I buy some of my personal equipment on the slick so I think I can answear your question. Quite frankly, many of us simply do not have an extra $100-150 to spend on a knife and then again on a PSK. That alone is a powerful enough motive to buy cheaper gear, but you also have the idea of use. I am interested in personal survival because of the way I was raised and my personal predisposition to getting stuff done myself, however, I do live in an urban enviroment as opposed to being a small aircraft piolt or climber/hiker enthusiast. For me, my well stock bail out bag in the trunk, my multi-tool and my flash light see me through most problems. It is unlikey that I will be in a "serious" survival incident so I generally don't have to spend top dollar. For me, its more of an acedemic interest and hobby that has the dule benifet of being fun and also potentially life saving. I spend good money on it when I can, but Iam in university and only work part-time so it often gets slid to the back burner for things like, you know, food <img src="/images/graemlins/tongue.gif" alt="" />