Has anyone actually been in a real life "survival" situation? If so what knife did you have and how did it work?

There was a time when I spent a lot of time in remote areas getting dropped off on a gravel bar and rolling with a backpack a rifle and a few well chosen items






If ya got hurt you were in a world of hurt with no quick way out

I usually carried a rifle a large camp/bowie knife from BAGWELL a small 3 inch or so fixed blade and a leatherman

I’ve used the bowie to make camps , make improvised runways for bush planes to pick me up construct leopard blinds etc

The 3 inch fixed blade was for everything else from caping and skinning to eating to cutting string

The leatherman was for fixing stuff

Also traveling abroad were I could not carry a handgun a big knife like a BAGWELL bowie was very confidence inspiring drifting through cities like Istanbul , Johannesburg etc

This BAGWELL and many different small fixed blades logged a lot of miles

I preferred simple carbon steels that were heat treated well that I could keep sharp in the field with a simple jewelstik

 
Survival is what happens when you have an adventure that you are not adequately prepared for; where you properly prepared for the event it would have been called fun.

n2s
 
not2sharp said:
Survival is what happens when you have an adventure that you are not adequately prepared for; where you properly prepared for the event it would have been called fun.

n2s
Click to expand...
Not necessarily. (Think military, law enforcement, firefighting, etc) You can be properly prepared...but what results is not fun.

Perhaps if the event was qualified as "recreational" as opposed to "occupational" it might be different. But even then, being prepared doesn't make it a walk in the park. It may simply mean the difference between a dire ending and one less so.
 
not2sharp said:
Survival is what happens when you have an adventure that you are not adequately prepared for; where you properly prepared for the event it would have been called fun.

n2s
Click to expand...

I think that is an oversimplification. Anticipating and adequately preparing for ALL possible contingencies is impossible, by definition.
 
halden.doerge said:
I think that is an oversimplification. Anticipating and adequately preparing for ALL possible contingencies is impossible, by definition.
Click to expand...
Perhaps, but people do all sorts of things and grow to a ripe old age by thinking that way. Everything may not always go your way, but a little preparation can go a long way. It’s when you get lost, without adequate clothing, navigation tools, without the means with which to make fire, signal, illuminate or shelter, without having published a travel itinerary, or taking a supply of basic meds, water or food, that things begin to get serious. Panic in that scenario and your risk will climb even higher. Stay in control and have a plan, and the same set of problems gets reduce to an mere inconvenience. Sure, you could encounter something so unexpected or serious that it overwhelms your preparation. But, that should be a very unlikely scenario.

n2s
 
not2sharp said:
Perhaps, but people do all sorts of things and grow to a ripe old age by thinking that way. Everything may not always go your way, but a little preparation can go a long way. It’s when you get lost, without adequate clothing, navigation tools, without the means with which to make fire, signal, illuminate or shelter, without having published a travel itinerary, or taking a supply of basic meds, water or food, that things begin to get serious. Panic in that scenario and your risk will climb even higher. Stay in control and have a plan, and the same set of problems gets reduce to an mere inconvenience. Sure, you could encounter something so unexpected or serious that it overwhelms your preparation. But, that should be a very unlikely scenario.

n2s
Click to expand...

Agreed on that for the most part. Preparation may not reduce the situation to a "mere inconvenience" but it can definitely make it a significantly less serious crisis that is much easier to negotiate. That's how I felt in my story above for sure.
 
I was with my dad on a fly-in trip to go canoeing in a river/lake system in Canada. I was carrying a Randall Model 14 on my hip. We were paddling down a very flooded small river where the river path was very difficult to find and the water was racing. We ended up crashing into brush and trees while trying to keep the canoe in the main waterway because the water was flowing so fast. We got turned sideways and pinned against a sapling. We were stuck and started taking on water. I pulled out my Randall and was able to hack the tree down, freeing us and preventing us getting capsized. If not for having that big knife on my belt, I'm not sure we would have made it.

Since then, I always carried a big belt knife on my trips. So, yeah, I've had a real life event where a big knife did save the day.
 
My buddy used his Officer's model SAK saw to cut firewood for three days when stranded on the upper Skeena River after his raft flipped in a haystack (a standing mound of fast water).
 
Alberta Ed said:
My buddy used his Officer's model SAK saw to cut firewood for three days when stranded on the upper Skeena River after his raft flipped in a haystack (a standing mound of fast water).
Click to expand...
Is this a north American thing, I hear about guys cutting up firewood for camp fires all the time and see every other YT knife channel rating and testing knives for processing firewood.

I have used campfires as a primary source of heat for decades and never once occurred to me to chop firewood with either an axe or knife unless to create kindling.

Wood stoves or fireplaces a different story.
 
Houlahound said:
Is this a north American thing, I hear about guys cutting up firewood for camp fires all the time and see every other YT knife channel rating and testing knives for processing firewood.

I have used campfires as a primary source of heat for decades and never once occurred to me to chop firewood with either an axe or knife unless to create kindling.
Click to expand...
I don't understand the need or want to process firewood with a knife either. The rules in all the wilderness areas, where I have camped , say the firewood must be both dead and down. So it is mostly dead limbs that have fallen. If a limb is to big to break, drag it to the fire and burn it in two. Now you have two pieces that can be fed into the fire. Just keep pushing them in as the burned end is consumed.

O.B.
 
jfk1110 said:
Well I'm not sure if this is what you're looking for but I have cut multiple people free from their cars seatbelts after an accident!! I watched one person burn because I arrived to late n no one there had a knife to cut them out!!! So not my survival but others!! Knives were a Buck 110 & Gerber gator!!!

On another note, I will never wear a seat belt! Ever!
Click to expand...
I understand what you're saying , but I'm pretty sure, that overall , seat belts save more lives than they take .

YMMV . :)

I was involved in a couple of serious wrecks when very young and would probably have died without the belt .

But , I do always carry the means to cut loose from a jammed belt .
 
Old Biker said:
I don't understand the need or want to process firewood with a knife either. The rules in all the wilderness areas, where I have camped , say the firewood must be both dead and down. So it is mostly dead limbs that have fallen. If a limb is to big to break, drag it to the fire and burn it in two. Now you have two pieces that can be fed into the fire. Just keep pushing them in as the burned end is consumed.

O.B.
Click to expand...


That's how to do it.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top