Lee,
Have you seen the Mission A-2 MPK? It sounds like this is the knife you are looking for.
I have had very good success with A-2 edge retention and strength with my past military customers. Heat treated properly this steel works well (as witnessed by Busse, Chris Reeves and, others who have used it successfully for a long time).
Corrosion resistance - with the "Steelcoat" you have one of the best blade coatings around. The Titanium coating applied to the blade has held up well so far in my limited use. As you can probably verify elsewhere in these forums in other threads, this stuff works very well.
Sheaths, they use some of the best Kydex makers around.
Mad Dog/Mission price range? While most Mad Dogs and Ti Mission knives are in the $300+ range, the Mission A-2 MPK's are well under that. Retail prices start tad over $200 and go up a little depending on exactly what you want in the knife.
From what I have read in your post, it sounds like Mission made the A-2 MPK for you! I have had more then one conversation with Mission, and people looking for a knife as you described it, is why Mission made the A-2 MPKs. You also, might want to check out the reviews section, there is a pretty good thread going now about the 10" A-2 MPK. You will also find many other good reviews if you go back a few weeks and go through all the different reviews selectively.
If you really need to keep the price down, I also sell the Tactical OPS line of knives. These have gotten very good responses as well. In the blade lengths and shapes you are apt to be interested in, you will find a good 1095 steel blade with a hard edge and soft spine, linen Micarta scales, black powder coat blade protection and, a Kydex sheath. These folks are a great bunch to deal with as well and, they have been very receptive to making changes to their knives if you needed something tweaked to meet your needs. I have received everything from little 3 inch neck knives to big 15" (cutting edge - 20" overall) knives from them.
Stay sharp,
Sid
p.s. Tactical OPS can be found at
http://www.tactical-ops.com/ .
MPK's at
http://www.missionknives.com/products/mpk.html .
I would be glad to give you phone call, just email your phone number or call me.