Budget survival knife?

Apex of quality and function.... that's funny. I find their products very practical, cost efficient, and useful. I really don't care about whether or not it is the "apex" of anything.
 
As others have said, check out the offerings from Ka-bar, Becker, and the Ontario Spec Plus gen 2 series. Those are about as "budget" as I'm comfortable with for a knife that I'd stake my life on.
 
I spent enough money on knives to fund a new car before realizing that the "one tool option" is really a fool's errand inspired by Hollywood and perpetuated by those who make super expensive knives.

If you're on a tight budget, get a $10 Tramontina machete, a $12 Mora and a $30 Sven Saw - you'll be able to work circles around some guy with a $600 super duper commando whopper chopper with a built in foot massager in the handle..... It will also be much safer and you'll burn fewer calories - which I would think is an important consideration in a "survival" situation.....
 
Mannlicher said:
questions like this crack me up. If a fellow expected to need a knife to, well, survive, WHY would he want the budget model? I can't get my head around that one. I'd want the best dang thing money could buy, and if on a budget myself, I'd scrimp somewhere else. :eek:
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Not picking on you in particular (honest) by the thing I find most interesting about these discussions is the use of the phrase "I would" instead of "I do".

More deeply, I struggle with the very term "survival". I go hiking or climbing and my kit is chooses to avoid problems and to come home safely. If a trip goes off as planned, with good conservative risk sections being made, is that "survival"?

As often said, survival knife is what you happen to have on you. In this light, I think discussions about what people actually carry and why is more helpful.

Me? Usually an Opinel 10 and PS 4 Squirt.
 
pinnah said:
Not picking on you in particular (honest) by the thing I find most interesting about these discussions is the use of the phrase "I would" instead of "I do".

More deeply, I struggle with the very term "survival". I go hiking or climbing and my kit is chooses to avoid problems and to come home safely. If a trip goes off as planned, with good conservative risk sections being made, is that "survival"?

As often said, survival knife is what you happen to have on you. In this light, I think discussions about what people actually carry and why is more helpful.

Me? Usually an Opinel 10 and PS 4 Squirt.
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Nothing wrong with your choice of tools 99% of the time. I do backpack w/ a 4" sheath knife, folding saw, and SAK.

A "survival" situation, in usual parlance, arises when the God Murphy has His way (Murphy being a famous famous clan of optimists.) and something(s) go "wrong." (AKA NOT "as planned" ). Then I would (subjunctive) have to do what needs to be done with what knowledge and tools I have, so the knife or knives that I have are my "survival" tools whether I made a good choice or not.
 
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Thomas Linton said:
Opinions are based on an umber of factors, including experience. Come back in a few seasons and tell us what you think. I mean Condor as the apex of quality and function?
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I have mentioned the phrase: "And, so far, I am impressed....".
Yes, I would like also to see the effectiveness of Stratos as the time is passing.
But my words were referring to the first impressions.
On the contrary, the other knife that I have mentioned, the sweedish one, has not proved YET to be the super item as it is being advertised and promoted, after some months of usage...
 
As much as it pains me to say it, my "survival" knife(s) would probably end up being a Mora HD along with a Swiss Army knife and a folding saw. If I'm very, very lucky, there may be a Griptilian in the mix. Reason being, that is all that I have on my person or in my truck 90+% of my time. I don't EDC a fixed blade. My fixed (and more expensive) fixed blades only come out when I'm hiking or fishing, which is unfortunately not too often anymore.

If a Mora isn't enough, I would skip right to a Becker. My favorite is the BK-16, but a lot of folks prefer the heft of the BK-2.
 
I try to keep light weight and inexpensive items in a bag I keep in my car in case I need to walk home or camp a short while waiting for help. Lightweight if I need to carry it, and inexpensive if it gets stolen.

Counting some food, basic medical supplies, weather radio, flashlights, batteries, and all the other odds and ends, the total price on my kit has gotten up there. Using less expensive knives, helps me spend less and lose less if it gets stolen.

Currently I have a svord peasent knife, SOG Seal Pup, a thin wire saw, and the heaviest item is an Estwing hatchet I got from a yard sale for $10.

I have better knives, but these work well enough and did not cost much.

I have thought about replacing the hatchet and fixed blade with my rodent 9, or a similar sized Ontario.
 
pinnah said:
Not picking on you in particular (honest) by the thing I find most interesting about these discussions is the use of the phrase "I would" instead of "I do".

More deeply, I struggle with the very term "survival". I go hiking or climbing and my kit is chooses to avoid problems and to come home safely. If a trip goes off as planned, with good conservative risk sections being made, is that "survival"?

As often said, survival knife is what you happen to have on you. In this light, I think discussions about what people actually carry and why is more helpful.

