But I don't think I would want a stainless survival knife.
Spring steel is less likely to break.
I've come to trust fine-grained stainless like 420HC and 12C27 for survival/bushcraft type knives in terms of their toughness. I find them comparable to 1095. Yes, lower carbon carbon steels like 1085, 1075 and 5160 may be tougher and for things like machetes and bolos, make more sense there. But for the size of knives we're talking about in the 7" and less size range, I prefer either 1095 or 420HC.
As much as I love my 1095 knives, in wet New England where I play, stainless like 420HC or 12C27 make more sense. Mora does a decent job with 12C27 and gets my money currently for woods knives. I would rather give that money to Buck if they could figure out the survival/bushcraft/backpacking market (like Mora has). Their attachment to the hollow grind is, in my opinion, the issue. Buck has great steel and can compete in the $40 with some otherwise good designs. I like Bucks for my hunting knives, just wish they would offer better alternatives for survival/bushcraft/backpacking.... in 420HC and at the sub-$50 price point for street price.
I think there's room in the market for Buck to make that, or is the Thug overpriced?
IMO, knives like the ESEE and Beckers are way overpriced. When Buck can sell the Reaper for under $40 street price with great heat treatment (but the wrong grind for the job), it makes no sense to me to pay 2 or 3 times that for a 1095 knife with same basic slab construction. Of course, I think the ESEEs and Beckers are generally better designed for the purpose of survival/bushcraft/backpacking, largely due to their use of full flat grinds on most of their knives. And fans of those brands may argue that the fit and finish is better. But from a functionality standpoint, there is no reason that $40 knives like the Reaper and Mesa couldn't compete on performance if they had full flat grinds (and Buck's US BOS heat treat on 420HC).
In this context, yes, I thought the Ron Hood collaboration knives were similarly overpriced for what they were. 5160 isn't some crazy super steel and IMO, it only made sense to me in the large Hoodlum.
In any event, Buck would do worse than bringing both the Reaper and Mesa back and maybe add a smaller 4" knife with similar construction, say, in a classic Kephart design. Just ditch the hollow grind and swedge.
