personal experience it that I prize the utility value of a knife first, and ease of maintenance second. Like almost all of my tools they are in my hands quite a bit, so they have to be comfortable to use and the right knife for the job. That's why I carry two all day. Second, I accept maintenance of any cutting edge (chisels, router bits, saw blades, etc.) as part of the package when using a tool. So I plan for sharpening.
I have found that opening bags of concrete with your work knife is equally hard on my S110V as it is on my 8CrMoV. When you nick an unseen nail, staple or wire with your 154cm, the edge rolls over just like it does with 1095. When you have to strip a large wire, large enough that your strippers don't go around it, cut a shingle, cut insulation, and on an on... there really is only marginal performance between a "super steel" and some oldies but goodies, 420HC being one of them.
The difference is that if you damage the edge by accident (which will happen a couple of three times a week) or need to refresh the edge after a good bit of cutting, you don't travel with your diamond sharpening gear, your strops, your edge setting jig etc. If you need to do some fine cutting after opening a few equipment boxes or fiberglass boom (load) straps, you can get a nice work edge with a piece of 800gr wet and dry sandpaper. You don't need anything else. This is really handy if you did nick a nail first thing in the morning, or you just want a tune up before installing moldings.
Again, anticipating maintenance, I tune up the edges on my knives in seconds. I cook almost every dinner we eat, and I always give my chef's knife a lick on my 1200gr diamond rod to refresh the edge, every meal. Usually, my small work knife is right behind the chef's knife, and a keen edge back in literally three or four swipes a side. For my larger, regular carry work knives which are all 420HC, AUS8, AUS10, and 8CrMoV, I mostly use a 600gr diamond rod. Accepting maintenance as part of tool use, I like to tune the edges up with just a few swipes on a rod any of my knives, not having to get out a setup to do so.
At one time I thought S110V at 61 Rockwell would be the answer for me. Spent $100 on a Shallot. Nope. Then at the suggestion of another BF denizen I tried a Benchmade with 154cm. Nope.
Really hard steels are too hard to maintain in the field, and are too time consuming to maintain to make them a worthwhile effort to be used as their primary work knife for any of my fellow tradesmen. The first time I cut through some really thick insulation and hit a couple of hidden runs of conduit with my Kershaw super steel and saw what it did to the blade was the last time it went to the job. I was really disappointed at the damage to the edge, but more importantly knew I couldn't fix it in the field. And so it sits in a box, while knives bladed in the steels mentioned above go to work every day and get it done.
Robert
