Best Survival knife

B

btfury

Joined
Jul 16, 2008
Messages
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I'm new here, and unfortunately can't search... otherwise I would have. I'm looking for a survival knife, and am looking for some recommendations. Thanks!
 
How much are you looking to spend?
What type of terrain will you be surviving in?
Do want a knife for collecting firewood,or a knife for cleaning & harvesting your kill?
 
OK..Here ya go...search for these makers Bark River Knife & Tool,RAT Cutlery,Ranger Knives...Dare I say Busse?All kidding aside Busses are the best out there,but they are also some of the most expensive.Swamp Rat is a spin-off of Busse & a little less $$.

You should be able to find what you're looking for from the first three makers I listed
 
btfury said:
I'm new here, and unfortunately can't search... otherwise I would have. I'm looking for a survival knife, and am looking for some recommendations. Thanks!
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I'd recommend the Rat Cutlery RC-4 or anything from Busse Combat (if you can afford it).
 
I think for people who don't have much experience in the wild, they probably could not anticipate what kind of situation they will encounter. My suggestion is to look for something that is reasonable strong so it might withstand unintentionally abusive treatments.
 
btfury said:
I'm new here, and unfortunately can't search... otherwise I would have. I'm looking for a survival knife, and am looking for some recommendations. Thanks!
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Welcome to BladeForums.

There is an entire forum dedicated to Survival Skills. That would be a great place for you to do some reading. And then pose a question:
http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=692

BTW, when you do pose that question, you should talk about what you want to do, as in what type of environment you wish to do your surviving. You might also provide a range of how much you are willing to spend on this.
 
JTR357 said:
OK..Here ya go...search for these makers Bark River Knife & Tool,RAT Cutlery,Ranger Knives...Dare I say Busse?All kidding aside Busses are the best out there,but they are also some of the most expensive.Swamp Rat is a spin-off of Busse & a little less $$.

You should be able to find what you're looking for from the first three makers I listed
Click to expand...

which ranger knives would you recommend? are they comparable to the RC-4?
 
Sorry I realize now that I wasn't very specific at all when I asked that question. I'm looking for a "survival knife" because I do a lot of backpacking, climbing and other activities in which I'm pretty far out in the bush, and would like something for everything from collecting firewood to lashing the knife to a stick for spear use.

I was looking at knives like the Benchmade CSK, Kabar Gen II, Gerber LMF Infantry, SOG Seal etc.

Basically I want a knife that will be able to perform a variety of functions should I ever be faced with a survival situation. I imagine I'd want something made out of D2 or something, but I'm not sure.

I'm also a Scuba Diver, and it would be great if the knife could stand up to a little diving as well.
 
My suggestion, as always, is the Fallkniven F1 or S1. Yes, they dont look as fancy as something like the LMF II (crappy knife by the way) or SOG SEAL but they perform exceptionally well, they come at a good prize and are as much "developed by military" as the other ones.
Any Bark River,RC-3, RC-4 or similar might do as well.
Remember that it is not the size that decides if you survive or not. It is if you have the knife with you when you need it. People have "survived" with pocket knives or Mora knives. The problem with a big Rambo-super-macho-kill knife is that it most likely ends up in your backpack and not in your belt. One idea is to get a small neck knife or good folder. No, you can not chop with a folder but you can still cut stuff.

Good luck with your choice.
 
I think you actually mentioned some good ones. The older B/M CSK (Just over 6" D2 blade) is good at a great price. Also, the suggestion for a Fallkniven or a SOG Seal are also very good knives.

I think the big question is your budget. As far as a similar Ranger knife compared to the RC4, I believe the RD4 is comparable, but probably thicker & heavier.

Personally, I'm getting a Lan-Cay & currently have a Becker BK9 (9.5" combat bowie blade), a Becker BK11 (Becker Necker), a Gerber Yari I & a well used (Broken in, lol) Ontario SP8 machete for my "survival" needs.

