Anyone have the "perfect" wilderness/survival knife?

quietmike

quietmike

Joined
Nov 26, 2006
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42,898
We all love drooling over the newest toys...er knives put out by our favorite makers. All the time finding reasons we need the latest greatest thing.

I want to know does anyone have a w/s knife that they are perfectly satisfied with? One they can say "there is no need for me to consider buying another knife, because this one is all I'll ever need".

Who has found their "Holy Grail"?

What knife is it and why is it perfect?
 
Took my Busse Satin Jack out for a 3-day survival weekend and it did everything from making feathersticks, scrape berch bark to chop thick branches and dig fire pits.
Still had a newspaper-cutting edge when I came home.

Can't think of a single knife that would outperform it.
 
The day I find I have purchased every thing I want, is probably the day I'll be planted. ;)
 
For wilderness I'd say that my Skookum Bush Tool and Koster Bushcraft are the perfect wilderness knife for me.

For survival I'd say my Fallkniven F1.

I went on a 3 day 2 night wilderness trek recently and took 3 other knives and I kept wanting my Koster or Skookum instead.

Since the Skookum and Koster are carbon steel and scandi I'd want the Fallkniven for survival because the convex is less prone to damage and the rubber handle and stainless blade are less prone to rust or oxidation:thumbup:
 
Well, I like using different ones, but I would say that I have several "be all, end all" blades. My Dozier Wilderness, my Gossman Kephart, my Neilson Kephart, my Laconico Kephart (seeing a pattern here ;)). I prefer to carry a knife with a 4-5" blade, under 5" is better, the only one under 5" in the list above however is my Laconico. They are easy to carry and fill my needs. With a multitool (my Swisstool Spirit), I'm good. I don't get as much use out of them as I would like. I usually get more use out of smaller fixed blades.
 
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The Bottom Siegle is as close as I've found to the perfect knife that can both chop,slice,etc--and be very comfortable with extended use.

Everyone that holds it wants to buy it...

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Middle one in this photo
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The HEST is coming pretty darned close. Perfect ergonomics, huuuuge belly, great slicing edge (flat grind is steadily becoming a scandi as the microbevel gets buffed out with sharpening) and quite possibly the best tip design out there-super strong yet very... pointy. Performance-to-size ratio, you can't get any better. I have a few designs drawn up that will eventually be produced....
 
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I have many "perfect" blades, but there's always room for more. :)

Jeff
 
Err, not really. I will never have the 'perfect' knife. I may think so, but something better will come eventually ;)
 
I have yet to name this knife (if anybody wants to help, feel free!). It's an 01, 5/32" thick, 4" long (~3 3/4" edge) blade, 5"handle, 9" overall for those who can't add :-). The handles are maple burl, i took the main bevel back a bit to thin it out, 40 degree edge, it cuts and splits hair, but chops well with no deformation. I took 600 grit wet/dry sandpaper and smoothed out the blade and handle, treated the knife with a lemon/vinegar patina and then did a spray over it with silicone spray. The initial edge is clean and freshly sharpened, so no patina on that. It's a very slight drop point, so the point is very robust. It has the maker initials on it (John @ JK knives "K") and my initials on the other side along with some jimping. 3 Solid brass pins and blue liners. I'll include some pictures of the liners also. My perfect knife.

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Have yet to find it .............
but I am down to 3 that fit the bill for me "Now"
1.Fox River A2
2.Koster Bushmaster 01
3 Izula as my Necker 1095
keeping the Steel simple and easy to work with in the field is important to me
 
Swamp Rat Camp Tramp the last knife I would sell. Can do a lot and with a very comfortable handle and is lightweight.

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Well,since the ideal wilderness survival knife seems to change with the environment your in the answer is no. I could quibble with generalities,but anything I post would be subjective. I like khukuris for their versatility,but not for their weight. I like the Fallkniven for it's strength and handiness,but it's no chopper. Best bet is you need a trio,or maybe a quartet...
 
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