The hidden release was unlike anything produced by anyone else, before or since. The build quality was topnotch with a smooth easy throw, in automatic action when you triggered the release it just snapped to. The rubberish grip was perfect, as is the size- large without being too much so. The military wanted something they could hammer into a 2 x 4 and split it in 2 by reefing the knife back and forth. That kind of thing often separates the strong from the weak, and this thing is brutally strong.
The only thing they could have improved was the serrations, they should have used Veff Serrations, which is a superior tooth design for cutting rope and webbing.