I got my zdp189 leek a few days ago.
First , my new moto is, "titanium...who cares!". By this I mean that though ti is a neato material the real benefit of this knife is the steel and ti enthusiasm on cpf reminds me of teenage girls going crazy for boy bands.
My knife needed a little tuneup on the sharpmaker but got evil sharp. So far , I'm extremely impressed with the edgeholding of this blade and think that for someone who takes care of their knives , this knife begs to be a user!
While modifying reflectors I often use a knife to cut away aluminum and it tends to dull the tip of a very sharp knife very quickly. Not to the point that the knife is "dull" but to the point where more force than is appropriate is needed to remove the right amount of material which leads to mistakes and possible damage to the reflective surface from small slips. While useing the zdp189 leak the blade stayed razor sharp through modifying 5 or 6 reflectors. That is saying alot because scary sharp on other steels , even premium steels lasts a very short time in use.
I also just read an article on this steel in one of the knife mags and in controlled tests , where zdp189 was making 100 cuts through rope, ATS34 made only 18!!!!!
This isn't just "the lastest flavor of premium steel" this stuff takes it to the next level. This steel really wouldn't be even possible without the "powdered steel" tech and has a freakishly high chromium content.