I have a couple of kiridashi style knives. The one that I use is still waiting for some form of handle to be fitted and is simply a piece of full hard (M2) reciprocating saw blade, about 2.8mm thick. It holds a very good edge, but is a bit of a pain to sharpen, M2 doesn't seem to like to lose the wire edge. I use it for leather work and other random chores around the workshop. I don't really find it a widely useful knife though. I have another piece of M2 mounted in a handle and ground to a sheep's foot pattern and find this to be a better utility tool. Not as elegant, but more useful.
The problems I have with the style are:
The edge is too short to slice, for rigidity the steel is too thick to cut deeply like a craft knife, the angle of the edge relative to the handle and the lack of curve make it poor for whittling and not as controleable under load as a Stanley knife for cutting on a flat surface. I cannot think of anything outside of my workshop that I would want to use it for, certainly not for working in the bush.
Obvioulsy its a very old style, and must work for some people, but it doesn't really work all that well for me.