I'm pretty sure that this topic has been beaten to death by now. But, I still can't get a definite answer. With stainless steel, you get better corrosion resistance, and you will hold and edge longer. With carbon steel, you will hold a sharper edge, and you could forge a knife blade longer than 2 ft without breakage. I'm personally a fan of stainless steel, just because it seems to hold up to use and abuse better in the long run. HOWEVER, I have NEVER had a factory made knife break on me. I don't think that they would try to sell you a knife that didn't do what it was meant to do, at least to a reasonable degree. (I work for a living, and can't afford a custom $600 knife.) What do you think? Is this a pointless topic, and are the two steels really not that different?
I am a woodcarver & I have not found a stainless steel that will hold a candle to good high carbon steel. if you want to see the difference buy a cheap Mora knife about $10.00 play around with that for a while you can get plain high carbon or laminated steel (layered hard inside soft). If this is satisfactory you can get a great knife from Kellum for about $125.00. I have every imaginable combination of steel save a few new powder formulas. If you are looking for something salt water resistant Spyderco makes an H1 steel , pretty good... D2 tool steel is not bad either.(not salt resistant) But if you are willing to take care of it (wipe clean & oil) after every use for my money high carbon steel is the best. You might also want to check out a company called Cape Forge, hand forged steel at a not outrageous price
Japanese Samurai Black sword WAKIZASHI carbon steel Full Tang sharp ES-A205, Art Japanese handmade sword samurai katana 1055 carbon steel practical sharp*671, high carbon steel blade genuine ray skin razor sharp edge sword can cut ES-A405 , full hand tang carbon steel blade sharp forged Japanese samurai tanto sword#TU08, Japanese Samurai Sword Tanto Ray Skin Handle High Carbon Steel Sharp Blade, practical carbon steel forged japanese sword samurai wakizashi sharp ES-A201, 18.5"1095 Carbon Steel JAPANESE HAND FORGED TANTO SWORD SHARP BLADE GOOD GIFT, 40.6" 1060 Carbon Steel Handforged Japanese Samurai Ninja Sword Sharp, 1060 Carbon Steel Japanese Samurai Katana Sword HuaLee Saya Fulltang blade sharp, 40.6"Handmade Japanese Samurai Carbon Steel Ninja Sword Sharp Full Tang Blade, 1060 High Carbon Steel Full Tang Very Sharp Blade Japanese Samurai Sword Katana, Carbon Steel Full Tang Blade sharp Japanese Samurai Wakizashi sword, 1060 Carbon Steel Handmade Japanese Katana Sword with Razor Sharp Blade New, Musashi 1060 Carbon Steel Handmade Japanese Katana Sword with Razor Sharp Blade, 40.6"Handmade Full Tang Carbon Steel Blade Japanese Samurai Ninja Sword Sharp , 27" Ninja Sword With Sheath Sharp Heavy Duty Sharp Carbon Steel New, 1060 Carbon Steel High Quality Japanese Samurai Katana Sword Sharp Blade, Hand forged Japanese Samurai Wakizashi sword sharp Carbon Steel FullTang Blade, Musashi 1060 Carbon Steel Handmade Japanese Katana Sword with Razor Sharp Blade, Dragon Tsuba Japanese Samurai Katana Sword Full Tang Carbon Steel Sharp Blade , Sharp Carbon Steel Rosewood Chinese Han Sword , japanese samurai wakizashi sword forged CARBON STEEL razor sharp groove ES-A207 , Japanese Samurai Sword Tanto Ray Skin Handle High Carbon Steel Sharp Blade, HIGH QUALITY JAPANESE SAMURAI SWORD TANTO 1095 CARBON STEEL BLADE SHARP , fully hand practical carbon steel sharp forged japanese samurai tanto sword TU04, 40.6" 1060 Carbon Steel Handforged Japanese Samurai Ninja Sword Sharp, Hand forged NINJA samurai carbon steel sword katana sharp edge #9020, japanese swords Katana Carbon Steel HandMade Blade & Sharp Edge cut bamboo #337, Japanese Sword Katana samurai carbon steel 1050 HandMade Blade Sharp Edge #370, clay tempered Japanese Iaito 1095 carbon steel katana samurai sharp sword *C-01,