Best Survival knife

btfury said:
as far as blade quality, factory sharpness and stuff like that, which one out of these would be the best blade?

RAT RC-4
Ranger RD6
Benchmade CSK
Fallkniven S1
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I haven't touched the CSK, but as far as the others go, you're down to personal preference now.

Here's the differences as I see them.

The Rat and Ranger are carbon steel, the Fallkniven is stainless.
The Rat and Ranger are wider blades.
The Rat and Ranger have micarta handles, the Fallkniven has Thermorun.

Availability may be an issue. Ranger knives has recently been aquired by Ontario. Being that some people feel Ontario will ruin Ranger knives, they've been buying up every Ranger knife they can find. You might not easily find an RD6.

Pricewise, the Rat is the most expensive, then the Fallkniven, then the Ranger

Sheathwise, the Rat and Ranger come with combat-ish sheaths. The Fallkniven usually comes with this plastic box sheath thing. Some models come with a leather sheath.


Honestly, any of those three is a dynamite knife. What would be best is if you could handle each, but that is most likely impossible. If anything about one of them calls to you, go with that one. :thumbup:

We'll expect a full review when you get it :D
 
Definitely baton with wood if possible. I'm surprised the gerber failed. But the subject of that may be better for the thin blades thread :D

I regularly test 3/32 and 1/8 bushcrafter blades batoning with an oak stick. Maybe there's something to be said for a little flex?
 
Anyone know anything about the Scrap Yard Scrapper6? How would it compare to the other knives I have listed...
 
I've had mine for over a year now and IMO it's as good as any you've listed. One tough mutha!
Resiprene C handles are nice (good for chopping/batoning). It's thick, not the best for slicing or fine work but
that's why we have Mora's! Very nicely balanced and great lifetime warranty.
xlkyu8.jpg

problem is their not easy to get :(
 
Good to know. Also, what would everyone recommend as far as the RAT RC4 vs RC6 goes? Would it be better to have a bigger blade, or is it personal preference? Would the RC6 be better suited for batoning and chopping, and just more durable overall?
 
Below is my Dad's old WWII friend from the So. Pacific - and a current production USMC KaBar. My Dad's lost it's pommel when I dropped it in my basement years ago - the pommel sheared off where the tang was reduced to pass through it when they impacted with the concrete floor. I cut it back with a Dremel and fitted a monel pommel to it, and reshaped some new leather washers. It's seen some use. No evidence of the secondary bevel ever being sharpened on it - but the new USNC variant came so-sharpened. Might be a 'legal' problem with two edges in some parts of the country. I have a commemorative USMC and USN KaBar 0 neither has that sharpened secondary bevel.

Just proof you can break anything - even good old 1095 CS!

IMG_0536.jpg


The bottom knife above is a Bark River Boone - and below is it and the infantry (all black) version of the LMFII for size comparison:

IMG_0587.jpg


Stainz
 
Lashing a knife to a stick is not something that Id feel comfortable doing. If making a spear {which is very cool} a priority then buy a cold steel bushman for about 25 bucks . Im getting one, cuz I want to play with a spear.
 
btfury said:
Good to know. Also, what would everyone recommend as far as the RAT RC4 vs RC6 goes? Would it be better to have a bigger blade, or is it personal preference? Would the RC6 be better suited for batoning and chopping, and just more durable overall?
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I think its personal prefference, I prefer the RC-4, but I will get the 6 when it comes out anyway.

The
RC-5 Sere looks sick and that is definately on my wish list. I never handled it and it is a lil thick, but we'll see.

Any questions on the RC products should be asked here

http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=816

They're an honest bunch of guys, and extremely helpful as well.:thumbup:
 
Decisions, decisions. It just has to make sense to you. Think about what you are buying. Full tang is a plus. I don't own a Mora but they must be good. I must have bought a lemon Bushman. I'll probably buy another.

When I think SURVIVAL, I think a knife your life can depend on. Bush craft, knife fighting, shelter building. A broken knife does you no good.

In a financial pinch, you can find a pretty decent 15 or 20 dollar knife at Wal-mart. They have a rather large SS Winchester that looks effective for 15 bucks. I will eventually pick one up, because I won't fret if it gets lost or stolen.
 
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I have a Scrapper 6 and first had some problems to strike a firesteel, because of the coating of the blade. But I found out, that it works well to strike it with the coil. I like the Knife and if I had only one blade with me I would not take one wich is shorter.
Ede
 
In a survival situation, the terrain may be rough, you may be crawling around in the dark, running, traveling great distances, fighting, etc... More than likely you'll be unsheathing and sheathing your sword more than normal. It could lead to premature EDC failure, of the sheath, and loss of the most valuable tool you have. ;)
 
btfury said:
as far as blade quality, factory sharpness and stuff like that, which one out of these would be the best blade?

