I don't view a skelly as a primary blade. Its a secondary knife that wouldn't be carried at all if it were bulkier or heavier. Its also not called upon for "heavy duty use". They're only used for small tasks where a small finesse knife is needed.

I think of a skelly as a companion to a larger knife. I'm not a fan of a single 4" blade and have been trying to simplify. This means no 4" with full handle bushcraft and 10" chopper.

It means a 7" general purpose and 4" lightweight skelly.

Honestly, an ESEE-4 with scales doesn't weigh much more than one without...so that fits the need as well.