Has anyone here ever experienced a catastrophic failure with a full-tang fixed blade -- cheap or otherwise? Even the cheap ones don't crumble into dust. How often does more than a tip break off? Anyone ever have a full-tang break in half?

If one is skilled at sharpening a knife (which I am not), can't just about any full-tang fixed blade perform decently in the short term, if it's sharp? Can a $100 or $200 knife make that much difference over, say, a $10 Mora in a survival situation?

Conjecture aside, any factual history on that? Are there any accounts of someone who didn't survive because their knife was dull or broke?

Sure, my Bark River Golok or Bravo-1 could chop a tree branch easier than my Moras (are those partial or full tang?) and be better for batoning, but how well they cut rope, tinder or gut a fish (awkward with the Golok, unless it's a giant tuna) is going to depend on how sharp they are (seems to me, admittedly not the sharpest knife in the drawer on knives, despite my collection).

I've enjoyed collecting knives the last few years but confess I'm persuaded by their looks and feel more than any increased performance based on their blade grind or place on the Rockwell Hardness Scale. Their resistance to corrosion is an issue, especially for those like myself who don't pay enough attention to them (I've never used any of my Bark Rivers -- Doug's knives are my go-tos for outdoors and Mora's are my emergency car stash).

From a survival standpoint and mindful of the "One is none, Two is One - blah, blah" standard, is two cheap knives a better idea than one more expensive knife?

Am just thinking out loud here, thanks for indulging. I need to devote a lot more attention to sharpening my knife sharpening skill. Even Barkies don't stay sharp forever on their own, if you use them much.

I don't carry any kind of knife sharpener in a pack and wonder if I should. And whether that should be stressed when carrying a cheaper knife that may not hold an edge as long as others? Seem to recall there are some pretty compact knife sharpeners around.