Yes, yes, a good bayonet or a well groomed piece of obsidian are most effective and durable, quite capable of getting the job done if you do your part. There's no arguing that point, and I am all too happy to concede that the old hickory was a fair standard for mountain men plying their trade in the Rockies and beyond 200 years ago.

I would tend to think that most made do with what was available at the time because that's all there was for the most part. I can't imagine a one of them old timers that wouldn't be up for a trade to a Busse blade once having seen a good side by side comparison for durability and abuse. Is it a big enough difference that would forever foresake their old carbon steel patina covered butcher blades? Maybe not, which is why I have a few of them same type knives in my drawer as well.

Let me put it another way, you can certainly make do with a nice sidelock 50 cal muzzleloader shooting 380 grain maxie ball with 90 grains of ff blackpowder, if you are willing to always get within 75-150 yards of your target and practice your marksmanship enough to know what you and the firearm are capable of; there are a lot of folks that still do that, but from a survival perspective, why would you settle for such a thing when a decent bolt action 30-06, which may cost 3 or 4 times more, will be much more useful, practical, and versatile? Likewise, I can build a house using a rock tied to a stick to pound nails with, but I'd prefer to spend some money for a good hammer instead, or maybe even splurge and rent an air gun. You can certainly make do with less, and there's no doubt that a rock can be used to pound nails into wood non-stop, but there's a reason why most folks don't use rocks anymore, despite the fact that they are relatively inexpensive and fairly easy to find. Of course, knowing how to pound nails using a rock might be considered an invaluable thing, should you ever find yourself in need of building a house but without a hammer. There's a big difference between the two schools of thought I reckon.

In the ETS gendre, I think there's motivation to find what works, learn how, then look for something better. Frugality counts for something, but only insofar as you get your money's worth the way I see it. I hunted with an old bolt action in 308 with a 4x Tasco scope for a long time, then I got my hands on a Browning stainless A-Bolt in 7mm mag with a Leupold Vari-X II in 3-9x and decided it was time to spend $1,000. Has it improved my ability to put game on the table, well maybe. More to the point, I feel a lot more comfortable and confident in what I can do with the new rifle than I am able to with the 308, should the need arise. That was worth the $600+ upgrade for me. I lost the old 308 in a fire, but I would still have it in my arsenal anyways if it hadn't burned up.