i'm sure it's an excellent knife in all regards. one of these days i'll get a Jerry Halfrich knife. however my preference on custom traditional folders is for natural handle materials, esp. ebony for a "work" knife, and ivory(elephant) for a "dress" knife.
my XM-18 has a bright orange scale; it's my outdoor edc and the orange is very useful. i've lost more than 1 knife by putting it on the ground for "just a minute".
roland