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

I'm not a "survival" guy, but I will say to skip on the Schrades. Schrade is no longer an American company, or at least the knives aren't American made anymore. The only thing these cheap Chinese made hunks of junk share with the proudly made American knives of the past is the name. If you want an affordable knife, look at a Mora. They're cheap, very well respected, unobtrusive, and can supplement a more expensive knife very well for when you don't want to risk damaging the pricier one.
 
I know big choppers and survival style knives are popular, and for good reason. Myself spending allot of time in the florida swamps and wetlands. If I could have only one cutting tool it would be a machete hands down. There is a very good reason folks in the jungle carry machetes. Can't do all the cutting jobs well, but can do them all. Id look at the svord 12" machete, or the mora 333 or something like this.

If I was determined for a knife, id likely pick a becker or esee, but that's me.

I wouldn't worry so much about carbon steel rusting. It will, but if the world ends and you are in survival mode a rust stained knife or tool will be the least of your worries.;)
 
I would definitely go for the bk2 can do anything the esee 5 or 6 can do and at half the price. It would stand up to anything you could throw at it.

The ka bar usmc is also a great knife, I got mine for only 51 dollars, it is incredibly tough but maybe more combat oriented rather than survival


Just based on my small amount of experience, stay away from SOG fancy knives with fancy names, but nothing that can hold its own against a ka bar or becker

I'm sure anything on that list would be fine though
 
I know that Spyderco's folder, the Salt, is a great rust resistant knife. If it was made in a fixed blade, it would be great. Most diving knives are made from 420 or other low carbon 400-series steel. But that said, larger knives with carbon blades are still workable; they just require greater care. And even if you do get rust, it won't be unworkable. Blades will still cut with small amounts of rust. Protective finishes help, but they aren't perfect. And stainless blades still are apt to rust in humid climates. In fact, if it gets out of hand, rust spreads more once it gets started in a stainless knife. That's a lesson the government learned in the early days of stainless handguns. A S&W 36 (carbon) and 60 (stainless) were placed in a salt spray compartment. Although the Model 60 resisted rust longer than the 36, once it got started, it spread more -- faster and deeper. Whether that's true with other types of stainless I don't know.

I recommend the Cold Steel Rajah II for your bugout bag. It has a monstrous stainless blade and can be carried discreetly. It chops, can be used for defense and can even baton.
 
jimnolimit said:
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.
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Went with some other suggestions and picked up a smaller mora bushcraft force knife and now was planning on complementing it with a light weight hatchet. I'd think the combo of a hatchet and decent smaller fixed blade knife should work out well in a survival pack. I'm curious why you mention a folding saw over a hatchet? I'd think a folding saw would get dull pretty fast in the field for survival purposes? Wouldn't a decent hatch be a bit more practical?

(NOTE: I'll probably still get a nice longer fixed blade knife as well... just for no other reason than I want one.. not so much out of being practical. Haven't decided yet there though... leaning at the moment at the SOG Tech Bowie just because it looks pretty darn cool.)
 
I think the tech bowie is a tad bit overpriced, but I can't see it beeing much tougher than the ka bar on your list, if I were you I would get the ka bar before the sog. But in the end it is completely your choice, if you like the tech bowie, get it
 
Can't go wrong with a BK7

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rickcr said:
Went with some other suggestions and picked up a smaller mora bushcraft force knife and now was planning on complementing it with a light weight hatchet. I'd think the combo of a hatchet and decent smaller fixed blade knife should work out well in a survival pack. I'm curious why you mention a folding saw over a hatchet? I'd think a folding saw would get dull pretty fast in the field for survival purposes? Wouldn't a decent hatch be a bit more practical?

(NOTE: I'll probably still get a nice longer fixed blade knife as well... just for no other reason than I want one.. not so much out of being practical. Haven't decided yet there though... leaning at the moment at the SOG Tech Bowie just because it looks pretty darn cool.)
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Personally I rather use a saw to process wood. A saw is a lot more efficient than a hatchet. Think about it , a hatchet is heavier and swinging it requires you to use more energy. Also, with a hatchet you have to remove more material to make the same cut. A hatchet will dull faster than a saw blade. Think about how often you would sharpen a saw blade versus a knife blade.

Imagine doing this with a couple of axes ;)
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I have a gerber/fiskars sportsman pocket saw. It weights only 3oz, has about a 7" blade and cost me about $15. It can easily cut through 3"-4" thick branches.

Another choice, and a highly regarded saw (I don't own) is the bahco laplander. Other companies that make good saws are silky and corona.
 
It depends on the wood type and size and what you want to do with it when it comes to saw vs hatchet. With good technique a 3lb axe won't wear you out doing 10-15 minute sessions in 90 degree weather. To me in general its a lot more exhaustive and time consuming doing 4"+ diameter vines or limbs with a pocket saw. Lots of splitting for fire its definitely one sided.
 
