Best knife for urban survival (Northeast hurricane and serrations content).

bladerique · Oct 29, 2012

So I'm watching the local NYC news link all night (I used to live up there) and I'm seeing lots of power outages with bad flooding. One example is lower Manhattan, where everything below Penn Station / Madison Square Garden is w/out power, plus lots of flooding. This stuff is happening all around the region.

I grew tired with watching that news so I figured I'd drop by here and I started thinking about what knife I'd like to have if I were getting the worst up there. I thought of a knife with............. oh-oh...........serrations.

That's kind of a dirty word around here but I may need to cut all sorts of man-made objects, and I think serrations would be a good idea. Agree? Disagree?

Here's the local news link if you have loved ones in the area or are just curious about this historic storm.

http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/watch_live_sandy_barrels_toward_1kzVyKj9ukqQepagzKuEwM

PS: Mods, I hope I put this in the correct sub-forum. Forgive if it's in the wrong place.

collecter · Oct 29, 2012

Agree. Serrations are great for emergencies but for everything else I prefer a plain edge.

SVTFreak · Oct 29, 2012

Yep. My unforeseen circumstances knife is serrated. All others are plain.

fuzzwuzz133 · Oct 29, 2012

I would get a ESEE 5. Large enough to hack away at things while still thick enough to pry open doors.

Confederate · Oct 30, 2012

I frequently carry a Cold Steel Gunsite with a 5-inch blade. It has a partially serrated blade and it works out quite well for me, giving me the best of both worlds.

Serrations also are great for self defense as they cut through almost anything. I also like the Vaquero Grande (bottom) and the Rajah II (top). Large folders are a plus, and Cold Steel makes a bunch of them.

Cold Steel's Voyager 6-inch, Vaquero Grande and Voyager 5-inch plain. All are
exceptional knives!

These are some of Cold Steel's NEW Voyagers. The tanto model (top) is a great
survival knife in that it has a heavy spine and a hollow grind blade. This makes it
an incredible chopper and a superior self defense tool. Want to baton your knife?
The tanto version won't let you down. I wouldn't try it with the flat grind models,
which are only so-so at chopping and weaker for batoning.

killgar · Oct 30, 2012

I'm not really sure that I would need a knife in a hurricane any more than any other day.

When hurricanes are coming they report them on the news giving people plenty of time to either evacuate or stay home.

At home I would have a wide variety of tools and don't imagine I would need a special "hurricane knife".

If I happened to be out in my car getting supplies, etc, when the hurricane hits I would have a variety of emergency tools in my car. Of course I would be an idiot for trying to drive in a HURRICANE.

If I were walking the streets when a hurricane hit then I would REALLY be an idiot.

I'm trying to think of what special need an ordinary person would have for a knife in a hurricane, and I can't think of one.

Agent_Ohm · Oct 30, 2012

I carried my pacific salt today:

Pacific Salt by Agent_Ohm, on Flickr

hank_rearden · Oct 30, 2012

here in the philippines, after a storm, i always need to take out a machete (a chainsaw would be better) to handle all debris and felled trees.

GatorFlash1 · Oct 30, 2012

Cell phone holder knife. Cut your way out of trouble while waiting for the fiirst responders to show up.

jackknife · Oct 30, 2012

It's the morning after here in Maryland, and some debris is around. So far the only knife I've used since Sunday afternoon getting ready for the storm has been my Case peanut. Sunday I took some twine and lashed all the deck furniture to the deck railing in case of high winds. Lashed down the BBQ. This morning I'm cutting all the twine so I can move the porch furniture out of the way so I can sweep all the leaves and debris off the deck. Small broken branches and such.

So for us in central Maryland, the storm was anti climatic, and my Case peanut has been handy.

But there are some downed trees partly blocking the road into our development, but that's a chainsaw job.

zippofan · Oct 30, 2012

I keep a small Fox Knives serrated sheepfoot linerlock in my 'just in case' nylon pouch with other stuff like a P-38, signal mirror, matches, compass etc. It's in my Scouting pack which always goes camping with me.

