A knife is a knife. Not a machete, not a chisel, not a wedge.
Any one who buys a knife to do the job of a hatchet, machete, log splitter, or crowbar is obviously incapable of selecting the proper tools for their task.
As is, apparently, anyone who selects anything other than a mora, because if all knives are meant to be used in exactly the same way, as you seem to imply, then there is ABSOLUTELY no use for heavy or large fixed blades, since their smaller, thinner counterparts will out-cut them every single time.
As to the use of a Green Beret and his/their praise of the CRK knives---again, this is only a durability test, not an indictment of the knife for all types of use. Edge retention is a factor in knife performance, it is not the only factor. And, I really hate to burst your bubble, but the fact that "a badass uses it" doesn't mean that said badass is any more qualified to rate it than the kid who delivers your newspapers. There is not ONE aspect of the training of combat arms personnel that covers materials analysis or product testing. They rely on laboratories for that kind of study, and those laboratories are far more concerned with the performance of the current body armor, boots, and bullets than knives. Not saying that a soldier doesn't need a good knife, just that being a soldier doesn't mean he knows what a good knife is. Want to know what the best selling knife was at the Clothing Sales store in Fort Hood right before the first major deployments to Iraq were taking place?
The Fury Tactical! Folding Bolo ...and no, I'm not putting that exclamation point in the wrong place. Let me see if I remember the specs:
"Genuine stainless steel blade! Unique one-hand opening! Blade locks in the open position!!!"
Yep. $5.95 on sale and they were FLYING off the shelf. My favorite feature was the saw...the saw on the back of the blade...the back of the blade that was not covered when the knife was closed. I'm sure those nylon belt sheaths survived two or three insertions of the knife before they started coming apart.
Soldiers deserve respect, no question. I was a soldier, and I respect other soldiers, no question. Being a soldier does not make you an expert on anything to do with knives. Now, it's entirely possible to be a soldier who is fantastically knowledgeable about knives--but his cadre didn't teach it to him.
And for the record--I think the one piece line from CRK are good knives. Again, toughness is not the only determinant of knife performance, merely the only determinant being examined here. In that area, neither of the Reeve knives have faired that well.