Confederate said:
I know that Spyderco's folder, the Salt, is a great rust resistant knife. If it was made in a fixed blade, it would be great. Most diving knives are made from 420 or other low carbon 400-series steel. But that said, larger knives with carbon blades are still workable; they just require greater care. And even if you do get rust, it won't be unworkable. Blades will still cut with small amounts of rust. Protective finishes help, but they aren't perfect. And stainless blades still are apt to rust in humid climates. In fact, if it gets out of hand, rust spreads more once it gets started in a stainless knife. That's a lesson the government learned in the early days of stainless handguns. A S&W 36 (carbon) and 60 (stainless) were placed in a salt spray compartment. Although the Model 60 resisted rust longer than the 36, once it got started, it spread more -- faster and deeper. Whether that's true with other types of stainless I don't know.

I recommend the Cold Steel Rajah II for your bugout bag. It has a monstrous stainless blade and can be carried discreetly. It chops, can be used for defense and can even baton.
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Spyderco does make h1 steel fixed blades, but they're pricey. Spyderco Warrior Knife FB25PSBK
 
Great tips on the saw vs hatchet! Amazon has a corona 10'' folding one I'm probably going to purchase.

@Voracious Souls. Agree that I do think that Tech Bowie does look overpriced. Leaning towards the BK2 now.
 
rickcr said:
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.
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Well, just my 2 cents, but having been in south Florida for a month, and conducting some experiments on carbon and stainless knives exposed to the salt air and salt water I'd say if this knife is to sit even partially exposed to the elements i.e. in a vehicle or outbuilding then stainless might really be a good option for you if you're not the type to remeber to maintain your stored gear on a regular basis. In that case the SOG Tech Bowie is tougher than you might think for a hollow ground AUS8 blade, I have put one of these through some pretty rough stuff and have a SEAL Team that's been through some stuff too as well as had a Tiger Shark in their AUS8 that went through hell so the Force (which I have no experience with) should be fine too, and I've heard good things about it. I have no experience yet with Cold Steel's AUS8, but I have had a San Mai Trail Master down here with me for a month and no issues at all with it. It's seen quite a bit of swamp time and I'm loving the knife. For a field knife I like the SRK design, so if they do as well with their AUS8 then it should be good to go. Ka-Bar uses 1095 CroVan steel which in my experiences exhibits superior corrsion resistance to standard 1095. Marines have been using them around salt water for quite some time, and I carried one quite a bit with no worries. The BK-2 is made of the same steel. It's a hell of a knife and you could probably field dress cars with it, but it seems really heavy on a belt to me. I keep one in a car kit (one that's not in Florida though). The Schrade SCHF3 is not a bad design at all, but I'm thinking they use 420J steel and I'm not willing to intentionally bet my life on that particular steel in an extreme situation. If I were going to go with Schrade I'd likely go with the SCHF9 because it is the first Schrade to be made from 1095 steel in quite some time, and designed to take some pretty serious abuse...but then considering I am the designer I might just be a little biased there :)

If I were going to pick one from your list for a "one-fixed-blade" scenario for myself to carry down here for those purposes I would probably go with the ESEE-6. The reasons being that even though it isn't a huge knife...to me anyway...it has good mass and a high flat grind that cuts like a short machete and works well with the green vegetation here in Florida and is a better chopper than any of the other knives on the list from my experiences with the other designs. With the wilderness environment and weather here that could be all the the difference it takes to save a life. If I were going to have a machete along for chopping and rough work, and in Florida I would...I had one sent to me the second week I was here...and I was looking at a more coastal area then I would probably go with the SRK if I were trying to stay under $150.00.
 
Some good knives on your list.

Not mentioned, but worth a look are Condor's knives. They make some great basic blades, and machetes.

You can probably pick up a machete, medium sized knife, and small knife for your price range (or even a small pack axe).

there are dealers on here (Fortytwoblades is one, he is a dealer on here, supporting the site. http://www.baryonyxknife.com/).
 
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RABCarver said:
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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Just so you'll know...SK-5 is basically the Japanese version of 1080...it's not a stainless steel.
 
rickcr said:
Great tips on the saw vs hatchet! Amazon has a corona 10'' folding one I'm probably going to purchase.

@Voracious Souls. Agree that I do think that Tech Bowie does look overpriced. Leaning towards the BK2 now.
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Yeah, a good saw, small axe or hatchet, and a good 4-5 inch fixed blade is a great combo for fire craft. Saw to process the wood, axe to split, knife to make tinder. The axe can cover for the saw for processing duty and the knife can baton to cover for the hatchet if needed. A good sharp axe can even cover for the knife making shavings if needed too. It's good to have redundancy in a survival situation in case tools are lost or broken.

Just my opinion.
 
I like my Alce 11 inch dive knife. It has a good balance sharp blade and is serrated on the top of the blade. Being a dive knive it is INOX (stainless). You should be able to pick up one for less than $30.00. Made in Spain.
 
mistwalker said:
Just so you'll know...SK-5 is basically the Japanese version of 1080...it's not a stainless steel.
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sk-5 is just part of the name of the knife. stands for survival knife 5 inches. knife is actually made from 154cm.
i know when i first saw it, it also reminded me of cold steel sk-5 stuff too.
 
JimSocks said:
sk-5 is just part of the name of the knife. stands for survival knife 5 inches. knife is actually made from 154cm.
i know when i first saw it, it also reminded me of cold steel sk-5 stuff too.
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Oh yeah, now I remember...sorry, my bad.
 
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