My experience has been that my 204p seems to hold it's edge longer then my m390, but they are totally different platforms so I wonder if I'm just fooling myself because of the differences between the different blade geometries.
Of all the things I've lost I miss my mind the most!
The alloy composition doesn't tell the whole story. Yes indeed CTS-204p has the same proportions of metals as M390. But do Carpenter and Bohler both do things the same way? Heck if I know. Does it make a difference if they don't? Beats me. But all kinds of things are possible. And then there is the heat treat -- no telling if Spyderco treats the steels differently.
A reasonable person does expect them to be the same. I pick 20cv or 204p just because they are less widely known. Sort of like cheering for the underdog or something. I would really like to hear more about differences (real or imagined) between the performance of these three steels.
All told though, I am happy with my 204p military.
What's funny to me (being new to this forum ) is when I started reading the REC Para 3 thread MOST were not liking the look of the knife and I saw a lot of ugly /pass replies! I was able to get one if the first batch with no trouble.and now it's a must have....weird!
I actually decided I had to have one because it was ugly. I wanted to EDC a para 3 and beat it up, and I figured I'd have no qualms abusing this one because I didn't like the look.
It's been great, and I've been beating it up, so double win. :)
Do you still have this knife? Interested to see photos of how the PVD coating has held vs the usual DLC.
Anyone want else with battle worn REC Para 3s please post up some photos!
CRU-CARTA THE SEKI MODELS! AND BRING US THE DODO-FLY!
CRU-CARTA THE SEKI MODELS! 
