To be honest I have never heard of Knives of Alaska, until I went on a management hunt in West Tennessee. There were 2 tables set up to dress out the deer. One table had several knives laid out and a warden sharpening them as they completed each deer. I went to the other set up and they only had one knife and no sharpener. I watched them go through about 20 deer with the one knife. I asked who sharpened the knife; the poor guys at the other table are wearing out their sharpening steel. The game warden laughed and said his team was using a knife made by Knives of Alaska, you don't need to sharpen their knife,it's almost unreal how sharp this knife is and how long it holds a sharp cutting edge. This season I used my new Knives of Alaska knife for the first time and I was shocked. I have collected some excellent hunting knives over the years and Knives of Alaska is by far the best hunting knife I've ever used. I've field dressed 4 whitetails and the knife is still as sharp as the day I took it out of the box. Now I just carry one knife the Whitetail Hunter. What a nice piece of hunting gear. I?m sorry I waited so long to get one. From one very happy Knives of Alaska end user!