I think I would have struck unusually lucky to have one of those about me. I don't think that has anything to do with that knife in particular as such, I'd feel the same way if I had a billhook, or a Trailmaster, or that behemoth of a thing FourtyTwoBlades has been trying to get into production .etc. On balance of probability shelter and warmth are going to be right at the top of my priorities in a real deal situation, with water being next. Dirty great big lumps like this are ideal for that. It's all well and good having a more sophisticated tool that'll do more advanced stuff with aplomb, but quick and dirty routes to addressing what are likely to be the most pressing concerns that has the horse in the correct position relative to the cart win. On that, yeah, any hulking great big cutting thing wins, and that's a position I find unassailable.........................................The difficulty with that position is that it does not reflect my reality. In situations where I'm most likely to come unstuck I almost certainly wont have anything of that ilk with me, so to train for them I'd be loading up least useful things. I feel the same way about for example Moras too. It's all well and good to practice with one of those if you have one with you all the time but I don't. It's even more silly to expand on their virtues when combined with an axe and bow saw when I have those two items with me hardly ever...............................The key to unravelling this for me is brutal honesty with the self. The last time I had any concerns was in a sled being pulled across the pretty chilly by reindeer on holiday in Lapland. Aspects of the trip precluded me from having all my preferred gear. As far as cutting goes I had a SAK, a Victorinox fillet knife for fishing, and another fish knife but one big enough I could have cut snow blocks with it, and that's it. Best I be damn handy with those then......................... A couple of years before then was ballooning over the desert and pyramids in Egypt. I don't want to make unnecessary generalizations but there are a lot of dirty thieving ratbags there so I didn't have much kit. If the balloon had gone tits-up I had a long thin Phillips screwdriver, a pair of pliers, a lambsfoot slippy and whatever doodads are on my keyring, and not much else. Any practice I may have had with a big Fehrman, machete, or Khukri, would not have afforded me a direct advantage.................................By now, where I'm going with this should be obvious. The deficiencies of all these sorts of courses are going to be that they are money making machines that use a model of an average pleb as fuel. They can't hope to match discovery learning or even the next best thing to that, one to one tuition. They can only give you a gist. In order to do that you get the stock list; bring FB knife, bring change of socks, bring dog blanket, bring mug, and so on. For it to be more realistic for me I'd have to snub all those things because I'm not in the habit of walking around with them. I am in the habit of carrying a slippy of some sort and often a fully serrated Spyderco Police, so I'd be better off learning to be handy with those. Try showing up on a course with that pair though and see what faces they pull.
I've never made it my plan to stop and build a shelter and fire, and I've never had to. I also carry some extra clothes and a flashlight, but I haven't picked up a good hiking GPS yet. Clothing is definitely underrated as survival gear.