I have and currently do work "in the industry" and I've used just about every program out there at one point or another. That's why, back when I was the moderator of this forum, I wrote that little blurb at the top of this page that states no one can tell you what's right for you. My experience using Houdini or XSI or Maya, C4D, Hexagon or even Silo (etc.) isn't going to be the same as yours. Some of those apps I thought were awesome and some I felt I couldn't use at all, despite having access to the developers.

The reason - interface and workflow.  This is a really PERSONAL issue.

 

I learned organic modeling in Rhino and Max 2.5 around the same time. Before that I was doing spaceships in 3DStudio ( not 3DStudio Max but the original DOS version of that). I found I hated Max's clunky interface - it had only changed marginally from the 3DStudio days to be honest (at that point anyway). So I stuck with Rhino but even I could tell for what I wanted to make - creatures - NURBS really wasn't the best method. So with that in mind, did I try to force myself to use a program whose interface I found to go against my mentality? Hell no. Why Should I? Why Should you? That's why I branched out and tried a whole bunch of apps. Interface wise, this was MY PERSONAL experience: Blender - what a mess (well, at the time it was, it was fairly new back then), C4D - kind of a mash up that I didn't care for, Maya (barely worth it for the single user - awesome for a team with a programmer), ZBrush (a 2.5D paint app that would never take off - yes, I actually said that when asked to beta the app),  Nendo - cool but I still felt separated from my model, XSI (the interface was so different from what I was used to that I didn't mind it so much), LightWave (I had been dying to try it from the Video Toaster days so I was bias toward it but I wouldn't use it much), and so and so forth.

 Now, depending on where you work, you don't always get a say what you use - sometimes you just have to suck it up and use an interface that makes you want to blow your brains out with a bb gun.  I lucked into a job that didn't care where I made my models as long as the topology was good. I started using Wings 3D at that point. It felt a lot like Nendo in some ways and that made me seek out another modeler. Eventually I landed on Silo (mostly because CLAY didn't seem to be coming out and I couldn't get in on the beta).  I fell in love with it. It was just the right blend of interface and direct influence over my model that I was looking for. None of that double or tripple confirmation crap of every action I had to deal with in the original Hexagon and it was being actively developed.  It no longer is being actively developed and I have modo in my arsenal now but always go to Silo first regardless. 

 

Luckily for me, I landed a job as a modeler and got exposed to even a broad range of applications/workflows and understanding.  However, that's what happened to ME that's the road that has led me to use : Silo, modo, UVMapper Pro, UVLayout, ZBrush, Topogun, and Photoshop on a daily basis. Why all those apps? Silo and modo have UV tools, and they're great but they require more steps than UVLayout. UVLayout is awesome for pelt mapping and packing your UV's but lacks some of the basic UV functions found in UVMapper. ZBrush and Photoshop can both be used to paint a model but I prefer painting in ZBrush (not to mention ZBrush also has UV creation now  but it's not as good as UVLayout). Silo and Modo both offer the option to retopo a mesh but I use Topogun because that's it main focus and the toolsets it has to that end make it a fast experience.   Now my job wants us to use Max to make sharing files between us artists easier. So I'll have to get used to Max again and find a place for it in my list of apps.

 

The point is, you use what you feel gets the job done quickly and painlessly. If that means it's more than one app, than SO BE IT.  In film studios, they often don't even bother with off the shelf apps unless they have a specific need for them, usually they have built apps in-house to cover essential tasks or they have recoded the architecture of existing apps like Maya and Max to a point where they are no longer recognizable  and still, they use other applications for specific tasks.  Almost every major modeling application can do landscapes and instancing these days but has that stopped companies from using VUE? No, because that program was designed specifically for it and does the job better/faster. That's what is important in a production environment.

Trying to have someone tell you to get X application because you will love it is like playing russian roulette. Yes, there's a chance you will but there's a great chance that you've just shot yourself in the head by listening to them. TRY BEFORE YOU BUY. Who knows, you may love Blender most and save your money for training videos.

As for avoiding Autodesk, as though that should be some sought after goal, Autodesk owns 3 of the major off the shelf apps in the industry. If you're not a fan of Autodesk, feel free to give Cinema 4D a try or Houdini or Lightwave or Blender, hell, you want a real adventure? Go try Animation Master. Unless Autodesk as an entity has offended you on a personal level in some way, it shouldn't matter if they make the app as long as the app can do what you need it to do.  

That's my two-bits as someone who started this thing as a hobby and now do it for a living.