[jimmontg]

As I'm sure you saw with the HT. It actually calls for a shallow cryo and is a razor steel. Some makers swear by it and won't use any other stainless knife steel.

It is as advertised, makes a nice easy sharpening blade that holds an edge well at RC57 to 59. No harder than that as it will tend to get chippy. I understand the desire to experiment Dave, but I have no experience with the other two steels you mentioned. Looked at the Nitro V and it appears to be an improved version of AEB-L with a touch of V added and some Nitrogen. Don't know how to HT it. The XHB is used for some spyderco blades so you could look them up.

I do not think you will get much better performance if any with them than you have with the CPM S35VN. That knife you sent me to test chopped through a 1 1/2" block of hickory and I have cut many feet of cardboard Dave. Have never seen lesser steels go through as much and stay sharp. If you are looking for a cheaper steel that isn't so darned hard to sharpen the AEB-L is even better as it's less expensive and quicker to HT and only needs dry ice, but you have the LN already, all you have to do is drop the temp down to -95F and then let it warm up and temper, it doesn't need to soak long.