The outdoorsman is a decent knife. the chopping surface is another variation on a sawbacked knife. Aside from eliminating any possible "anvil' to hit with a billet ( for wood splitting,) it weakens the overal strength of the blade itself. This may not be a real problem with a Cold Steel product. They are well made. Cold Steel products fall into two groups; very,very good, or very,very bad. The opinions on the various knife forums seem to assess Cold Steel as having a chopping, rather than slicing emphasis on most models. If you purchase any large knife, be sure to mate it with a smaller utilitarian blade. Finally, be sure to actually handle the knife if possible. A knife's ergonomics may please one user and be utterly horrid to someone else.