Now you know why I own Busse knives.

You can cut down a tree with a rock or even a broken piece of glass if that's what floats yer boat. If it breaks, you toss it aside and pick up another one and continue.

As for me, I'd just as soon spend the money and not have to bother picking up and chipping rocks and glass shards (or over-rated broken knife blades) into servicable tools, unless I really have to. It's nice to know how, just like it's nice to know how to rub two sticks together to make smoke. I'd rather just use my lighter, though.

If you can take advantage of the technology, then I think you should, always keeping the basics in mind. Like Grandma said, you can cook food just as good using a wood stove as any gas or electric range out there these days, if you know what you are doing and put in the extra effort to do your part, but why would you if you didn't have to?

This is not to say I will just throw money at a problem and hope it goes away. But if I am going to spend $300+ on a knife, I am going to make damn sure that knife will do what is expected, and a fair amount of what might not be to boot.

I feel wholly confident making this statement: You can spend whatever you can afford on another brand if you want, but you will not find a better knife on the market than a Busse. Different maybe, but nothing better. Tests such as these, subjective though they may be, corroborate that claim alongside empirical data. That only leaves the questions of style, cost, and function as to preference. I believe there are enough Busse models out there to reduce two of the three subjective criteria, so then you're left answering the question "can I afford to do without what I know will be the best chance for my survival success?, all other factors being equal, and spend my money elsewhere?" If so, buy something of lesser quality and practice using rocks a lot more to cut trees down with.