To be fair, the US doesn't see stonefish or blue ring octopuses, both of which are lethal. The box jellies in Australia are a different species than those found around the US, which are also deadly, while the US species are just painful. The US has bull sharks which are some of the most aggressive sharks, but they're in the Atlantic. I'm thinking that's why the Aussies love going to Hawaii

I bought the 6qt for $40 in July of this year!

Yeah, I replied to a different comment regarding price. Currently, the deep Dutch oven by Le Creuset is on sale for $199, while the standard 6qt by Lodge is $80. In this situation, I would buy the Le Creuset because it is such a good price for a quality product. I bought the same $80 Lodge for $40 a few months back, which is all I can see them being worth these days. So a sale $40 6qt Lodge would beat out the $420 5½qt Le Creuset by being 10% of the price.

Don't buy Lodge at its standard price. I bought the 6qt Lodge Dutch oven a few months ago for only $40, which is a great price. $80 is too steep if you ask me, but not unreasonable. I guess when you know you can get it for ½ price, MSRP is too much. You can get the deep Dutch oven by Le Creuset for $199 currently through most outlets; I got mine here since it came with a bonus copper knob. Now, the $80 Lodge versus the sale price $200 Le Creuset? I would definitely go with Le Creuset. Le Creuset's products are near immaculate and you can see the thickness of the enamel. My Lodge user booklet said straight away that it would have imperfections in the enamel (which I did notice). I'll have to see as the years go by what happens to the Lodge.

Yeah, those green scrubbing pads or the sponges with the abrasive side are too abrasive for the enamel. Makes sense though, considering I can get the brown stains off the bottom of my aluminum pans with them and can smell the metal ha.