bushcrafter or survival knife... if you only had one?

rustyrazor

rustyrazor

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Oct 13, 2011
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I have been making and using knives for over 25 years and have only gotten into the bushcraft size/style in the last couple years as it's a pretty popular style and since I'm in the woods a lot with my job it seemed like a natural fit. Here's the rub... when I have to pick one knife to take with me, I still end up taking a slightly larger knife (more in the 10" OAL) range, with a full flat or convex grind over scandi as I find it more useful for making more things, but I thought maybe it was just me. So last year I gave one of the survival experts that comes to my unit to teach wilderness survival a knife to evaluate as an unbiased outside subject matter expert, and when I met with him yesterday he had the same critiques I do in favour of a larger "survival" type size in favour of the smaller bushcraft knife as it can chop easier and support more weight when needed as a step or to pull you up a steep incline or whatnot. All that to say is what do most of you prefer and why?

thanks
 
In a survival situation? A big knife is going to help a lot more with the necessities- building shelter, fire, or even making traps.
 
that's been my theory and preference as well... and why most of my knives have been in that style. if I could only take one or the other which is often the case depending on what I'm carrying then it's gonna be big enough to do more jobs easier like the old saying goes, you can do a small job with a big knife, but you can't always do a big job with a small one.
 
I like a smaller knife for the woods, because most of what I do with the knife is smaller work. I use a Fallkniven F1 and love it. Stainless, strong enough to baton smaller sawed firewood for campfires, holds an edge on wood fine, can be touched up with a pocket stone, small enough for most carving.

I dislike choppers because I find them redundant, given that I carry a hatchet and/or Dustrude saw.
 
I carry a saw, and the lid for my 2 qt canteen cup can be hafted as a chopper, if needed. I have very rarely found it necessary to make anything in the outback, cause I carry the right gear in the first place, and I dislike wasting time and calories on stuff that I'll just have to abandon when I move on. So my choice is the new survival multi-tool from leatherman, mostly for the replaceable wirecutters. I really detest woven wire fences.
 
4 blade SAK or Scout/camp knife, and a Buck 110. Realistically, what more is needed? 99.87% of the "wilderness" these days is in a National or state park.
 
don't take this the wrong way (afishhunter and alewn) but if you're state park camping or don't have to make anything in the outback, you're not really the target audience for this thread. I'm talking about living in the bush for a few days and needing to use a knife for making things to keep you comfortable and that means using a knife for more than cutting the kolbassa coil by the registered fire pit.

Dangerously, I agree... 90% of what i ever need in a knife gets filled by my F1 as well. has for over 9 years, but if i know i'll be building shelters or fire for a more extended period of time i'll usually bring something a little larger.
 
A cheap machete is probably the cheapest way to get stuff done with a big knife. $5-10 gets you shelter building capability.
 
I prefer a smaller 'bushcrafty" knife. Thats mostly because I dont like carrying anything larger. I suppose it might also depend on your location. Here on the MD/PA line I can probably build a decent shelter without any knife at all. There's an abundant amount of natural materials.
Up until recently I would camp in the Appalachians of WV. Never really needed to process wood. Always had cutting tools, but would have been fine without. Plenty of dead fall to be had.
I don't spend extended time in the woods where I would need much more than I was carrying. In my area, even a "survival" situation would basically just mean spending a single night outdoors. The parks around here get a good amunt of foot traffic. And I'm probably never more than a couple miles from a road. Plenty of streams and creeks to follow if lost.
In a different environment I might change my mind and opt for a larger blade. But for now, my location dictates what I need.
 
wildernessknife&tool said:
In a survival situation? A big knife is going to help a lot more with the necessities- building shelter, fire, or even making traps.
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Especially if the user of such a knife is skilled and knows what he or she is doing. Oddly, the smaller you go, the more experience it can take in order to do certain tasks requiring brute force. Likewise, the larger you go with a tool the more skill it can take to do tasks taking more finesse. Either way, I prefer something larger for extended, unexpected stays..... Say, you don't happen to make a pack-able hatchet or tomahawk type tool? :D
 
afishhunter said:
4 blade SAK or Scout/camp knife, and a Buck 110. Realistically, what more is needed? 99.87% of the "wilderness" these days is in a National or state park.
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Hundreds of people disappear in national parks, it happens all the time so I disagree with that logic
 
Fallkniven F1.I did use mine on hiking,biking trips and for buschcraft duties as well.Really simple and user friendly knife for every occasion.Cheers.
 
wildernessknife&tool said:
A cheap machete is probably the cheapest way to get stuff done with a big knife. $5-10 gets you shelter building capability.
Click to expand...

And "cheap" machetes doesn't mean bad quality. That'll buy you any ontario machete, if you prefer a thicker blade, or any south american machete if you prefer the thinner ones. If I had to take one knife (if you can call it a knife), I'd take an Ontario army machete. I have an 18 inch and it is a monster. I'd prefer the 12 inch if I had a choice just for ease of carry.

That being said, I have watched all of the cody lundin videos, where he uses a mora to cut down small trees for shelter use. The biggest thing I took away from that is that with the proper technique you could use ANY knife and survive. However, if you knew or thought you'd need it, I think the better choice is a bigger knife that you can effortlessly chop with.
 
Depending on where I am and IF I know I will have to practice woods craft to survive, it would be a larger knife and of course a folder. Machete's are good however. But honestly, I can't think of anywhere I would hike that I wouldn't be within a day's hike of a hard road. Probably different in Canada. For me, the survival thing is mostly a fantasy. I am not building shelters, but I could if I wanted to. That is what tents are for or if you like, a tarp. The survival experts are there because there is a demand for their services. Otherwise, most of us wouldn't even know about them other than seeing their name authoring some book.
 
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I love the small blades but no matter how many skills and techniques you have it just takes more time to do the same task.

It's the whole weight versus work thing.

A bigger, heaver tool can do more work at the cost of carrying it.

But if there is no work to be done its dead weight
 
if I only had one " cutting tool " and knew I was headed to film the next season of " Alone " ....... Habilis Bushtool SRT. Its as much of an all rounder as I could imagine.

In keeping with a more traditional style, something like the Becker BK9 built of 0.25 inch stock, with a drop point and no swedge would be pretty damn close to my ideal knife.
 
If I knew I was going into something i'd probably go a little bigger than my usual, but most of the time i run about 4.5 inch blade
 
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