Toddy makes a valid point in terms of the chemical composition of steels having quantifiable attributes which indicate what they would be best used for ....
To get a basic idea of cutlery steel properties and the advantages of certain steels for given applications this is a good article ....
http://zknives.com/knives/articles/knifesteelfaq.shtml
It was updated in 2005 so it is fairly contemporary with comments on who is using what etc ....
One of the important aspects missing from the article when it attempts to cover damascus steels is that knives made in Japan such as the Fallkniven blades and those by certain custom makers are using a laminated process whereby to increase the performance of a blade you may have the inner 30% of the steel that tapers down to the edge pinnacle made from a very high performance steel for edge sharpness and retention qualities sandwiched between softer steel either side to give the blade toughness and flexibility in tasks akin to prying .... thereby having the best of both worlds so to speak .... this technique is a very significant one IMO for improving the overall performance of a knife .... very much similar in results to the differential heat treatment process used on Samauri swords by coating the blade in clay to enable the spine and sides of the blade to be hardened less due to the insulation from the heat and having an edge which is fully hardened to take an excellent cutting edge .....
If you look at some of the top Japanese knife makers such as Hiro Itou and Ichiro Hattori who both make knives using a damascus laminated process whereby super steels such as R2 for Itou and Cowry X for Hattori are sandwiched between multiple layers of softer more stainless steels for corrision resistance and flexibility .... you then have some very technical knives able to offer increased performance than attainable from a knife made from a single homogenous steel.
However as Hoodoo has said a great deal of knife usage is simple "practicality" and whether what you use will "cut stuff" and work well .... and comparing aspects on price it is often very true that a knife done well from many steels much cheaper than the above processes will work fine for all your needs and save you enough money to buy the rest of the things you would want to do a hobby like Buschcrafting with ....
But it is interesting to know just how technical a knife can be made to perform well ....