I always like looking at your various set ups. I really love seeing the Martin still in the mix. Ed is still going strong, but not taking orders anymore, just doing batches of various models after getting requests for a few. He had retired, but then Newt got sick and he kept going to help Newt pay the bills. Then realized he wasn't ready to retire yet. My Bushhunter is one of my most carried blades, I use it for teaching skills with our local Boy Scout troop and our youth group. I carry it scout style in the small of my back a lot, but I'd worry about carrying it in high stress environments or on modern load carrying systems unless I had a custom kydex sheath made for it. The ESEE 3 can be mounted virtually anywhere and to anything. I wanted to expand on that concept a little with my sheath design for the 55. I spend a good bit of time with a few guys here in our local National Guard and Reserve units and friends at Fort Benning who have all been deployed to the sand box several times now, and who all have families. Luckily their pay grades are high enough now they can afford pretty much whatever they want, but they were on a tight budget once, and a lot of the guys still are. Will all of the testing and abuse I and several friends have put the 55 through, I think it's a great deal for the money, to get the guys who are just starting out through till they have more funds to play with.
One of the coolest things about being involved in an international forum is that there are people from other countries besides here in the US where I am from, who understand very well that the US does not have the market cornered on quality knife production, and that some other places in the world take as much pride in their work as our companies do, and in some cases a lot more even. Yes, I voted for a US company too, because of several factors. Not the least of which is the fact that Shon Rowen is super anal about the quality of work that leaves his shop, and I love that he takes so much pride in his work that his machinery stays clean enough to eat off of. But having put a few of his knives through the wringer, LionSteel and Knife Research, I would carry any piece of steel that Michele Pensato (Molletta) was in charge of into hell and have no doubts about how well it would perform, because he too is anal about his metalurgy and steel research and produces a damn fine blade, and usually with wonderful ergonomics as well. The only reason the T5 didn't make the cut in my book is the leather sheath, which I think due to modern combat situations and attire have largely outlived their combat days from my own research.
That said, now that I have re-read the entire original post myself, I guess we are all guilty of that from time to time in our busy lives, I would like to make another suggestion for one that isn't on the list, even though it does well exceed the $200 price tag. It just came out this year. It is a Bill Harsey design, produced by Spartan Blades. It is CMP S35VN steel. Few if any outside Crucible Steel know as much about this steel as Bill Harsey. Considering that Crucible metallurgists are routinely at Bill's shop discussing the data he has collected, he may well may know more than they do on the knife making side of the equation. The ceramic coatings they use are amazing. The knife is 9 inches over all, 4.5 inches each way, and the kydex sheath isn't bulky at all, they just didn't have any in when I ordered mine, and since I'm not a soldier I pocket carry it in a leather sheath as an edc and have since I picked it up at Blade. If you aren't familiar with Spartan, here is a link to a post I did a few years ago. I have put of lot of their knives through a lot of stuff. There are several reasons I edc this one now. For those for whom US Made is a major factor, with their business model and company framework and networrking, it would likely be impossible to get any more US made than Spartan, all the way down to all outsourced work and all sourced materials.
https://www.bladeforums.com/threads...-difensa-and-the-phrike-very-pic-hvy.1187294/
