Thanks for the warm welcome. It took some time to get that edge on. The factory edge wasnt the most even or flat (though it was plenty sharp) and I ended up going from 220 grit right to the 4k/8k norton so there are still a few scratches from the factory edge. Didn't get to the kydex today, maybe tomorrow. The coating damage that you see is actually only from one afternoon of use, and while I certainly wasn't disappointed with the wear rate I was surprised. This stuff is about as tough as the crinkle paint on my shovelhead cylinders. The DF is my first large knife/chopper and I was pleased to find that it chops just as well as a gerber/fiskars hatchet but way more flexible as well as comfortable with the res-c grips. My only complaint so far would be in regards to my attempt at making a polearm. The paracord caused erosion/displacement so its not something that you would want to do on a regular basis as it may decrease the life of the handle.

After handling a battle mistress and comparing that to the dogfather I ultimately decided to buy, I couldnt imagine any practical reason to spend more than twice the $$. Hooray for Scrapyard bringing the serious values to serious hard use knives.

...Its a shame I got this from thombrogan before his bed frame test. All the work he would have had to do on the beltgrinder would have saved me the 4+ hours it took to get the edge cleaned up on sandpaper and bench stones!