I call them that because I know the shop he went to...not because it's in a mall or because of the children who work there...though I don't exactly have much love for the place for those other reasons.

Don't get me wrong. I have nothing against Ka-Bar knives...they're great bang for the buck and have a fantastic history and reputation. Since I came across this knife looking for him I almost bought one for myself. In this case we're talking about a guy though who doesn't own any knives and will likely only ever own this knife unless he loses it or breaks it. He needs one for work as he's going to be doing some outside bush work and it's sort of policy he have a good survival kit (including a quality knife of his choosing) before he can be left alone to do his job.

I suggested he start with a $9 Mora and think more about what he wants before spending big bucks on a knife...but $50 or $60 isn't a bad place to start with either if it's a good blade. Unfortunately a mutual friend told him that the number one rule of knives is that you get what you pay for so that idea was out the window immediately...he's a great guy but very impressionable as he has no experience with knives.