My Busse Combat benchmark is the FBM; I bought them at release from the Company Store and paid from $367.00 (for black/black std Micarta FFFBMs) to $452.00 (for urban gray/blue & red mag G10 FFFBMs). I know it's been a little over two years ago, but whenever I see a knife that approaches those prices, I have to ask myself, "Is this really as much knife as one of my FBMs?" If the price is more like $500 ($509.50 being the average [pre-shipping] price I paid for two NMFBMs last year) I compare whatever I'm looking at to a NMFBM.

At Scrap Yard, I've had two benchmarks: the Dog Father and the SS4. While its true that the S5LE was more expensive than the SS4, it's both a more substantial knife, and it has a much higher level of finish. Based on those factors, I considered it a good value, even though it did push the pricing envelope. While SR-101 may be comparable to INFI in a mid-size blade under a purely "practical use" criteria, even "scrap" INFI will carry a premium. I considered it worthy of buying five, although I also recognize that the price was high for much of Scrap Yard's primary customer base (younger folks who have not yet built up their income, middle aged folks with family commitments, or older folks who may be retired -- customers who want quality knives, but are also price conscious). Bang for the buck, there's little doubt that the S5CG was a better value -- the LE won't outperform the CG by as much as the ratio of their prices, but it'll look prettier doing it.

I was happy to see the S5LE, although I debated whether to buy any because I already had several S5CGs. However, compared to other INFI blades having similar specs of lengths, thickness, and finish, it's an exceptional value. I'm sure that Dan is knows his customers and that he'll return to his "bread and butter" price-to-performance oriented releases, but it was nice to have a "premium" release that even grabbed the attention and respect of Hogs. The Scrap Yard Mission Statement remains unchanged.