For my own personal use, I favor knives made in USA, Germany & Japan. I tend to lean toward those made in Japan, because the steel comes out of the Philippines and is basicly the same as what goes into Batangas Balisongs. From what I have seen though, the Kershaw hollow ground blades are the sharpest. They are just like a razor blade, but the handles are junk. Next would be the Spyderco's & they put a good handle on their knife.