Bear Grylls VS Les Stroud Knife Deathmatch!

T

TennesseeVol18

Joined
Sep 15, 2012
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9
With the boom of survivalist endorsed knives, it makes it hard to know which ones more for real, the Stroud series or the Grylls Series, it's essentially Gerber vs Camillus, but as an impulse buy I bought Bear's folding sheath version of the ultimate knife and shockingly it's a tough knife! I've tested it. This actually makes me really optimistic for Les' line. I want to test them even more. What about y'all? What do y'all think? And I would have thrown Myke Hawkes line on but this look more like fighting knives. Just plain mean lookin
 
The Helle knives Temagami was made in collaboration with Les Stroud, or at least endorsed by him, and is an excellent knife. http://www.helle.no/products/knives/temagami/

It is also excellent that Helle offers the Temagami in both triple laminated carbon and stainless steels.

Temagami-Canadian-Outdoor-01.jpg





As for the Gerber and Camillus junk...well I guess that tells you what I think.
 
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The Gerber line is trash and we all know it, the Temagami is a "real" knife and us awesome. Is swear by looking at the Camillus stuff that its no damn good, but when proded Les stood up and vouched for the stuff saying he designed and tested them from the ground up to be dependable quality stuff. 440 with polypropylene handles isn't a Busse or anything but is try them before trashing them, I trust Les' integrity .
 
Not familiar with Les Stroud, but the Camillus knives don't look anymore impressive than the Gerber knives.
 
Jack Black said:
Not familiar with Les Stroud, but the Camillus knives don't look anymore impressive than the Gerber knives.
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It isn't. Walmart shelf filling trash. 440 can be a fine steel, but consider what they're charging for their stuff and realize they're making a profit. A profit from such cheap prices means they're paying those Chinese wages pitiful even by their standards. And do you think you're gonna get any sort of quality or quality control from that?
 
Street Samurai1978 said:
Not sure I care for either. You getting a good Grylls knife seems to be the exception and not the rule.
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not exactly sure this is the case... I have heard of the parang issue as well as the problem with the steel butt on the BG "ultimate" being weak (which apparently they have remedied on newer models) but i have never heard of any real complaints on the folders. I as well have seen the folders hold up pretty well in some fairly demanding use, and I dont think you could ask for much more for a $30 folding knife.
 
Look at the construction, ergonomics, materials, etc. without thought of brand name or endorsing personality...good designs speak on their own. Ability of the design to work well as a folding knife isn't the main goal for most of them.
 
So, as a relative newbie just getting into knives, and celebrity endorsement aside, who would everyone recommend for a 'survival knife'? Fixed blade, or folder? Why?
 
With knives, as with most other consumer items, you really do get what you pay for.

In my opinion, the Bears Grylls and Les Stroud line of knives is all about using the names of tv celebreties to market a product. Nothing more than that.

If I'm relying on a knife for survival/hard use, I would not use one made in Asia. I've had too many fail on me in everyday use.

I would advise anyone looking at a serious survival knife to spend the extra money on a high quality knife from a reputable manufacturer/ knife maker and use it before they need it. Nothing inspires more confidence during high stress scenarios than actually knowing what your knife can and cannot do in adverse outdoor situations.
 
JJalenak said:
So, as a relative newbie just getting into knives, and celebrity endorsement aside, who would everyone recommend for a 'survival knife'? Fixed blade, or folder? Why?
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For this question, a fixed blade would definitely be the way to go. Folders are basically fixed blades broken in half. As for a survival knife, it depends on deep your relative's pockets are. If he's willing to drop 100 bucks,(Which is a actually a lot of money for a first timer), then I'd recommend either the ESEE 3 or maybe just a good old Ka-Bar. Becker also makes plenty of nice "survival" knives. Depends on his taste. Need more info to be sure.
 
Gerber and Camillus are just straight crap! If you need a blade in that price range grab a Kershaw at least!
 
I haven't seen any of the Stroud knives, the Bear knives have been...lacking to say the least. You'll definitely find better options, in this niche you're looking for either the infamous disposable Mora or to upgrade your spending for something more durable. I am rather curious if Stroud tries to push quality in this budget line, I'm not in the market for anything of the sort but if he makes them functional I'll give him credit.
 
From what I've read here. The Les Stroud knife made by Helle was actually a rendition of something he found in Canada while he was camping.
He put a handle on it and used it for years. He went to them to make one and they told them that what he had was a discontinued model.
They sat down talked about what he wanted and made it out of quality materials.

All the other stuff that comes out of China... well... there is a bunch of marketing and fancy packaging and copyrights and trademarks behind it.
You do the math.

I'd trust my life to a Mora knife or Imacasa machete before any Chinese made stuff.
The Helle is probably crazy awesome. I have some of the blades I have put on handles from Ragweed forge and their laminated steels are pretty sweet.

It's like comparing a used Moped to any major manufacture's car that is new off the line.
The quality product wins.
 
JJalenak said:
So, as a relative newbie just getting into knives, and celebrity endorsement aside, who would everyone recommend for a 'survival knife'? Fixed blade, or folder? Why?
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Depends on your budget,if you want a cheap and a very good knife: Mora,Buck Paclite,Cold Steel Pendleton Lite
If you want a good medium sized/priced:Kabar,BK-2(sharpened pry bar)
If you want a large knife/medium price:BK-9,Ontario SP-53
And if you're a strong fella that wants/knows how to chop:Himalayan Imports khukuris,i have a 20 inch 40oz chopper,my personal choice for Z-Day or WW3.
All of these are my picks and i have all of them,all work well.
 
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