All About Pocket Knives

I'm wondering, how good is the D2 that is starting to come on a lot of the Chinese knives these days? Reason being, as I see Southwire now has a one-hand opening, clip-carry D2 Hawkbill in their "Edgeforce" lineup (which is entirely D2) for about $25. In my opinion, for what I do with a hawkbill (cutting rope, boxes, feed sacks, brush, and any other tough task I can throw at a knife), D2 is the perfect steel for one. Hawkbills don't need to be a razor--they need to just hold a good enough edge to cut. Yet I often quickly dull a carbon steel version with what I do. Or should I just get the AUS-8, Seki-made one from Klein?

In my opinion, the steel itself means nothing. It's the heat treat. Buck can do wonders with 420HC, yet I see all kinds of Chinese knives with 440A and 440C steel that can't hold an edge or get one. Yet, many American makers heavily use that steel, and do well with it. And 8Cr13MOV (which is on the standard Southwire hawkbill) is used on a lot of Chinese knives; and I really like it myself.

I totally agree about heat treat, but what steels are they really. Everything from there is available in D2 ...

I watched a you tube video of a knifer guy testing the Ganzo D2, said to have Rc of 61-62. He tested it and Rc was 62, exactly as stated.
I think the Chinese have knife steel and tempering dialed in perfectly. It is the low prices that make us doubt but i have bought a huge number of sub $20 China knives (mostly Rough Rider and SanRenMu) and i have used a few and never even received one that was disappointing.
I think if the major manufacturers like SRM, Ganzo, WE, etc. say a steel is D2, or whatever, then that is what it is.
kj