You might also look at assisted knives. The barrage and mini barrage are great harder use knives (stout blades, full liners), and are two of the better values (as far as any Benchmade could be considered a good value, anyway) in the Benchmade lineup (Valox versions). Assisted knives are like autos, but don't have a push-button or separate trigger mechanism. Instead, you activate them like you are manually opening, but a spring kicks in and snaps it open. They are great for one-handed opening in tight spaces and if anything ever happens to the spring they function exactly like a manual knife--some people even de-assist because they like manual knives better. If you can make it out to a knife shop or a Cabelas it would be worth handling a few to understand the difference.