I am pretty much convinced that most people worry way too much about what the perfect field knife is.
Get something adequate for $30 and put whatever you saved on some horrendously expensive knife you will be afraid to use to better uses.
Last fall I stopped by a garage sale. Guy had dozens of knives for sale, including some very nice looking butcher knives. Whats the difference between a solid butcher knife and a field knife? Not all that much. i am pretty much convinced the big difference is that field knives usually come with a sheath of some sort. I could have had my choice for $1 each. I wish now that I had bought some of the nicer ones.
Intellectually, your position makes perfect sense. I have an old Remington Hammersmith butcher knife that would make an excellent field blade. In fact, all field blades were similar to butcher knives until the early 1900's when one Webster Marbles of Gladstone Michigan introduced the Marbles Ideal knife. He also invented the compressed leather washer handles we still see today. His blade was much thicker than a butcher knife, was fullered to reduce weight and cutting friction, had a novel, comfortable, sturdy handle, and came with a nice sheath. An industry (and an eternal search) was born. My Hammersmith would do anything I would ever require of a field knife, but I admit to an insatiable fascination with mans oldest and best tool. A tool that can be used to fashion almost every other tool. The knife forms the basis for so many other inventions old and new: scissors, hair clipper, lawnmower, blender, sword, haybine, corn combine, razor, meat grinder, metal shears, lathe, scalpel, mill, buck saw, paper shredder, food processor, adze, nail clipper, router, band saw, planer, axe, veg-o-matic, chainsaw, drill, shovel, hoe, arrowheads, stump grinder, mattock, wedge, can opener, spear, scythe, and all manner of chippers, choppers, and chisels........ How can anyone stop at just one, no matter how practical?
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