Recommendation? Best $100-ish fixed blade for bug out bag- GO!

@AntDog got it. I was going to recommend the kabar version of that knife, the 1217 (a little cheaper without the military branding, not sure the model number but same knife). Or, a becker BK7 or similar which is nearly all of the $100.

Mora's are great, I'm really itching to get a mora kansbol with the multi-mount sheath and I have many knives over the $100 mark. Mora's are pure utilitarian and they do it at a nice price. IMO, the muliti-mount sheath makes it more versatile but for a BOB, probably doesn't matter as much since it stays in the bag most of the time.

The mora companion is probably my favorite budget fixed blade, or the classic with the wood handle.

A mora with a latin machete and/or a swiss army knife can do a ton of work and you can probably stay close to $50. Add in $15-$20 bahco laplander saw (or similar) and you can have a pretty nifty survival setup on the cheap with tons of capabilities with some coin to spare. Just need a source of fire.

I'll admit, I love the fancier knives, but for something that's going to spend a lot of it's life in a bag waiting to be used, I'll go with something more affordable that's still reliable. I have a gerber Baer Gryll's ultimate pro knife I found well price used on this forum that I have in my bag. It's a fairly decent little kit if you can get past the silly branding, but I like it for what it is.
 
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Buck 119
Ontario 499 Pilot Survival Knife
Ontario Marine Fighting Knife (same as a Ka-Bar but unlike the Ka-Bar, the Ontario is still Mil Spec.)
These three are under your "$100 ish" budget.
For a little over $100 there is the Buck 120 General and 124 Frontier.
 
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Just consider that this knife will be stored in a sheath, in a backpack and most likely in a vehicle a lot of times (varying temp and humidity)and forgotten about. So as much as I like high carbon steels for your price range...they are prone to rust in these conditions. I would aim for a coated blade 1095 or tougher stainless (s35vn or the vg10 laminate thats in the fallkniven already mentioned)
 
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extrastout said:
Just consider that this knife will be stored in a sheath, in a backpack and most likely in a vehicle a lot of times (varying temp and humidity)and forgotten about. So as much as I like high carbon steels for your price range...they are prone to rust in these conditions. I would aim for a coated blade 1095 or tougher stainless (s35vn or the vg10 laminate thats in the fallkniven already mentioned)
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This is where the stainless moras really shine, IMO. The sandvik steel is very tough and stain resistant while being easy to maintain. Edge holding isn't great but it's adequate. AEB-L/13c26 is some of the toughest stainless steel available, according to Larrin's information at knifesteelnerds, and 12c27 is pretty darn close to 13c26.
 
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This is s survival situation so forget the mora's, the more's are for cub scouts that are going to be eaten by forests pirate's.

What you need is a box chopper/killer knife. May I suggest the Ontario SP10 Marine Raider. One tool that can do lots of task. It can take down trees, de-limb a tree, cut up tree for shelter. It can process food kills and help keep forest pirate's away. When i go into the woods with only one knife it is the one i take.
 
JamesofArc said:
This is s survival situation so forget the mora's, the more's are for cub scouts that are going to be eaten by forests pirate's.

What you need is a box chopper/killer knife. May I suggest the Ontario SP10 Marine Raider. One tool that can do lots of task. It can take down trees, de-limb a tree, cut up tree for shelter. It can process food kills and help keep forest pirate's away. When i go into the woods with only one knife it is the one i take.
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Your reasoning never ceases to amaze me... I had to read it a few times. Before you make those statements it would have been wise to ask the OP about which tasks he expects to be doing with he contents of the BOB. Maybe is is not in a rural environment, maybe he never thought about taking down trees...

I must say that long ago I also associated surivival with a big heavy chopper like knife. However as the time has gone by, I have realised that there are much more eficient ways to do pretty much the same things. And I can do them with smaller, ligther to carry and less cumbersome knives.

Mikel
 
There is a definite usage for larger knives and they have their place, but it all depends on what the needs and jobs are to be performed, and what the user intends to do, and their destination. Are they staying in one location for awhile, or are they moving around? For a BOB I like the statement above how the user found he could do the same jobs with smaller and lighter knives. How is the BOB going to be used and will it be there when you have to bug out is the bigger question.
 
JamesofArc said:
This is s survival situation so forget the mora's, the more's are for cub scouts that are going to be eaten by forests pirate's.

What you need is a box chopper/killer knife. May I suggest the Ontario SP10 Marine Raider. One tool that can do lots of task. It can take down trees, de-limb a tree, cut up tree for shelter. It can process food kills and help keep forest pirate's away. When i go into the woods with only one knife it is the one i take.
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Probably the most ridiculous post in the whole thread. If you think you will be eaten by forest pirates, your choice of knife is of no consequence. The only question is what gun will you have. But if you persist along these lines, there is only one choice, Skrama.
 
Obviously you can choose a Mora of some kind as many have suggested. They do work for many tasks. Just depends on what your concept of a survival knife is actually. Get home bag is one thing, but survival? I lean toward the 5"-6" knife overall for this for versatility. Still thinking about a recommendation actually. It is not a clear kind of thing for me even though I have many knives that could be used for this purpose, but have to stay within budget. Leaning toward Buck or Condor.
 
