On the low end, you really can't beat US made Dexter Sani Safe. You'll find them in most restaurants in these parts and most filet stations at docks as well. Mid range goes to Cutco. When you buy Cutco, you are buying more than a US made knife. You are buying a service in the free forever sharpening and the free unconditional forever warranty as well. They don't play original owner or receipt games when you want warranty work done. They'll come to your house and sharpen your knives for you. This doesn't matter to many of you, but I swear to my swan, I can't sharpen a knife to save my ass. Here's something else to think about. You may be helping send a kid to college when you buy their product. Their business model primarily uses high school and college kids for sales.
My step son started doing it in between his junior and senior year in high school. He dove into it head first and did remarkably well. When he got to college they made him some kind of area manager. They gave him his own office where he hired his own team of sales people. He is a junior in college now and passed the million dollar sales mark doing this part time. He has destroyed company records and is consistently at or near the top. He'll get out of college not owing a penny as will many of the kids he hired.
If you take the Cutco knife, look at the grade of steel used and look at the price, no it is not worth it. When you throw in the best no BS warranty in the industry, it gains value. When you throw in the free sharpening forever, it adds value. If you care, it may help a kid willing to bust their ass go to college. To me that adds value. When I first saw the price, I recoiled a little. Now that I have owned the knives for nearly four years, they are represent some of the best purchases I have made. It is rare indeed to find a Cutco owner who is not thrilled.
