Help in deciding on a survival knife (in Florida where it's wet a lot)...

R

rickcr

Joined
Sep 5, 2012
Messages
18
First post here and I'm a newbie when it comes to knives. (would love to start collecting though, but slowly since money is of course an option.)

Anyway, I'd like to be prepared if a true survival situation ever arose where I'd have to grab a bug-out bag from my house and hit the road and possibly have to survive some time in the woods. (Also would like to maybe get into camping again and practice some survival type activities - building shelter, fire, etc, so a good solid knife would be my primary tool.)

I have a decent (at least from my perspective folding 4'' blade.. cold steel recon 1), but I'd like to purchase a decent fixed blade. Probably no need to go super high on price right now... somewhere between $70-$150.

I know no knife will be 'rust proof' but being in Florida where the humidity is high and I'm around water, if the knife is at least somewhat better against the elements that's a plus. I also notice a lot of high end survival knives have screws on the handles so you could replace them...but can't that potentially be an issue if you were stuck with just your knife and no allen wrenches to tighten them in the field?

Some ones I've been considering...

  • KA-BAR fighting knife. Kraton handle. (Since my first fore into knives, this seems like a decent knife at a decent cost?)
  • SOG Tech Bowie. http://sogknives.com/store/S10P.html or coated http://www.sogknives.com/store/S10B.html Really Like the look of this knife, just not sure if it's as durable as the others listed here?
  • Cold Steel SRK
  • EESE 6 (a bit pricey and has the screws in the handle, but often highly recommended.)
  • SOG Force
  • Ka-Bar Becker BK2 (somewhat short at 5.25'' )
  • Schrade SCHF3N (Seems so affordable that might be worth it. Doesn't seem to have negative reviews despite the price.)

Anything particularly negative/positive to say about the above or other suggestions? I know googling and searching brings up a lot of stuff.
 
after more research going to drop the SCHF3N off but would consider the Schrade SCHF9
 
This may be better in the general forum.

I was going to answer EESE 6 or SRK before I noticed them on your list. On the Schrade front I like the SCHF9.
 
Hi rickcr!

I think your question could be better answered in "General Knife discussion" ... the knives you showed up above seem to be pretty modern knives to me. Not very traditional, but that´s just my view... :)

No offense, Sir. Especially because you seem to be absoulutely new.

Hope this helps a little.

EDIT: Markpmc was a little faster than me
 
Welcome to the forums!

Unfortunately, this is not the proper part of the forum for your question, as this is the Traditional forum. A good thing for the knives with screws is that you can always use Loctite on 'em so they never come undone. I agree with the ESEE6 and would suggest a BK16, Bk7, Ka-Bar MK1 as well...just to answer your question, of course.

***shoot, looks like I am third on this one :p
Also, no hard feelings new guy, hopeyou enjoy your time here on BF!
 
cold steel srk
cold steel master hunter
sog seal pup elite
ontario blackbird sk-5 (just bought one, pretty awesome)
any fallkniven
to be honest, most knives nowadays are pretty good.

i know its carbon, but mora robust is pretty cheap.
 
Welcome to Bladeforums, brother, its a glad you posted up.

Hmmmmm, alot of knives in that range, good knives.

I'm kinda partial to Kabars, Beckers, and ESEE's, myself. Made in the USA and a fine, high quality knife, no matter which one you wind up with.

You seem a bit worried about humidity, which, honestly, shouldn't really come into play. If you go with carbon steel, your knife will rust. If you use it, the rust won't stay on long, and no, you're knife won't melt away to a orangish/brownish spot, even from saltwater. You just need to take care of it. You'll have to do the same with stainless, so....

My recommendation is the Becker BK7. Its a great universal knife size, and very functional in the woods.

The ESEE 6 is another fine blade, with a good tough coating, and great blade size.

The iconic Kabar, carried from the frozen land of Bastogne to the jungles of Asia, used by UDT teams, and modern warriors alike. A million Marine's can't be wrong.

The Mora Bushcraft Force is a smaller blade, but a great woods knife in and of itself.

Remember, the knowledge, skill and experience is the most important tool. There's a lot that can be done with a $9 machete, and a Swiss Army knife.

Good luck, and good hunting. If you want to check out some more on the Beckers and ESEE's, come see us in the BKT forum.

Moose
 
If you want a great knife for survival i.e. building fires etc etc then I recommend the Fallkniven F1.

Perfect size camp knife if you use an axe, saw, knife combo.
Very tough and stain resistant laminated VG-10 blade with great edge retention.
Convex grind that can be maintained with a simple strop in the woods.

It's at the top of your price range but I thought I'd mention it since it's one of my favorites and fits the bill for what you are looking for.

This guy on Youtube shows it in action in a great way: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Eg8i0UPCPAE&feature=plcp
 
Moosez45 said:
My recommendation is the Becker BK7. Its a great universal knife size, and very functional in the woods.
Click to expand...

Thanks everyone for the quick advice!

