Wow - quite the thread with comments and recommendations all over the map! One group suggests that I would be crazy to carry any kind of knife because a hardened, skilled knife fighter would shred me in an instant. Others carry a $40-ish knife and don’t over analyze. I’m kinda sorta in the second group. I carry a knife almost all the time – mostly because of aggressive dogs ... read: pit bulls. I have mostly been carrying a Benchmade Griptillian, until it was stolen (out of checked luggage) by TSA at Dulles last weekend. I hope and pray to never encounter one of the skilled knife fighters ... as I am now carrying a $29 Swiss Army one-hand Sentinal

Edited to add: JayFramer - that Spyderco Matriarch2 is slick. I think I will get one to replace my lost/stolen Benchmade. I don’t so much care for the cheaper-feeling grip/handle on most Spyderco’s but the blade design is scary!!