Me? Usually an Opinel 10 and PS 4 Squirt.
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Opinels are fine apple slicers. They're fun knives to mod and they're definitely better than using a chainsaw to fillet a fish. They can take a lovely edge but they can't hold it on even remotely dense wood. They make excellent basswood/birch/balsa/etc. carving knives but that's assuming you can continuously maintain the edge. An Opinel and Squirt have nothing to do with what the OP was asking for.
 
Thomas Linton said:
Including the 1/4" thick, dull Mall Ninja/Space Marine models from CHINA? (Great tent pegs)
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... Dafuq? I was referring more to an old school Buck or Schrade. People aren't always referring to the cheap-o stamped out tacticool zombie knives they've banned in Britain
 
Dudes, this thread is from January 13th. I can only hope OP has found a knife by now.

That said, choppers and bushcraft knives fall at completely different ends of the spectrum.

You aren't going to do much bushcrafting with a big ol chopper, and you won't be doing much chopping with the typical bushcraft knife.
 
Being raised in Sweden and used to the outdoors I really had no idea, knives were used for "processing" and batoning, wood/firewood,

I would use a saw, folding or other, and an axe of adequate size.

I usually carry, a folder, SAK or Opinel and a normal knife, either a costum hunter or a knife similar to a Mora Bushcraft, ie less then 5 inch blade.

In a survival situation, I still carry/use the same set up, and they work.

Christian


Skickat från min iPhone med Tapatalk
 
Thomas Linton said:
Nothing wrong with your choice of tools 99% of the time. I do backpack w/ a 4" sheath knife, folding saw, and SAK.

A "survival" situation, in usual parlance, arises when the God Murphy has His way (Murphy being a famous famous clan of optimists.) and something(s) go "wrong." (AKA NOT "as planned." Then I would (subjunctive) have to do what needs to be done with what knowledge and tools I have, so the knife or knives that I have are my "survival" tools whether I made a good choice or not.
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Thomas, you make my point better than I did and I shouldn't have mentioned what I carry as its a distraction.

My point is people don't go out "survivaling". They go camping or hiking or hunting or woods bumming or whatever. So, the better question to be asking or answering here is what do people actually carry when they go camping or hiking or hunting or whatever.

I'm much more interested in hearing about what people actually carry and what or hasn't worked well for them and why. I'm less interested in theoretically desired knives for theoretical "survivaling".

Mannlicher spends time in the woods. I'd like to hear more about what he actually carries.

Wasn't picking on him. The "I would" language is common in these threads.
 
pinnah said:
Thomas, you make my point better than I did and I shouldn't have mentioned what I carry as its a distraction.

My point is people don't go out "survivaling". They go camping or hiking or hunting or woods bumming or whatever. So, the better question to be asking or answering here is what do people actually carry when they go camping or hiking or hunting or whatever.

I'm much more interested in hearing about what people actually carry and what or hasn't worked well for them and why. I'm less interested in theoretically desired knives for theoretical "survivaling".

Mannlicher spends time in the woods. I'd like to hear more about what he actually carries.

Wasn't picking on him. The "I would" language is common in these threads.
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The "I would" word choice is common. For me, a typical knife that "I would" is a Strider; I have just mostly considered them too expensive for my needs. One of the things you do pinnah that I like is you stick to your guns and you have experimented enough that you have settled onto a limited choice of cutting implements for woods use.... bumming, hiking, etc. I think somebody could do far worse than choosing a Condor blade for "survival". It is a case of "I do" rather than "I would".

Added: I looked/handled the Stratos in a store and felt it was a pretty nice fixed blade. It doesn't get a lot of attention here. Another one that I like is the Condor Two Rivers Skinner (about 4" blade) and it gets zero mention here on BF except by me. I tend to lean toward about a 5" blade for general woods carry. Call it hiking, bumming, exploring, or potentially "survival". Along with my SAK and a small folding saw, I can do just about anything I need to do for a week in the woods.

Survival is what happens when things go dreadfully wrong for whatever reason and you are left with whatever implements you have with you to survive long enough to "get out" one way or the other (hike, air lift, general rescue, etc.). It is not what you do over a weekend playing with your blades and so forth, hike out on Sunday, and go to work Monday.

When this thread was revived, I thought about dismissing it entirely since it is 8 months old. But, it is still an apt topic. One could to a lot worse being caught out in the woods with only a Condor machete of some sort. I would do most of what needs to be done.
 
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Gaston444 said:
On a budget, best answer is the Ontario SP-52.

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Gaston
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I had one of those and it's a bit too heavy and unwieldy for regular knife tasks, can't picture hauling it around in a survival situation. For the same money (and almost the same weight) you can get one of those Cold Steel hawks with a wooden handle and something like a Mora or a Marttiini. Maybe cut down the hawk's handle a bit for portability. That setup should cover all bases, delicate knife tasks, shelter building, processing wood for fire, food prep, etc.
 
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