I'm curious, what is the big advantage of the BK7 over the standard KA-BAR marine style knife? The BK7 is slightly heavier but not by much, they both have the same steel, hardness, and the same blade length and same grind. Even edge angle is the same. The BK7 is .02 inches thicker as well which doesn't seem like a lot? (Grabbing this from their site http://www.kabar.com/knives/)

The handle seems more secure (since no screws) on the ka-bar straight fighting knife. I'm sure I'm missing something though otherwise they wouldn't have made the becker bk7. It must have some specific advantages that I'm missing.
 
rickcr said:
Thanks everyone for the quick advice!

I'm curious, what is the big advantage of the BK7 over the standard KA-BAR marine style knife? The BK7 is slightly heavier but not by much, they both have the same steel, hardness, and the same blade length and same grind. Even edge angle is the same. The BK7 is .02 inches thicker as well which doesn't seem like a lot? (Grabbing this from their site http://www.kabar.com/knives/)

The handle seems more secure (since no screws) on the ka-bar straight fighting knife. I'm sure I'm missing something though otherwise they wouldn't have made the becker bk7. It must have some specific advantages that I'm missing.
Click to expand...

Well, for one, the edge geometry on the BK7 gives you a thinner edge than the 1217 (Kabar). Same steel, same hardness, made in the same factory, and same blade length. The difference comes from the handle "area".a

BK7 has a full length and width tang, which means it, you have scales that are bolted on, but even without the scales, you still have a knife, albeit an uncomfortable one. :D

The 1217 has a stick tang, which is actually smaller in size than the actual blade dimensions, some folks consider that a weakness when you are beating on it with a piece of wood.

I personally think the 1217 is a fantastic knife, worth every penny, maybe more. Its been around for a long time and will be around for a long time, and I personally don't think its weak at all. I batonned seasoned hardwood for 3 yrs with one of mine before it broke.

Its a matter of handle ergos, blade geometry, and tang style. Both will serve you well.

Moose
 
Oh, wanted to add one more thing.

100_3032.jpg


Moose
 
Do the screws start come to loose using the BK7 in the field? In a survival situation I don't want to be sure I don't lose a little allen wrench.
 
rickcr said:
Do the screws start come to loose using the BK7 in the field? In a survival situation I don't want to be sure I don't lose a little allen wrench.
Click to expand...

Not if you make sure to crank them down. Maybe put some loctite on them. I have never used loctite or nail polish on my threads, just tighten them down snug, as I do a gear check before heading out. And I beat my BKT's like the owe me money.

100_2166.jpg


100_2167.jpg


100_2180.jpg


100_1483.jpg

Moose
 
I wouldn't worry much about the FL humidity. I'm in FL and spend a lot of time in and around the Green Swamp. Most of my out door knives are carbon steel and with proper maintenance you won't have any problems. The Becker knives are great, although I would not recommend the BK7. Had one and it's just the wrong size to be much use in the woods, to me anyways. Just too small to make a good chopper and just too big to be good at smaller chores around the camp. I would go with the BK2 for a knife that will do it all. It's actually a little big for what I look for in an outdoors knife. Myself, I would go with one of the 'tweeners. Esee makes good knives but I think they're expensive for what they are. Falkniven makes some of the best.

Honestly though, if I were to buy another fb in the $100+/- range it would come out of the maker's market here. There are some really skilled makers here that make outstanding knives and a lot of them are in your price range. It might take a week of watching until something you like pops up, but it's worth the wait.
 
Becker BK2 (carbon)
Becker BK16 (carbon)
Ontario Blackbird SK-5 (stainless)
almost any Mora (stainless and carbon)

You also can't go wrong with an Ontario Air Force Survival Knife.
I live in FL and haven't had any issues with it's carbon steel.
I even sent it with my girlfriend to Seahorse Key/Cedar Key.
Salt spray only caused very minor surface rust, which came off easily.
Plus you can find them for around $35.
 
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Lot of great suggestions here. Great forum.

The more I think about things (and read), the reality is (since I'm not frequently camping or hiking), that my real survival stuff will be in a bug-out bag (hopefully.) That being the case, I can throw in a small hatchet or even a cheap machete (the latter possibly being more practical here in FL?) and then I can have a decent thinner blade like the Ontario Blackbird SK-5 in there.

If I just had to carry "one" thing in the bag, it probably would be the Becker BK2, but objectively looking at things, a single tool won't be my limitation. (Also, if I were doing a lot of hiking out on my own without a pack, I'd probably choose something like the bk2, bk7, esee-5 or 6, etc.)

My daily carry will be the Cold Steel Recon 1 that I ordered. A bit large for my pocket, but that's probably where I'll cary it. (The ironic thing is when the unexpected happens that will probably end up having to be my real survival knife since it'll be the one mostly likely on me. Not sure how many survival situations involve me being able to get home for my real gear:)
 
IMO, for a good B.O.B setup, pair a well made full tang fixed blade in the 4.5"-6" blade length with a folding saw. Those two items combined with a little technique will allow you to tackle most situations.

For an inexpensive but good pair, check out the condor bushlore or rodan and a folding saw like the gerber/fiskars folding saw.
 
Check out this post. I'd suggest (as have others) a Mora, a hatchet, and a folding saw or pocket chain saw, all together that should run you maybe $70-100.
 
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