Unlike you I am a knife newb, and I ended up choosing the Wave. My other knives are Spyderco's, a Techno and Manbug. The Techno was my EDC for several months until I got the Wave. Still in the honeymoon period, but it's a near perfect EDC for me. I get the whole little big knives thing, but the Techno is somewhat hampered as an EDC task blade for me as it's short and has a thick blade stock, even with a full flat grind. The Wave, while nearly as thick near the pivot, has a longer tapered section towards the last 1/4 of the blade, so it's better suited to tip work. For whatever reason, it also zips through cardboard boxes much better than the Techno. The handle is comfortable and just accommodates my medium sized hand with a four finger grip. The clip has good retention and doesn't cause a hot spot, though I rarely use a knife for more than 5 minutes, so take that for what it's worth. The clip is milled with the same pattern as the scales, and smoothed just as well at the edges. The action is smooth, the lock-up is early but not too early and solid. It still doesn't close as smoothly as I was expecting, but has smoothed out with more use. Fit and finish is very good. The scales have a fine milling that isn't perfect, but as it's so fine it only shows upon close inspection. Everything your hand comes in contact with is smooth, as opposed to the Techno which is just chamfered and can still feel edgy in hand. The titanium inlays are awesome, they look perfect and have held up to EDC use while still looking new. I like that they are on both sides. While unconventional, it allows for a bit more grip, and prevents lockbar overtravel.
So all in all I'm happy with the purchase. I think you'd lose money on a flip, but they seem to be worth the asking price if you plan to hold onto them, and are especially of good value when picked up lightly used. It's been fun to step up the overall quality and experience from my Spyderco's, which are great in and of themselves. I'm looking forward to exploring some other brands, and CRK (no surprise) and Shigorogov have caught my eye lately. I'm a big fan of simple, elegant design, high tolerance machining, and ultimate functionality.
