Hi Joe,
First custom knife I ever bought was a Parrish HHF...$185.00 1984 price.
I had that for my first year in the 101st. We were in the field or deployed approximately 7 months.
My particular knife got "USED". I don't know what "test" they used to break the blade??? Perhaps I just wasn't strong enough to break it, you know...using it.
Blade steel is 440C. Today there are much better steels around. Even back then I found that I preferred D-2 (which was in my next knife...Brend Model 2).
Im not arguing for or against stock removal vs. forged method.
Just putting my .2 cents in as someone who actually, owned and used a Parrish in the field.