A lot of people either don't have the time, patience, or interest in sharpening knives. There is a definite learning curve and you have an interest in doing it. I sharpen my friends knives for little or no cost.
Cut up a piece off of a lawnmower blade. Medium carbon steel usually (if not a high carbon in some cases) and generally about 1/8 inch thick. HRC in the low 40's initially so there is still room for some heat treatment.
I have too many to choose a solid EDC. Usually depends on what I want to carry. Usually tactical folders since that is most of what my collection is. For a while it was a Cold Steel Recon 1 tanto, the a CRKT M16-14M, then a M16-01T, then a Benchmade Mini-Grip, and right now a Gerber mini...
About what size of a knife are you looking for. I have 3 currently. A CRKT Stiff KISS, a S&W SW990, and a Simonich Mid-tech Bitteroot. The CRKT is a bit on the large size for neck carry but does offer several options with the clip and a belt loop that is attached with machine screws. The S&W...
I know this is pretty much a dead topic but I'll figure I'll answer it for posterity. Short answer is yes, the "waved" feature knives do open very quickly...faster than any automatic knife in terms of coming off from being clipped to your pocket. Take a little practice to get the feel of it...