I think that the main reason that some traditional knives were thin was the scarcity and cost of steel. Praise Shiva that Nepal now has access to old Mercedez-Benz truck leaf springs and Scrap Yard Knives has Jerry's horde of fine cutlery steels! I prefer thinner in a machete simply because it works better that way. My favorite Busses (not exactly cheap knives) are 3/16" thick.And, like unsub, I like the YK better than the YKLE. I prefer the 3/16" thick Ratmandu to the original DM, too, but I am not prying open doors or ammo crates all day, either. While I liked the original Dog Father, I much prefer the slightly thinner flat ground DFLE. I say, don't make the blade any thicker than it needs to be to do the intended tasks of the knife. Unless all you have is some thick stock that you scrounged from Jerry's pile. In that case, make it!

As usual, Busse is ahead of the curve on the latest trend away from unnecessary extra steel. Look at the Skinny ASH-1 and Sarsquatch. With the higher cost of energy, it costs much more to make and transport steel. I think economics will cause other manufacturers to consider thinner stock where appropriate. Thank God I already have my FFBM, an excercise in excess if there ever was one!