Air Force Survival Knife - Opinions?

5Knives,

Great post. Thanks for the historical input. The pilot’s survival knife is a good design for its intended purpose. Its shortcomings as a survival knife are evident with any serious use in the wilderness and the mods suggested make it a much better knife for general use.
Other than re-profiling the edge I’ve left mine alone for the time being. If I mess with one it will be on a second copy.

On Spears: If you are in a situation where you are tempted to tie your knife to a stick you had better think first about loosing your knife. It is a comfort to know this idea of the two little holes came from the top brass and not the survival instructors!

If you really want a knife that can serve as a spear point then buy a CS Bushman or Mini-Bushman. I have both and they make very secure and effective spears. I use a small screw eye to attach the point. A 12-inch Ontario machete and mini-bushman make a very effective combination. If you fire-harden a point on the shaft you can remove the Bushman for use as a knife.

I have always made fire hardened spears by slowly turning the wide green end of the sapling in the coals, allowing it to char. I then rub the char off with a rock and continue until I have burned a nice, long even point onto the spear. The worst that has ever happened is that the shaft of some woods will develop small cracks or a single narrow split. These don’t affect the spear much.

Dangerous game spears have a substantial guard that prevents the animal from sliding down the shaft to attack you. The idea is to hold the animal pinned against the ground as he bleeds out. Most primitive people who use hardwood spears for hunting use short throwing spears (or bows/arrows) combined with a long 15 foot thrusting spear. They also hunt in groups. The idea is to track the wounded animal until two or more hunters can rush it and pin it with the trusting spears. Mac
 
Thanks for the kind words Pict.

Your points are very well made. I agree about the CS Bushman, actually The CS Boar Spears are a modern version of an extremely effective medieval tool, They have been used many times on Boar, and I believe a few times on Bear. The cross pieces are especially important for Boar, they will "run up the shaft" if they can, just to get at you.

Sharpened Bamboo, or a length of sharpened pipe or heavy duty tubing, make outstanding spears for stabbing not throwing, due to the "cookie cutter" effect.

As a teenager, I fixed a sharpened "Malayan Throwing knife" to a 6 foot bamboo pole, and set out to hunt a rabbit. It was 2 years and several thousand throws before I finally got one. Then I took an interest in traps and particularly snares. Took two days to get my first rabbit ....... Hmmmm ..... there seemed to be a lesson in there somewhere.

Helps to remember that a downed aircraft is a treasure trove of tools and raw material for making tools and weapons. Making air crew survival a bit specialized, and nominally easier than merely being lost in the woods with your SAK, a Hershey bar and half a Bologna Sandwich.

The Atlatal and Dart remain as the most effective way to hunt with a spear, the range and force multiplication is astonishing, some neolithic genius invented that one. Can't help but wonder how that was discovered. But that's certainly another topic, isn't it?

OOPS, there I go again, I'll be quiet now.

but the Survival knife is a bargain at todays prices.

Regards,
 
sodak said:
Storage wear means rust, dried out handle, and corroded snaps on the sheath.

I put some sno seal on the handle, steel wool on the rust, and soon will replace the snaps. It's still a great deal, sharpens up great and holds a great edge. This is one knife that I truly enjoy and don't feel bad about using hard...
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Mine had no rust on blade...A TOUCH of dust like rust on guard, and a speck or two of green on the snaps...It came with two different color shoelaces.
The $30.00 one had two black shoelaces.
The $20.00 one had military stampings on the back of the sheath.
The $30.00 one came in a blister pack, but I keep forgetting to check if it has the military markings on the sheath.
The $20.00 one has deeper grooves in the leather grip.
Otherwise they are just the same.
 
yeah tying your knife to a stick is bad cause it can be damaged or broken(thats why its only recomended if you have another knife). but ive not any problems binding the first blood knife to a spear shaft. i usually use leather cord, cotton t- shirt cloth or paracord and have had good results. the secret is to get it wet and wrap extremely tight then dry it over some coals. the cotton or leather will shrink alot and ittle be secure. and this isnt a throwing spear, its for thrusting where the balance doesnt matter much.
 
I liked how you wrapped your handle with paracord. How do you do this? Is there somewhere on the web that shows how? Looks nice.



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The Navy had approved at least a dozen various knives as an optional replacement for the AFSK for aircrew use..
Off the top of my head I know the following are authorized:
*BM Nimravus
*Fallkniven F1 and S1
*SOG SEAL Pup
There's some exotic Ti stuff and various Camillus and Ontario choices, too.
I keep an AFSK in my ruck so my students can get some practical experience with it. I'm not overly fond of it, but I'm a gear hound.
 
I've never tried to mount the knife to a staff. The same vision of my knife running away with a hog flashed in my head and that was that.

I had thought that the extended reach would come in handy for getting at dead branches high up in the pines, but in all the years I hunted pine forests, I never got around to trying it out.
 
I dont trust my skills of knot tying (or lack that of...) to affix a shaving sharp piece of metal to a pole and attempt to cut something out of a tree over my head!

Either whatever I'm cutting would fall on me, or my knife would wind up between my ears or through my foot! :D
 
Gary007 said:
I liked how you wrapped your handle with paracord. How do you do this? Is there somewhere on the web that shows how? Looks nice.



