>>821251not so much.
The majority of the most popular bushcraft knives are made of 1095 or its equivalent . As a simple carbon steel it can not be "both hard and tough", in comparison to a super steel like s35vn. They temper them back or don't fully harden them to achieve toughness at the expense of hardness (edge retention).
Ok, so that covers most of the most popular bushcraft.
Now, Froe's are not made of "cheap" steel in comparison to bushcraft knives. 1095 is one of the cheapest knife steels there is. It's cheaper than some very interesting alloy steels like 01, and it's cheaper than ALL stainless steels. Froe's might be made from a 10XX steel with a lower carbon content, but the price difference is not significant.
What is cheaper is the heat treat, which is the financial advantage for the manufacturer when using lower carbon steels. That and a froe doesn't need a high carbon steel. Neither does an axe for that matter. They're typically made fro 1050 or something like that, but that's another story.
I really don't give a shit what Rigging knives are made of. They're for cutting rope, not batoning wood.
And a simple carbon steel that survives regular heavy batoning has sacrificed something something like optimal geometry or edge retention.
A knife made from a modern super steel, like a CPM, could probably strike a good balance between tough and wicked, but not simple carbon steel. It's going to be a compromise of one or the other.
