The 97OT was a late comer to the Schrade family as it first appears in the 2000 catalogue. It's one of my favorite Schrades. The saw blade has a tooth pattern that really works, saws through lumber or branches very aggressively. Once you start to carry a 97OT you find the saw comes in handy more frequently than you had previously thought. Plus a steel pick and tweezers are nice to have along. I've used the pick to mark a measurement before sawing. It's not as fat as a pencil.
I recently bought a China made 97OT just to see what it's like. To my surprise, it's a good knife, all of it, blade, saw and implements. Infact, side by side with a Schrade manufactured one, it's hard to say which is which.
The only other China Schrades i have bought were back a few years ago when they first came out. Those were pathetic knives with thin soft blades. If this 97OT is typical of the current China Schrades, they have improved hugely in the last few years.
roland