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Gary, sorry for the length of time for a response. I just started looking at ways to wrap it so I could end up with a lanyard strap and it actually worked first time for me. There are probably much better ways to do it, but I layed the paracord along the underneath side of the handle, leaving enough past the butt of the knife to give me half of the strap. Then I started wrapping from the guard to the rear of the handle. The wraps were as tight as I could make them and by the time I tied the knot, the cordage wasn't budging. Since the photo was taken, I have added five ranger bands (cut bicycle tube)to the package. Two on the sheath, which hold an industrial grade 55gal. drum liner in place on the back of the sheath and three cover the cordage on the knife's handle. The additions make the handle fat and grippy.


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Hotrod said:
I dont trust my skills of knot tying (or lack that of...) to affix a shaving sharp piece of metal to a pole and attempt to cut something out of a tree over my head!

Either whatever I'm cutting would fall on me, or my knife would wind up between my ears or through my foot! :D
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USE WET LEATHER strips or leather boot laces will work! Wrap it tight wet and let it dry. As it dries, the thongs will shrink making it very tight. Old indian trick.
Thanks,

iBear
 
Last summer a I let a couple of hard-charging Marine Recon students duct-tape a AFSK to a stick and they managed to get two rabbits in as many days. I guess their appitite made their aim true.
 
ibear said:
USE WET LEATHER strips or leather boot laces will work! Wrap it tight wet and let it dry. As it dries, the thongs will shrink making it very tight. Old indian trick.
Thanks,

iBear
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Like I said... Knowing my luck, i'd be flossing my teeth with the blade via the forhead! :D
 
Living in the NW and being involved in SAR, I have had the oppourtunity to learn from some of the SERE guys. They present classes at Wa St SAR conference each year, and I've also attended some weekend stuff on the survival tx ground outside of Ione, WA.

anyway....
I recall that their opinion of the saw on the back seemed to be merely for notching branches to tie stuff to.

More than anything else, the US knife is their most favorite tool, it would seem. That and a metal match.

Tom
 
Hey Guys..

Oh gawd..
Here come the flames..

As much as I like Camillus and highly respect them as a very old US knife company,,(Here We Go) and not to disrespect any of the fans of the UFSK...

Personally I think it's a piece of crap...
The last remaining one I have left from my youth, is used for opening paint cans in the garage,,and scraping the dead decaying grass off of the bottom of the push mower.Jobs that I wouldn't want to wreck a screwdriver on..

I know there is a fairly large fan base for this knife,, I've owned a couple, and they've all been useless as bush knives..

The edge is too thick,, it wobbles(guard),,and wants to fall apart, it's uncomfortable to use, doesn't sharpen worth a $hit, the saw is useless other than to score wood, and the sheath is completely another entire subject in itself ...(A prime example why I started building sheaths)I can't tell you how many times mine has came out of it's sheath, or the snap came undone or broke...I have had several of these as a teenager...

They don't make a half bad tent stake though,, and I do mean as a tent stake,, not as in making one.

For the money(Not even sure what they are worth) however there are several knives I would take Any Day of the week before the AFSK..

A Swedish Mora or a CS Bushman make a far better useful tool in the woods...A Ontario machette is also better for about the same cost..

For a bit more money, as Alberta Ed has stated,, the F1 by Fallkniven is one HELL of a knife.. It's like going from a Yugo to a BMW....Theres a ton of knives that would be better suited in the field than this knife...

I think the design should be retired altogether and the tooling and plans destroyed..
It served it's purpose for it's time,, but it's time to put that ole dog out of it's misery...
Theres bigger and better....

Now an original WWII one would be a cool collectors item..

Again,, you guys like what you like,I'm sorry if this raised the hair on your neck..Don't mean to offend anyone.. They just don't do it for me,, at all.. Maybe it's a hang up with me or something from bad experiences with them,, but I just think it's a POS all the way around.

You'd be better off with a worn out SAK...

Keep looking dude...

ttyle

Eric...
 
Hey Longbow...

No,, I really don't like them much at all...
It's right up there with the TOPS Tracker...

Now,, if you changed the Grind. The Steel.The Blade Shape,The Blade Length,The Thickness, The Handle, The Guard,The Pommel , The Sheath,and ground in a nice size finger choil,, it really wouldn't be all that bad of a knife... :D


ttyle

Eric...
 
Normark said:
Now,, if you changed the Grind. The Steel.The Blade Shape,The Blade Length,The Thickness, The Handle, The Guard,The Pommel , The Sheath,and ground in a nice size finger choil,, it really wouldn't be all that bad of a knife... :D
Eric...
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. . . Then you would have a Becker Crewman! :cool: This is what I have on order, and I am impatiently waiting for it. My Ontario pilot's knife stays in the garage for abusive jobs to which I don't want to subject other knives and tools.
 
normark, you can make fun of the knife all you want but dont start on 1095 that is the backbone steel of knives for hundreds of years. dont laugh at knife's design either because its very good for its intended purpose. blame quick, and cheap government manufacturing.
 
Hey elven...

Never said anything about 1095...

If the one I have is 1095, then the HT is FUBAR'd on it......

Like I said earlier,, this one is the biggest POS I've ever had or seen...I'm not sure what it's intended purpose is, as it's not fit to spread icing on a girl scout's easy bake oven cake...

ttyle

Eric...
 
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