I used it to cut up some paracord while lashing down some porch stuff before the storm.

RatDrall · Oct 30, 2012

Serrations are useful for cutting rope, but I've never met a rope I couldn't cut with a sharp straight edge.

I'm not really sure that I would need a knife in a hurricane any more than any other day.

This for sure. I'd have the same Spyderco or Benchmade clipped to my pocket, and a Bark River Bravo 1 on my belt or nearby in a messenger bag just like I do any other day.

CWL · Oct 30, 2012

I think you'd be better off trading that knife for a 4' prybar if dealing with the aftereffects of storm devastation.

marcinek · Oct 30, 2012

killgar said:
I'm not really sure that I would need a knife in a hurricane any more than any other day.

When hurricanes are coming they report them on the news giving people plenty of time to either evacuate or stay home.

At home I would have a wide variety of tools and don't imagine I would need a special "hurricane knife".

If I happened to be out in my car getting supplies, etc, when the hurricane hits I would have a variety of emergency tools in my car. Of course I would be an idiot for trying to drive in a HURRICANE.

If I were walking the streets when a hurricane hit then I would REALLY be an idiot.

I'm trying to think of what special need an ordinary person would have for a knife in a hurricane, and I can't think of one.

Very well put.

You should always have an "unforeseen circumstances" knife or multittool on you in an urban setting. Always. Because unforeseen circumstances are...unforeseen.

That tool gets you home.

It should be easily carried and not something that doesn't attract attention. In an urban setting toting an oversized CS folder is an invitation to get you thrown in jail on an ordinary day...let alone a SHTF day.

Leave the big knives home...prepare by always having on you stuff that will get you home.

And if its a foreseen circumstance like this storm you should have been home.

keepright · Oct 30, 2012

My first choice of knife would be a flashlight, but I'd rather have a good multitool, such as my phone.

If I wanted to have an actual cut-something-with-it tool, I'd be inclined to grab my Alox Cadet SAK. Decent enough for cutting rope and can open bottles and cans, and fairly light for carrying up sixteen floors to my condo if the power goes out. But I'd make sure I had the charged phone and flashlight first.

theHobbyist · Oct 30, 2012

GatorFlash1 said:
Cell phone holder knife. Cut your way out of trouble while waiting for the fiirst responders to show up.

View attachment 309789

I'm actually working on something like that but the leatherworker person I was working with went MIA, could be because it's halloween season or they just got busy but we were ready to pull the trigger... anyways that was a bit off topic... move along

RatDrall said:
Serrations are useful for cutting rope, but I've never met a rope I couldn't cut with a sharp straight edge.

I agree... about the rope, but in an "urban" situation, you'll more likely have to cut through some kind of insulated copper than rope, my experience is that serrations work a bit better there but then again I've never tried with a straight edge blade.

while you folks are concentrating on blade, I say would you rather have a folder or a fixie? I would prefer a few fixed blades myself... never know when you'll have to baton through something... and I don't mean wood... I had to go through the roof of an mid 90s Honda once...

C4LED · Oct 30, 2012

SAK One-Hand Trekker with serrated locking blade (front half) and saw.

mr_badexample · Oct 30, 2012

ZT400
I was sent the serrated model by mistake and ended up keeping it. I felt there was enough plain blade ahead of the serrations to still be useful. The point can puncture and slash. The rubber grip insert is good when wet. Add a wrist lanyard and rock it like a hurricane bro!

Raylas · Oct 30, 2012

For a serrated folder, I highly recommend either the Pacific Salt or the Police in G-10, both of those are great. For chopping or batoning, you definitely want a fixed blade, Maybe a Spyderco Jumpmaster?

MSgt · Oct 30, 2012

I understand as was stationed at Clark AB 80-83 and had been through a typhoon, was very glad we were so far inland!