Also, if you're wanting a knife for scuba diving/salt water, you might consider getting 2 knives (Maybe one of the new Spyderco H1 FBs?).

Good luck with your choices, but including your upper end on expenditure would allow you to narrow it down.
 
Agree with nodh above. Fallkniven makes a nice survival knife, the F1. Knife Supply has them for $91.95 with leather sheath at the moment. http://www.knifesupply.com/eshop/10Expand.asp?ProductCode=FN2. As far as scuba goes, strongly recommend you get a dedicated knife and sheath for that. You'll want to strap it to your shin. I like the Underwater Kinetics Fusilier. Has a line cutter. Older versions are SS which is fine as long as you spray a little silicone grease. No rust. the newer versions are made of "Hydralloy" which simply doesn't rust. Divers Supply has them for $35. http://www.divers-supply.com/Underwater-Kinetics-Fusilier-Dive-Knife-p/uwk17036.htm.
UK has a smaller knife for BC attachment called the Remora, and a bigger one called the Blue Tang that also can be had in Hydralloy or Titanium. Great dive knives that will last forever.
 
I have to chime in one the F1, it is a fantastic knife and one I find with me more than without. The F1 is a great size and has a very useful blade configuration. I carry mine in the zytel sheath, tucked in my right rear pocket. I forget it is there most of the time. This has become my go to knife for almost every task and I could not be happier with the F1! I wish I found it years ago, to replace my misguided "bigger is better" knives which were left at home most of the time.
Spend the money on the F1 & you will be very pleased. I know that there are many other great makers out there, but I can only comment on what I own & use. Good luck.
 
btfury said:
I'm new here, and unfortunately can't search... otherwise I would have. I'm looking for a survival knife, and am looking for some recommendations. Thanks!
Click to expand...

Btfury,

Welcome to Bladeforums! Click on the link in my signature to visit our wilderness forum. There's all sorts of info there.

First, what kind of survival situation are you looking to cover? Do you need a chopper, bushcraft blade, all of the above? For actual wilderness/bushcraft, you'll want a knife that really does fine woodwork (making traps, bowdrills, etc), so it should be thin enough to cut well, and not be only a prybar. There is a thread near the top about "knife thickness" for wilderness use there, and we are having a great debate and discussion on it.

Edit: just read your follow up post. If you want a knife that'll work for scuba, too, you might want to look at steels that "stain less" but still hold up well to hard use. 154cm is a favorite of many, D2 is another.

A blade with a coating might be a good way to go as well. You can use a carbon steel knife for diving if you properly care for it - use Tuf-cloth on the steel, and rinse and wipe it down carefully after each dive to prevent saltwater rusting.
 
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Jeff S1 said:
I have to chime in one the F1, it is a fantastic knife and one I find with me more than without. The F1 is a great size and has a very useful blade configuration. I carry mine in the zytel sheath, tucked in my right rear pocket. I forget it is there most of the time. This has become my go to knife for almost every task and I could not be happier with the F1! I wish I found it years ago, to replace my misguided "bigger is better" knives which were left at home most of the time.
Spend the money on the F1 & you will be very pleased. I know that there are many other great makers out there, but I can only comment on what I own & use. Good luck.
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Fallknives are only great for experienced users with good sharpening skills on convex edges. Most people are much better off going with traditional V-Grind edges.
 
Outdoors Fanatic said:
Fallknives are only great for experienced users with good sharpening skills on convex edges. Most people are much better off going with traditional V-Grind edges.
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:confused:

I disagree with your opinion on "Fallkniven are only great for experienced users". They are good for anyone. Sharpening is no concern for an average user. I use a simple leather strop to maintain a great edge. I agree most people use knives with a "V-Grind" edge, however a convex is no harder in my opinion, to sharpen by hand, than any "V-Grind" once you try it.
 
These new KaBars offer alot of bang for the buck.

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