I guess everyone's experiences are different, as I've yet to find any knife that was better built than my CRKs. I felt my XMs had the edge over my CRKs in terms of absolute strength, but I immediatley found flaws in them in terms of finish(the jimping on both wasn't even and the G10 scales didn't align perfectly). Neither were real issues, but when splitting hairs in comparison to other knives I've owned, the flaws were there and quite obvious. I owned a Brad Southard as well( just pointing out my experience) and as much as I loved the design and overall size, it was lacking in comparison to a number of other knives I've owned in terms of its finish(the clip was very insecurely mounted with partially-stripped screws and didn't sit flush at all). Granted, you're bound to see differences in knives that are full-on customs, but that's the beauty(to me) in very high-end productions like CRKs.With them, you get fairly consistent F&F over and over again. You don't get the exclusiveness of customs, but you don't have the waiting lists, lotteries, or overly inflated secondary market prices, either.
When I'm trying out knives other than CRKs, I might be looking for something else, but a step-up in quality isn't it.