RAT RC-4
Ranger RD6
Benchmade CSK
Fallkniven S1
Click to expand...
Don't have enough experience with the Benchmade to comment on it. For the other three, The Falkniven will probably be the best slicer and worst chopper. The RD6 will be the opposite, the best chopper and worst slicer. The RC-4 will slice well, and be a fair chopper.

btfury said:
Good to know. Also, what would everyone recommend as far as the RAT RC4 vs RC6 goes? Would it be better to have a bigger blade, or is it personal preference? Would the RC6 be better suited for batoning and chopping, and just more durable overall?
Click to expand...
The RC-6 (not out yet), is a bit light, IMO to be a good chopper, but would be better than the RC-4. IMO a longer blade is easier to baton. The RC-6 will show it's weakness in doing fine detail work, and its strength in doing the heavier work.

btfury said:
Also, what about the RAT Cutlery RC5 Sere?
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The RC-5 (also not out yet) is purpose designed for military SERE (Survival, Evasion, Resistance, Escape). Its thickness will make it the best chopper out of the current RC lineup. Its thickness and scandi grind will make it the worst slicer.

You really need to figure what you want the knife to do before you can decide on a knife design. If you're not going to do a lot of heavy chopping or prying with the knife, then something like the Falkniven, RC-4, BRKT Aurora, etc will do quite nicely. Just pick the one that appeals to you more. Despite all the ribbing we give each other here, they'll all do the same jobs about as well as one another.

If you're going to do some heavy work, my advice is to go for at least two tools. Get a heavy chopper, but not a knife. Get a hatchet, golok, kukri, machete, etc, and then get a smaller tool for fine work. I don't see the utility of a medium sized kniofe (6-12 inches) if you're carrying a heavy tool. You can get away with a much smaller secondary knife. An RC-3, Mora, puukko, etc make good companions to the big tool. IMO I'd rather have the big tool than a pruning saw. If I still want to carry a saw, I have my SAK Rucksak (I like it better than the others because it has a locking blade, and the saw is longer than on most other SAKs).

I hate to doomsay, but I have a feeling you're going to do what the rest of us did and buy and buy and buy, and then figure out what you use the most and those will be your "goto" tools -- as you buy and buy and buy more because that new thing looks juuuuuuuust a little bit better. . .
 
Just to add to the pile of choices, take a look at the Mk3 fixed Rittergrip designed by Doug Ritter.

Here are recommendation by Doug Ritter, editor/founder of Equipped.org, on how to select a survival knife. I recommend reading it first, if you haven't already:
http://www.equipped.org/devices4.htm

Here is a review by Terrill Hoffman:
http://www.dougritter.com/tkmar2007.htm

Here is more information about the Mk3:
http://www.equipped.org/rsk_mk3.htm

I've used this knife for the last year or two now and really REALLY like it. Its tough enough to slice wood and light chopping, but more importantly it handle other camp chore very well, such as food preparation.

Ask yourself if a "sharpened prybar" is going to get used enough. I've owned one and it never got used. Not worth it for me.
 
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I carry a Kershaw Amphibian to dive/wade fish/do anything in the water. When I am in the woods, I carry an old Ka-Bar...or a Mora...or a Frost survival...or a CRKT M16...or a CRKT Kasper...I always, always, ALWAYS have the CRKT M16 and SAK Tinker on me. There isn't much I cannot do with that combo. It totally depends on survival where though. Are we talking camping/hiking/bushcraft or ZOMG the zombeees are coming!!!!?
 
I can't believe after all these pages nobody suggested one of spyderco's H1 blades, like the aqua salt.
 
kenk said:
Just to add to the pile of choices, take a look at the Mk3 fixed Rittergrip designed by Doug Ritter.

Here are recommendation by Doug Ritter, editor/founder of Equipped.org, on how to select a survival knife. I recommend reading it first, if you haven't already:
http://www.equipped.org/devices4.htm

Here is a review by Terrill Hoffman:
http://www.dougritter.com/tkmar2007.htm

Here is more information about the Mk3:
http://www.equipped.org/rsk_mk3.htm

I've used this knife for the last year or two now and really REALLY like it. Its tough enough to slice wood and light chopping, but more importantly it handle other camp chore very well, such as food preparation.

Ask yourself if a "sharpened prybar" is going to get used enough. I've owned one and it never got used. Not worth it for me.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the info on the Mk3... Now I'm going to have an even tougher time deciding haha. I think I've got it narrowed down between the RC4 and the Mk3... (I just think that the RC6 would be a little too large. 5 would be about perfect... but neither are out yet so that helps the decision making process a lot).
 
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