Okay, since you asked, here's my two dinar (Iraqi currency, 1,450 dinar to the dollar, so mine's worth even less???)

The RTAK and RAT 7 are very desirable survival tools. In fact, the RAT 7 is the preferred accouterment of most GIs currently in theater, if they can get their hands on them. D2 appears to be the most requested blade. They use these knives for things such as punching holes in car door and hoods, chopping foliage, cutting razor wire, etc. They are taking these knives over the traditional K-Bar combat knife, so you do the math...

As for me, I've always liked Carbon V from Cold Steel, not to mention their blade construction is, IMHO, superior in many ways. I have two SRKs here with me, and I can tell you that the Cold Steel SRKs sell out quicker at the local PX than do all the rest of the knives combined (RAT 7s are not stocked at the PX, more's the pity) <img src="/images/graemlins/frown.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/images/graemlins/frown.gif" alt="" />

I am a little surprised that no one else on this thread even makes mention of Carbon V or Cold Steel. At $50 a piece, these SRKs are quite nice little gems, and come sharpened enough to take the hair off my arm. That may not be much for braggin' rights these days, but my K-Bars surely did not come out of the package like that!!!

Consider this, for a few hundred years, menfolk in the New world traveled around with what amounts to a butcher knife as their primary, if not their only blade. Imagine packing a knife around like "Old Hickory", which can be had for about $8 at several discount department stores. Buy a decent sharpening stone, and your about 95% or more equipped to same caliber as some techno survivalist who has his $200+ blade. If it worked for 5 generations before, it didn't suddenly just become obsolete, and them old mountain men relied on their blades a heckuva lot more than any of us will. If you are gonna go chopping trees and such, better bring an axe or a saw and use the right tool for the job. In a survival situation, I'd rather know how to make a primitive edged weapon and carry that $8 hickory handled carbon steel butcher knife than to have a $200 stainless wonder that I am afraid to touch a bone with for fear I might chip the blade. Being able to make the most use of a basic, common tool beats not knowing the right way to use that expensive and pretty little "precious". Grandad used the sharpened edge of a shovel to do most of his garden trimming with. Once in a while he'd put the stone to the edge again and then go about taking care of business. If it cuts, who cares? I'm not gonna find another knife that does better than my SRKs for their size, no matter how much moolah I spend, or how exotic the metal gets. There are probably a whole lot of knives that were way less than the $50 I spent that can do just about as good for what I need that I'd never know the difference. I have yet to come across any blade I can't put an edge to with a cheap $4 stone.