I made a decision a year or so ago: if I'm going to spend money on a blade, it needs to be one that will never fail me for the task for which it's designed.

What that means is that for all of my fixed non-hunting blades, I only have Busse-kin, two Justin-built Rangers (both off of Busse blanks), and 3-4 nicely made customs that fill particular niches. For hunting blades (aside from the RS, HCLE, Mud Puppy, and Muk) I've got a couple of Bucks (a Zipper in BG42, a Vanguard in CPM154), a Knives of Alaska Alpha Wolf in S30v, and a Gerber Freeman with S30V steel and stag grips (say what you want about Gerber, but that particular blade is FANTASTIC). I've sold off everything else. I've tried others--Ontario, BRKT, etc. While they are fine blades, too often they failed me for the specific chores for which they were intended (edge rolling and chipping batonning through one pine log, edge chipping chopping through another, etc).

Busse and kin are the only "hard use" blades I've had that have never failed to exceed my expectations. I'll be honest and say that not every design is for me--I've bought and sold more than my fair share of Busse and kin--but the ones I've settled on have fit me perfect and performed flawlessly. Given the loyal--if not rabid--following the company seems to have generated among many of it's customers, I'd say that probably applies to most of us on this forum as well.

I may buy 2-3 quality folders...someday...but Busse and kin will need to stop producing blades I can't live without before that happens <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" /> If you plan to spend your money, it's nice to spend it on something you know won't fail you.