Well, I have a bias here, as I have owned a lot of knives, sold some of them off, but retain ownership of 8 Dozier's, 3 Scott Cook knives, and 2 Fallkniven's, among many others ... i.e. these are keepers. I've handled a couple of AG's knives I recommend (below) but don't own one (but would if I found on the used market).
Dozier's are elegantly simple in construction, and very solid using knives in-hand. Bob has refined his designs to be no-frills, and comfortable in use. They look simple, and are, and this after being refined to that point. Hope that makes sense. Dozier makes excellent, snappy kydex sheaths also.
www.dozierknives.com
I also like the Fallkniven F1 in a 4" drop point knife. VG-10 is more stainless than D2, holds an edge well, but at Rc59 from Fallkniven, VG-10 will not hold an edge quite as well as D2 ala Dozier at Rc60-61. But VG-10 is a good production knife steel from the Japanese again, and serves well and is good stuff. This F1 may be my most often recommended fixed blade knife in the 4" range because of the value it brings to bear at the price point of about $80 street I believe, and the no-nonsense design. It is a solidly built and ground knife and can take some moderately hard use.
http://www.fallkniven.com/a1f1/f1_en.htm
AG Russell has some very nice looking pieces in ATS-34 that I've always liked, straight Loveless designs (except for the Woodcraft e.g. below), that are simple and functional, and he knows ATS-34 needs to be run Rc60-61 also. They are pricier but should service well, starting around $155 for Cocobolo made in Japan, and going up into the upper $200 range. The Japanese made knives AG sells are very well made in the knife production capital of the world, Seki City, so if your new to the knife habit, don't let "made in Japan" be any kind of deterrent necessarily, definitely not here on these:
http://www.agrussell.com/agrussell/agdp4.html
http://www.agrussell.com/agrussell/ag200.html
http://www.agrussell.com/agrussell/gents.html
Here's the Woodcraft:
http://www.agrussell.com/agrussell/agwc3.html
If you can swing $180 to $220 though, take a look at Scott Cook's knives, the 3" and 3.6" Owyhee drop points. You can find pics on these forums with search engine. These come with a well executed pouch leather sheath with a fine finish, and Scott's knives are one of the best bargains going. His turnaround time is also excellent... perhaps 6-8 weeks still? Have him make one in CPM's new S30V steel at Rc60 and you'll have a really outstanding knife, hollow ground, excellent utility drop point blade. S30V provides notably better corrosion resistance than D2, somewhat better than ATS-34, significantly better toughness than both, and edge holding to rival if not surpass D2, and with a finer grain structure than either but D2 by a long shot.
Scott's web site is really in "place holder, under construction mode" still, but it gives contact info.
http://www.scottcookknives.com/
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Of those examples above, the F1 from Fallkniven is the only flat ground knife and the newer versions come with a convex final edge. This is arguably the more rugged way to build a knife for all around use, and the compromise is moderate but these will not be the "slicing machines" (e.g. for game preparation) that the hollow ground, thinly ground knives will be. You may find a convex edge to be trickier to resharpen if you aren't skilled here already. Use search engine to find tips on convex sharpening.
The Dozier's are deep hollow ground with an appropriately thin final edge and are great slicing knives and game cleaning/prep knives, and serve excellently for intelligent use of a field knife like this. Dozier's smaller knives are not the ones you want to beat through a log with another log, or whack around with. His bigger knives if done in A2 would be much better here.
AG's knives are hollow ground also, so the above comments to Dozier apply. They have a mirror finished ATS-34 blade, and this means they'll be easier to keep rust free outdoors.
The Dozier's require a bit more care, i.e. wipe off sap and blood/guts, wash off any citrus acids or other food acids when you are done using (well, true for any knife). You may be familiar with D2 already from KaBar. It's a worthwhile tradeoff for many people who appreciate Dozier's expert handling of D2 in the heat treat process.
Scott Cook is only producing 2 hunting knife designs now (he makes a dagger, and is prototyping a promising folder now), as he keeps his design count low to keep the prices down and his productivity up via using jigs and fixtures in his production. But they are both gems.
My bottom line:
Scott's 3.6" Large Owyhee is a great all around outdoors knife, and since he'll do S30V, my pick of the litter is Scott's knife... I'd say "save your pennies, skip the bolster, have him build in micarta or one of his standard woods, have him extend the handle material to the end of the tang so the metal tang-with-thong-hole isn't exposed (for comfort in use), and get a Large Owyhee in S30V for around $180". Paul Bos heat treats for Scott, so you are getting the best production heat treat in the business. With S30V at Rc60, it'll be years before you find a better all around blade for real outdoor use.
