Great knife. And for that cost, I can get a couple of very good knives. Or a very good knife and a lot of other stuff. Al Mar is a top flight name, no doubt about it, but the price is out of reach of most people for what it is. There is a point where the custom gear turns into "survival bling". (Although this isn't as bad as some items I've seen.)

Yes, great is better than very good, but it's like rifles- is half-MOA better than MOA? Yes, but how many people (a) need the improvement, (b) can make use of the improvement, (c) can maintain it properly to keep the improvement, and (d) can afford it. Benchmade does very good to great work, and becuase of thier pricepoint and availability on similiar designs, has snagged away a lot of Al Mar customers. As have a number of manufacturers.

Me, I carry a ten dollar frame-lock kerabit (you save 20 bucks by buying it from the manufacturer before S&W does) becuase I have a bad habit of cutting carboard, wire, heavy rope, all kinds of bad things, and I don't want to kill a great or even very good knife by hitting it with a diamond rod. I also have a Leatherman (razor sharp) and Micra, and usually a Vic Climber with me if I need a super sharp blade.

For the field, a fixed blade is stronger than a folder of equal or slightly better quality. My Ka-Bar can take a shaving edge if I want it to, and it's tougher than a lot of the more expensive knives I bought years ago.