I am no Randall collector nor do I have the vast knowledge as most of you here, but when is the last time you saw a failure with carbon blades. I cant recall any. Guys like the late Ron Hood (survival instructor) used his carbon 8 inch model 1 hard with out failure. The story is it was a replacement due to him breaking a stainless model. Anyway, stories are just that unless seen first hand. My first hand experience was with a model 14 in stainless. No matter how hard I tried I could not keep it sharp. Finally sold it to an Army Captain who put it in his safe. Carbon trumps stainless anything in performance, strength and ease of sharpening. Period.