NEARLY ANY STEEL IN THE WORLD CAN BE HONED SHARP ENOUGH TO SHAVE HAIR. THE BIGGEST FACTOR IN MANY STEEL ALLOYS IS WHAT IS CALLED abrasion resistance . take 2 knives or even axes & given equal sharpness the one that cuts the longest w/o edge damage with the correct rockweell hardness for each tool is generally considered a better alloy. i can take 1095 carbon & get it to shave the newsprint from a sheet of paper, also i can do the same with zdp189 or m390. the major differance is in cutting cardboard i may get 38 12 in. cuts with 1095 before the fine edge wears enough that it wo'nt easily slice sheet paper. zdp may go 65 cuts before the edge degrades to the same dullness as 1095 . m390 may go 85 cuts before it gets to the same dullness. the newer powder alloys usually have finer grains but i've seen very common older steels treated by a master knifemaker that do 3 or 4 tempers & double cyro cycles outcut much newer 3rd gen. powder steels.it's really about tweaking heattreats & using the most advantageous rockwell for that steel that give the best edgeholding . a garden hoe can be gotten sharp enough to shave but how long it shaves compared to a well heattreated super alloy is the big differance. hope this helps you--cranky72
