I know cold steel gets alot of crap around here, but so far ive worked as a machinist and at a hardware store and i beat the s*** out of my ak47 and ak mini and i mean real abuse, things that make me cringe even now and no matter what i never had them fail on me (using as a screw driver, prying on metal equipment, and i even had to stab through some sheet metal on a cnc machine). Sure the steel isnt the best but do you really want s30v on a knife your going to actually abuse? Ive found that their aus 8 steel is perfect for a beater/abuser because their easy to re-profile and a dream to touch up. Now im not endorsing their advertising and some of their designs look like they were conceived by the national association of mall ninjas (NAMN). I love my kershaws and nicer knives but every time i need a beater knife my go to is cold steel, which i think should be their motto "high quality beater knives".