I've had factory knives in both ATS-34(Japanese gentlemen's folder) and S-30V(Spyderco Native) and the ATS-34 beat it hands down. The reason? The folder had a thin, flatground blade and the Spyderco features a fairly thick, hollow grind. Thin flat grind beats out thick hollow any day of the week. Because you use less pressure on the edge to cut with, the blade holds an edge longer, since it doesn't roll as quickly. It's 90% about edge/blade geometry and heat treat. I make a knife, my Model #1, in three different steels; 154CM, D-2 and S-30V. All of them are from the same thickness steel with the same flatground blades. There is no major difference in how long they hold an edge. The only reason I've added S-30V is because of the hype it's gotten by all the "experts"...many of whom are now changing their minds. 30V was created because a lot of the ingredients found in tool steels simply aren't necessary in cutlery steels. So they took them out, added vanadium(which is always good) and got a decent steel that should be cheaper than the tool steels but because it's used by a smaller market; isn't. One thing about 30V I've found is that the edge chips if you grind it too thin. It's happened a number of times. I get around that by using a convex(rounded) edge which is much stronger and puts more steel at the edge but cuts better. In a thicker blade(mine are mostly 3/32" steel) with a thicker edge geometry it doesn't seem to be a problem.
