Too much for me. Not my style anyway.

Passing on it just not my taste or price range, I would rather get a new firearm or ammo/accessories once I get to spending that much.

Why anyone but a soldier would want a fighting knive always confuses me !

I spend much of time trying to educate my friends on how knives are tools for the bush and not the commonly perceived dangerous weapons only carried by thugs.

Steeley, he's a smart young man.

I'm not into fighters either. If there is fighting to be done, then I'm going to do it with a firearm.

I totally agree.

I can't tell you how many arguments I've caused by stating a KaBar is NOT A SURVIVAL or BUSHCRAFT KNIFE and is only a decent fighting knife.

They're up -- honestly, I think I'd prefer them without the sharpened spine. I keep looking, but think I'll be able to resist.

I think that the AA is a great looking knife with magnificent design and features. I'm not a soldier but the only thing between me and the AA is the price. I just can't afford it and that makes me sad. I think the Argonne Assault is somewhat a perfect knife! <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/thumbup.gif" alt="" />

I'm going to be "that guy" and blaspheme here....

$600 for a knife is out of line. I can get an entire brand new Sig Sauer handgun with night sights for that price.

I don't mind paying upwards of $200 for a single knife, but the most I've paid is $275 (for my first Dogfather on the secondary) and that's about the top for me. That $275 has been indestructible so I have to ask...

What can a $600 knife do that a $275 knife can't?

I might get shunned for this post, but so be it. I'm here because of Dan's performance to price promise.

Beauty, or usefullness, is in the eye of the beholder. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" /> I already have the Pregnant Dodo Bird, which I actually prefer over the A/A as it is. The model without the "knuckle Duster" is much more appealing to me, though I'm not interested in that sharpened top spine. But I'm sure it appeals to many for various reasons. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/thumbup.gif" alt="" />

Arch, I agree you with the price thing. AA is a pure fighter and I like it just for that reason; there is no sign of pretending it to be a multi purpose knife.

The price to performance ratio is appealing me too. My first and so far the only SY knife is the War Dog and it was more expensive than I thought but I think it's worth the money. Now I'm waiting for the 911. I want to try the American camping knife idea. We are used to use puukko and small axe.

If you take a look at http://bussecollector.com/catalog/, you'll see that this AA is actually much lower-priced than prior versions -- although I recognize that doesn't address your basic question.

I've gone $997.00 (pre-shipping) for a Blade show special-priced satin Gladius, $770.00 for a secondary-market Busse AK (with kydex), and $647.00 (pre-tax) for a SHBM at Knob Creek. From a purely practical perspective, none of those were smart buys, but they were worth it to me. That's really the only benchmark that makes any sense, because you either have to value a knife by what it's worth on the secondary market, which you can't control and may change as quickly as the prices in any collectable market, or what it's worth to you, which you alone determine. Currently (although subject to change) I'm fairly confident that I could get back at least what I spent on each of those three, although I bought them for myself and am not looking to sell them.

I'll digress into a related thought for a moment: I bought a few Buck Nighthawks (model 650GRS-B) for around $50 each about a year ago, along with several Short Nighthawks (model 655BO-B) for $25 (+ S&H) each. I'm not saying that 420HC is the equal of any of the Bussekin steels, but they're sturdy, heavy duty knives, made of adequate steel, having comfortable handles and a sheath, with a lifetime warranty for a very low price -- the sheaths are poorly designed for a survival/combat knife [but better than just a cardboard sleeve]. They intrigued me in a "riddle of steel" sort of way because I considered them to be way under-priced for what they were, and still do. However, that's what they cost, in my opinion, mainly because they really got hammered about those sheaths in reviews, so the price dropped to get people to buy them.

$275 was a heavy markup for a secondary-market Dog Father, but it may have come with a nice sheath and you obviously like it, so that was the value of your knife. You're not alone in thinking the AA isn't worth the release price, but it definitely will be to some people. If the secondary market holds up, some will even sell for a significant profit down the road, perhaps not to you or me, but to somebody.

My English gets me in to trouble as usual... <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" /> I ment to say that I agree that usually a 600$ knife won't do anything better than 200$ knife. Alltough I'm not saying the AA is not worth the price. I just can't afford it because of it. I really would buy it if I had the money.

Some one here said: "Looking is using"... <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif" alt="" />