I was a U.S. Marine grunt from 1970 - 72 and bought my own Camillus (Ka-bar style) combat/utility for $7 at a PX stateside. It served me well for the two years I carried it in the military. I gave it to a friend of mine's son who took it to Afghanistan for a tour in 2004 -2005 and (I'm very happy to report) returned safely home and still owns it today.
A young man I work with, deployed to Iraq with his U.S. Army Nation Guard unit last month; before he left I gave him a Ka-bar combat knife to take with him.
Some things work well and don't need to be improved upon, unless you want to pay more money for a product that delivers the same end result.