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Mora wins. I ordered 2 stainless ones. One for the BoB, another for the camping gear bucket that, yes, goes on cub scout trips. I have a bigger need for teaching whittling chips (cub scout award to carry a knife), cutting fishing line, gutting a fish, or cutting a steak dinner than chopping down trees. I have a hatchet for that.
 
Henry Beige said:
Probably the most ridiculous post in the whole thread. If you think you will be eaten by forest pirates, your choice of knife is of no consequence. The only question is what gun will you have. But if you persist along these lines, there is only one choice, Skrama.
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Hmm... or a smatchet.

I am a little curious though, are pirates that much of a threat in the forests? They are a maritime people after all. Don't see too many ships sailing across the treetops these days.
 
I have a lot of nice knives, be real hard not to stick at least 4-5 in my bag, lol. But if I had to choose one it would be my Ontario Chimera. Any big Ontario or Ka-bar blade in 1095 or 5160 will do, but the Chimera is a little lighter and better balanced than most, with a thickness of .200 rather than their typical 1/4". It's less than 100 dollars.

But again, i'd hate to just have one, for everyday camp chores a blade that's around 4 inches long is much handier.

Unless you plan on spending a lot of time sharpening and have some expensive tools to do it with, a softer steel that's easier to sharpen works a ton better than some uber-hard stainless. For a camp knife Buck's 420HC works great, sharpens super easy with even just a simple stone. I wailed on a Buck Mesa our last camp trip, hacking wood, shaving magnesium and using the blade to strike the flint, cutting through bones and processing game, digging Morel's out of the ground, making marshmallow and shish-ke-bab sticks etc. etc. Had a razor edge when I started, towards the end not so much, lol, striking the flint hard made some tiny gouges and chips in the edge. I took one of those cheap Lansky plastic pocket sharpeners with the V-cut, steel on one side and ceramic on the other, and spent two minutes vigorously stroking my now-mangled knife, and just like that it was back to super sharp and I went back to work with it. Quick and easy.

1095 is a little harder than this, but still easy to sharpen compared to my S35VN blades, and dead tough, perfect compromise IMO if I could only have one blade.
 
A knife for processing firewood?
A Froe would be my choice.
I'll keep my axe, wedge, and saw though.
 
I need to get a mora. I only have a triple handful of big choppers, fighters, hunters, and many traditional folders. I also have a light, non folding Silky Zubat, and a handful of tomahawks and machetes.

Big fixed blades are one of my favorites, especially for pirates and other ner-do-wells in the wilds..... so far, I've not had to use any for that purpose, nor, for that matter have any of my guns been helpful yet for pirates. But I'm ready for them!!

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If I have to walk, or hike any long distance, the number of choppers goes down, and the need for an Opinel goes up....

In the budget chopper category, I have some Himilian Import Khukri that weigh less than some, more than others. If you keep an eye out for BLEMS, you can get one in your range. Tough, choppy, fun. Might want to avoid the too thick models if you are going to tote them far. I have a 26 ounce? And another fast 14 ounce version.
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bikerector said:
Hmm... or a smatchet.

I am a little curious though, are pirates that much of a threat in the forests? They are a maritime people after all. Don't see too many ships sailing across the treetops these days.
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Now we're asking the REAL questions.
 
another vote for esee...i keep forgetting about the skrama which looks very useful. I just noticed cold steel using 3v...no idea if they are doing the heat treat well, but I'm pretty intrigued by the SRK now.
 
Lots of great options depending on expected use. If looking just for a basic cutting tool to improvise shelter, carve a utensil, maybe clean a fish or rabbit, etc then a stainless Morakniv is hard to beat for price and quality. Craftline S, Companion or Kansbol. Or a Buck 102. Cold Steel makes a similar Finnhawk or something. A 3-4” blade is perfect for general cutting tasks. Big enough to 90% and small enough to have a lot of control for finer cutting and carving.

If you want a bigger and sturdier full tang knife for possible digging, light prying, chopping then Kabar, Ontario and CS have several full tang models like the Kabar, USAF Knife, Navy deck knife, etc. Or a Buck 119 in stainless or Morakniv Garberg. Most of these are well under $100 so you could have a Mora Craftline ($13) AND a Buck 119 ($55) AND a $25 machete.
 
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Strongarm is teenage son proof for a year plus now. That is my endorsement.
Edit: I will add that I have a Strongarm and a SOG Powerlock in my daily work bag(very discretely) I have used my Strongarm as my primary knife on a few car camping trips, a few 3 day backpacking trips in the North Cascades and numerous beach days here in the PNW. It really is a good knife and pretty much bombproof.
I think it will, and has, handled all sorts of stuff.
 
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"Survival" obviously means things are no longer normal. That being so, how can anyone possibly be sure that a small knife will be all they need when they don't even know what the situation will be??? :eek:

A big knife (I like blades between 8.5"-9.5"), especially with a finger choil, will do everything a small knife can (although maybe not as well), and much more. In a survival or emergency situation that extra "more" might just be what is needed to save your life and/or that of others. Of course, when possible, it's always best to have a big knife and a smaller one of some kind, at least.

High quality small knives (I have no use for knives that are not full tang), SAKs, and multi-tools are all great and have their purpose, and I have several, but my first choice will always be a high quality, big, tough, fixed-blade, full-tang knife with a finger choil and at least an 8.5" blade.
 
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