For my needs - I want differential heat treat in my choppers, but I don't consider a 7" a chopper. I think of it as a "general purpose" or "jack of all trades / master of none"...a knife you carry when you don't know what you need a knife for.

As such I would much prefer dif. heat treat, but as others have stated its not as critical with Busse steel and geometry.

The Swamp's Rodent 9, on the other hand, needed to be dif. heat treated.