Maybe because I'm about Raym's age and new here, I got what he said - at least I think I did. I take no offense. I agree with what he wrote. Carrying the latest and greatest may do the job - or it may not. It depends on you and the job. When I went through USAF Jungle Survival, I learned that I needed the equivalent of a machete to survive. Jungle undergrowth is heavy and you may well need to chop your way to get to a point to be rescued. I bought a Randall #1 and it worked out to be too light, so when I went off to the Vietnam conflict, I got a USMC WWII surplus Bolo Knife and carried it instead. It fit along my thigh inside my G-suit and I figured without a pointed knife, I lowered the risk of impaling myself in a bad parachute landing. Fortunately, I never had to test my theory.
Since then, I've carried a variety of knives and currently carry a Kershaw 1550 and a Leatherman Wave. They will work for me in the environments I frequent. I suppose if i spent a lot of time in the Alaskan bush, carrying an ax would make sense - I don't know - I prefer saws. If I went back to a jungle environment, I'd probably carry a light weight machete - the bolo is a little heavy.
I digress, but the point is that one should use what works for him or her. It's a philosophy, it's not a tool or a specific brand of knife with a specific Rockwell hardness. Ownership has little to do with the skill for use other than giving you availability to learn.
One thing for sure for me; I would never carry a fixed blade knife unless it were in a Kydek sheath. I don't have to worry about jumping out of airplanes any more, but I've fallen enough times (both off horses and my feet) to believe that a sheath knife is too dangerous to carry safely in a leather sheath.
