Iyonk, let me put it in perspective for you this way;
In my younger day, I collected custom knives. I was single, had a large disposable income, and in my youthful confidence believed I knew what I was doing. I had Randall's, Ralph Bone, Don Hastings, and many more both forged and stockremoval from the socalled wonder steels. I did learn something though.
I learned that a sharp blade is a sharp blade, no matter if it's made with the wonder steel of the month with half the letters of the alphebet in it, ot a crude jungle forged bolo made from a 1952 Ford truck spring. Both cut the same. A 8'95 Opinel or 15 dollar sak will open a package or cut a rope just the same.
But...
I found in too many cases, the more expencive wonder knives would chip or suffer damage way easier than the plain old 1095 carbon or other steel non wonder steel. I ended up selling off and giving away my entire custom and high end folder collection. Now I just carry Victorinox, Buck, and other good but not expensive knives. The point of diminishing returns is low on these so called wonder steels. Yes, they will go longer without sharpening, but they can be a bear to sharpen, and with a harder edge, comes some brittleness problems. Steel is a basic formula; increase hardness, and you decrease toughness. Why do they make ax and hatchet and machete blades softer than knife blades? This is why so many knife nuts break their knives by doing dumb things with them like chopping and batoning. They are not tempered for that impact.
I camp, fish, and used to hunt, and I've found that a sak does all jobs well. Plus you can sharpen it up on a wide variety of materials in the field in just a few minutes.
In the end, it all comes down to snobbery. LIke having a Rolex watch instead of a Timex or Casio. Not much a matter of function as much as percieved status.
