Can't answer your question on geometry of the blade, but when you talk about Spyderco and Benchmade v. less expensive knives, it should give you a clue as to which is better. I'm not a big fan of liner locks, however, unless they have some kind of a backup like the LAWKS. That's not to say they're bad; it's just that I prefer lockbacks. Framelocks made of titanium I also would tend to trust. CRKT's S-2 framelocks use titanium's strength for locking the blade. Some of the other designs just throw titanium in, but then use other means of locking the blade. Why? Who knows?