It is overpriced, but this truly would be a forever knife. The design owes a lot to BK&T, but it also hearkens back to the 17th century, when the go-to outdoors man's knife was an over-built kitchen blade with a robust handle. The handle is offset for chopping on a carcass or a cutting board, the tip is wedged for reenforced piercing and sharp penetration, and the spine is substantial for, say, getting through the hip joint of big game. Again, the execution is Becker all the way, especially the pommel, but there is a lot of history and practical experience that goes into a design like this. It's a powerful and venerable knife design that has many examples today, including one of my favorites, Barry Dawson's Border Bowie (moreso in its early incarnations)
http://dawson-knives.myshopify.com/products/border-bowie.
Occurs to me also that Cutco's traditional customers are not as knife-savvy and wouldn't be drawn to a blade that requires the same care as a carbon steel blade of the level previous posters indicate as their preference. That level of care, sharpening, oiling, cleaning, is nothing to us, but in camp in, say, the Pacific NW or the deep south, where humidity and constant wet are a concern, this knife will hold up beautifully for the average user, who would be well served by it. I can see having it on my belt getting waist-deep on a canoe trip, carrying out fishing chores at shore, cutting branches for a fire to warm up and dry out, then getting back to camp and having it promptly taken away by Sweetheart for food prep and fire maintenance (she tends the fire better than anyone). None of this would bother our carbon blades, of course, but your average user might be wigged out by the after care required by a carbon blade.
Zieg
:foot:
