I like the Ascent - the medium or small one (830sbt or 820sbt).
The Endura 98 and the Ascent are very comparable but two large things and two small things settle it for me.
The two small things are that I do like the ergonomics of the Ascent over the Endura design, and I do know that Benchmade heat treats their steel *extremely* well (Don't know about Spydee's methods).
The two large things are:
1) The company behind the Ascent. Benchmade is American made, which means they can back up their LIFETIME WARRANTY with full repairs, even if you want a new blade. Spydees are pinned together overseas. Not only can the pins become loose (and they do sometimes!) and there is nothing you can do about it, but according to their own customer service, if you damage the blade or any other part of the knife they can do nothing more than, at best, offer you another knife at cost *if they determine that you deserve it*, or if you break the blade they can regrind what is left. Otherwise, good luck...go buy another one.
2) The Ascent comes with BT2 coating! This is a must-have for me here on the coast and with my toxic sweat. Yes, my sweat has even rusted the HANDLE on a Spyderco SS Pro Venator in the time span of one afternoon of walking through the mall.
Ps- Dont even bring up Cold Steel folders, they just don't hang with the big boys (trying to be a little humorous here). IMO, Cold Steel should stick to fixed blades. The only possible advantage to the Voyager is that the cheesy pocket clip on them looks a lot like a pager clip and can fool people as "open concealment" ("obvuscation"). On the down side of the clip: it is plastic and can break, it is not relocatable, and it doesn't grip thin synthetic fabrics at all. The blade steel (AUS-8) doesn't rust as easily as others, seems to flex better, takes a good edge easily, but it also looses that edge easier.
JMHO,
thaddeus
