Cheap Knife vs Expensive Custom

[Tonka]

That all sounds pretty balanced

They say 'you get what you pay for' and I say 'BOLLOCKS'
Prices are set by what people (mostly sheeple) are willing to pay, not by what something costs to produce or what it is worth. You just need a bit of intelligence and you can buy right.
That said, if you want a knife that is a piece of art, and a nice object to own as well as being a tool, then by all means pay more. Collecting is different from surviving, and is perfectly valid. You can't tell someone the painting they bought wasn't worth it because the canvas is just as good a quality on that cheaper one. But as for needing to spend big money for this kind of tool ... you don't. In my opinion, any survival knife shouldn't really have an ultra sharp high carbon blade, as this, makes them too brittle. Not a problem with a nice bushcraft knife for use as a hobby, but you need to know the knife you are depending on isn't going to snap on you. I think this is more important than the edge ... mankind did OK with flint blades for long enough.

I favor military knives. It's not usually posh, but it's sturdy and has seen enough use to give a reputation of what to buy and what to avoid. The key thing is where to buy from. Military blades vary in price hugely so you need to shop around. I find militaria fairs the best... but there's not many of them about now.

I found this RAF survival knife is an excellent all rounder for £30... and it's sure not going to break on you! Of course some places want to charge you twice that.