have to say my Gerber Mark I dagger, because it literally saved my life once. Also i've had a Cold Steel Recon Scout for about 10 years, got it when Cold Steel seemed to be better knives. it has seen fire and rain, lots of miles of hard road and has passed some fairly hard-core torture tests. yeah, i've seen the picture of one broken off in a tree stump, but it has held my 160lbs without a problem and it's inexpensive enough to actually use without cringing. of course i'd rather have a Swamp Rat or a bark river or strider or trident or mad dog, but i'm a broke-ass.... so whatcha gonna do?