7Cr17MoV in stock
It is a reasonable budget steel, not a performance one. 7Cr17MoV is a Chinese GB stainless with roughly 0.6 to 0.75% carbon and about 17% chromium, usually shipped at 55 to 59 HRC. Corrosion resistance is very good, edge retention is modest, and it is often described as a rough analog of AISI 440A.
The high chromium is the point. At around 17% it resists rust well, which is why it appears so often on knives that will live in a toolbox, a tackle box or a glovebox and be ignored between uses.
What it does not have is carbon. At 0.6 to 0.75%, wear resistance is below the D2, AUS-8 and 8Cr13MoV tier, so the edge softens sooner under real cutting.
If a knife is a $20 tool that gets used occasionally and sharpened casually, 7Cr17MoV is a sensible material. It is easy to sharpen with anything, forgiving, and it will not rust while you forget about it.
If a knife is going to do real work all day, step up. 14C28N or 8Cr13MoV is the honest next rung, and neither is expensive.
Sharpen it more often rather than trying to make one edge last. It comes back quickly on almost any stone, which is genuinely part of its appeal.
Keep the angle modest. A very acute edge on a softer steel rolls, and rolled edges are what make people think a knife is bad when it is really just being asked for the wrong thing.
The grid below shows 7Cr17MoV listings from Gerber and Buck, chosen from the catalog when this answer was written. Each one carries 7Cr17MoV in its own specification table, and its price is read from the live catalog every time the site is built.
The full reference entry, with the published composition and hardness range and every listing we carry in it, is 7Cr17MoV in the Steel Lab.