The knife is an interesting tool and it serves many purposes. Before you heat treat the blade, you have to know what characteristics you would like to see in the knife. It is convenient to set a priority list and then choose the right steel and heat treatment to acheive those results. This will vary with each style of knife, a hunting knife and a dagger have much different requirements. For example, I will go through the heat treatment of a camp knife.
My priority list for a camp knife would be as follows:
The knife must be tough. Since a camp knife is expected to perform a wide range of chores from chopping wood to cutting meat and may also serve as an emergency tool, it must be tough enough to withstand extreme usage without breaking.
It should take a good edge. This may seem like a given, but not all steels will take a good edge or it is impossible to maintain that edge in the field.
Edge holding. There are many viewpoints on edge holding. Some folks want a knife that they never have to sharpen, others, usually professionals, would prefer a knife that they can easily maintain the edge they want.
Since what we are considering here is the heat treatment, blade style, geometry, weight and balance are not being considered. Also you will note that maintenance is not on my list. For some folks, stain resistance is important. The problem with stain resistant steels is that that quality is the primary characteristic and it compromises all other characteristics.
There are degrees of toughness. I was asked to make a working knife for an expedition across the artic from Norway to Japan connecting the Olympics. The order was prefaced by the fact that no knives they had taken to date had survived the winter. The knife was expect to chop frozen meat at 80 below. My choice was L-6 because of its extreme toughness. The knife performed well and is still in use on the expedition.
L-6 would then be a good choice for our camp knife.
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