Fan, you can get steel that will be sharp enough fairly cheaply. What you have to decide from there, is the importance of other factors like edge retention, toughness, rust resistance, and ease of resharpening.
Frequently, you trade one thing for another. In general, steels that can be hardened to higher levels, aren't as tough- in other words, if subjected to enough stress, they are more likely to break or even shatter than flex or bend. However, the hardest steels are also capable of taking the sharpest edges. Adding chrome to a steel usually increases rust resistance, but if you add too much, it's hard to put an edge on that steel.
Some steels work out to have characteristics that surprise you. 52100 and 5160 are examples. 52100 has both more chrome and more carbon than 5160. It can be heat treated to be harder than 5160, and so take a very sharp edge that can last longer. In my experience, though, 52100 rusts much more easily than 5160, despite the higher chrome content.
As others have said, many of the more modern "super steels", and even some of the tool steels, can be hard to sharpen. You probably want a steel that is fairly tough, takes a good edge and holds it a reasonable amount of time, sharpens fairly easily, and has at least some rust resistance.
Good steel choices for you probably include 1070, 1085, 1095, 5160, 440C, L6, O-1, and W2. Most of these steels will rust if you don't take a few minutes and wipe a little oil on them after use, with L6 and O-1 probably being the most rust prone.
