Help me pick a camping / survival knife

rickppoole

rickppoole

Joined
Jun 1, 2007
Messages
290
Good day folks,

I'm brand new here and would love a little advice. I need to pick a dedicated all purpose camping knife and also one to pack away in a survival kit.

I don't imagine I'd be doing anything too outlandish with either knife, but I've never been in a survival situation before so who knows? I'm thinking mostly firewood or shelter building... In the past I've always carried my leatherman and a small hatchet but I wanted to upgrade.

I own: a Benchmade Rant (I love this knife) and an SOG Seal Pup.

Last week, at an estate sale, I picked up a pair of Becker Knives because they looked and felt really well made and were a bit bigger than anything I'd ever owned. The first is a BK7 ($60) and the second is a BK77 that I got for $120.

Which knife would you use for each job? Will any combonation of these four knives fit the bill for my camping / survival needs or do I need to look further?

Much Thanks!

-Rick
 
Welcome to the forum. Sounds like you have a good knife collection. I think the becker knives you have should fill the camp and survival chores.
 
Sounds like you have everything to fit your bill already. The BK77 was intended to be a survival/military do it all kind of knife. The BK7 will make your camps "happy camps"...it is a real work horse. By the way you got the BK&T knives at a great price since they are not being made anymore and are in big demand, especially the BK7.
If you think you will be needing a large chopper them I would recommend that you look at the Fehrman web page. They use 3V steel which is extreemly tough. I have four of the Fehrman knives but for a chopper I have the BK9 and the BK1 Brute.

Sounds like you are on your way!

Ciao
Ron:D
 
You've got a great start and what you have should satisfy your needs quite well. Although if have a desire for more long sharp things let me direct you here:http://www.rangerknives.com/

Justin does great work at a price that make some Busse's look like display knives. Plus he can make you anything you want for a very fair price. I have had used RD-4 for six months now and have only had to sharpen it twice. I HIGHLY recommend his work!
 
Wow, thanks for all the feedback. I started looking at that Becker Brute you mentioned and it looks awesome, sort of like a cross between a knife and a Khukri maybe??

How come they are no longer making them? Is it impossible to find one used, or can you recomend an alternate "chopper" that will hold up as well, or should I maybe get a Khukri? I used to have one about 15 years ago. I never used it but it was cheap.

Would the BK77 be the choice for survival knife then and the BK7 the camp knife? I really love the way the Benchmade Rant fits my hand but I don't imagine it will hold up as well to splitting firewood.

Thanks!
 
Take your pick of any of the Ontario/RAT line of knives. You wouldn't go wrong with any of them. One word of caution, they are addictive once you buy one you will want more.
 
So...

Should I use the BK7 (high carbon I think?) as the all purpose camp knife, and keep the BK77 (SV30) tucked away as the "survival knife"?

Is SV30 hard to sharpen? Does sharpen-ability become more or less inportant for a Survival knife???
 
The BK-7 is an excellent camp knife. add a hatchet and a small knife like a SAK. and you'll be set.
 
Sounds like you're well heeled with a couple of heavy duty choppers. You already have a hatchet and multi-tool. Maybe a good folder and a small machete and you'll have a well rounded selection for many different situations and activities.
 
I have 2 Spyderco knives that I can fully recommend to you for general use and outdoor/hunting/fishing and camp use as well. I have one folder to recommend and one fixed blade to recommend. The folder is Spyderco's full sized, double bladed C-44 Dyad. It is a double bladed knife with one fully serrated blade and one really nice, streamlined plain edge blade. It has a Micarta handle and the Spyderco pocket clip. I have been carrying one of them as an EDC for a little over 2 years now.

As far as a fixed blade goes Spyderco won me over with their fixed blade Temperance model. It is available in fully serrated and plain edged. I recommend you get both of them. It works for me. I'm not at all saying that Spyderco is the only knife I would recommend to you but they are great production knives put out by a great company who stands firmly behind what they make. Good Luck
 
cb4life_30: I know ur right but i hope your wrong. Im getting the TAK1 w/ 1095 tomarrow, my first ontario, and i told the ms.enix that it would be the last knife for awhile. We will see how i do.
 
That Spyderco Dyad looks amazing. I could only find the micro version available.

As a rookie, I'm amazed at how many highly recomended knives are out of production or unavailable! The Brute, Scrap Yard, Swamp Rats, the Dyad- I've had each of these recomended to me but I can't find any for sale. It seems I was lucky to find a BK7. I hope this is a temporary phenomena.

What is it with the knife business? Is it because really good knives are only made by people and not companies so they are in limited supply?... Is the demand for these knives too limited for anyone to mass produce them, or maybe mass production and quality just don't come together very often?
 
Some of the blades you mentioned are made in limited runs and sell out quickly. They show up on the secondary market at a higher than original price and even then, they move quickly.

Check out Ranger Knives. You get a good hard use blade that is readily available and you can request modifications to it at a fair price.

There are many good production blades available. Decide what your needs and price ranges are and then you should be able to find something to suit your need fairly easily.
 
I have a Bark River Gameskeeper and a Bob Dozier "general camp and hunting." I would trust either to any survival situation I could imagine.

Also, if you don't mind the size and weight, the Cold Steel SRK is a great knife for the price. (A bit bigger and heavier than I care for, but a lot of younger people like it.)
 
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