Chris, I just received a fascinating education on k-bars from a retired marine gunny. There are three contractors; K-bar, Camillus and Ontario, plus assorted knock off copies.There are some very subtle differences in the three milspec contractors. The Ontario are the worst offendors for snapping ( common), followed by Camillus( occassionally) and Kbar ( almost never). Of course, to snap one you would have to drop it on a hard surface, or do some heavy prying. It's all a matter of the Tang's robustness and finall assembly. Again, these are fine knives for $50.