How long should a survival knife be?

[Charlie Mike]

How about this?

[video=youtube;h6cOuWMideU]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h6cOuWMideU[/video]

 

[Rat Finkenstein]

I wouldn't consider any "Schrade" knives, just chinese junk bearing the name of a good company that unfortunately went out of business.
a mora and a machete or, as others have said, a folding saw- will be better.

 

[Spyder59]

SCHF9 is a good value all around survival knife to throw in a pack or bag that one intends to grab in case of some type of municipal emergency.

I keep one in a "bug out" bag.

 

[Velitrius]

I am not ex-military...I'm just a guy who likes to run off into the woods, who possesses almost zero sense of direction.
I can get lost really effectively.

My survival situation would likely involve getting lost, and having to survive for a few days or so till someone came to find my dumb ass.
As such, it would more about shelter, fire, and just basically passing the time.

I could invent a situation that involves a broken leg, fabricating a splint and a crutch, and digging a well for water, but the reality is more likely just getting lost.

I chuckled a lot at this, mostly cuz it's me through and through. I am ex-military, but still have no sense of direction and horrible attention deficit issues.

Now, I've never been LOST per se, but I have been BEWILDERED for several hours. One of these periods of bewilderment will likely constitute any survival situation that may befall me. It'll be when I'm hunting, trying to find the headwaters of some creek I've never been before, bark peeling, mushrooming or the like.

I'm a believer in "you dance with who you brung", so when I bolt off into parts-with-no-tracks, I take good stuff blade-wise. If I'm hunting, I have a hunting knife of course... mushrooming I have a neck knife... but I know if I have to hunker down for the night, I'm going to need fire and a cover of some sort. Any and all of my knives can pull this off. Probably the most useful task I'd ever need of my knife though, in all reality, is striking the fire-steel.

Now if I'm all bewildered up, and I throw open my pack to see what knife I brung, which one would I be happiest to see?

The Camillus / Fisk OVB bowie. 7 inches of awesome. But this is MY favorite one to use. Go use a bunch of knives and find YOUR favorite one.

 

[22-rimfire]

Interesting human element here.... I tend to like 4-6" blades. I own larger ones. This thread has just about talked me into taking a 7"-8" knife in the woods for whatever.

Gaston is very persuasive about his views. I like that. Stabman just talks about reality and what gets us into trouble in the woods; mostly our own carelessness.

 

[Velitrius]

Interesting human element here.... I tend to like 4-6" blades. I own larger ones. This thread has just about talked me into taking a 7"-8" knife in the woods for whatever.

Gaston is very persuasive about his views. I like that. Stabman just talks about reality and what gets us into trouble in the woods; mostly our own carelessness.

Well, half of answering the question "How long should a survival knife be?" is asking yourself "What situation am I likely to be in?"

That's the situation Stabman is likely to be in, just like myself. Relevant thought process for the OP, IMHO.

 

[Rat Finkenstein]

Gaston is very persuasive about his views. I like that.

Hollow handled knives, even very expensive ones like he owns are structurally compromised. A round handle is also a poor shape for a handle.

 

[Riley12]

Hollow handled knives, even very expensive ones like he owns are structurally compromised. A round handle is also a poor shape for a handle.

Exactly. Try chopping with a round metal handle like those and you'll find the blade turning on you.
Don't get me wrong, I love hollow handle knives, but I prefer a large machete or larger knife with a Becker handle shape for chopping.

 

[JakeMakes]

If you are trying to decide between the 36 and 37, I would go with the 36. It is beefy enough for any kind of chopping you would do, and any longer would be nearly useless for feather sticks, notching, etc. Also, the 36 is heavy enough as it is. I couldn't imagine walking around all day with the 37 on my belt.

 

[22-rimfire]

Well, half of answering the question "How long should a survival knife be?" is asking yourself "What situation am I likely to be in?"

That's the situation Stabman is likely to be in, just like myself. Relevant thought process for the OP, IMHO.

I think so too. I am more likely to get twisted up because of my exploring "off trail" than hiking on any trail that I am likely to hike on. I can't envision a situation where I would need to make a shelter by cutting trees and so forth. Hence, my chopping need is much reduced. I still have the folding saw which can be used for this task if necessary. An urban survival situation is likely to be a lot different and might be along the lines of fighting "zombies" in a worst case situation.

With regard to the Gaston comments. I don't own a hollow handled knife and don't want to. I do have ones with reduced tangs which I would baton only if absolutely necessary. You can still use them for chopping if one wants to. But I tend to lean toward a much larger blade for chopping (by choice), but am less likely to have one with me in the woods if I got "twisted up".

 

[Czechmate]

If you are trying to decide between the 36 and 37, I would go with the 36. It is beefy enough for any kind of chopping you would do, and any longer would be nearly useless for feather sticks, notching, etc. Also, the 36 is heavy enough as it is. I couldn't imagine walking around all day with the 37 on my belt.

That's roughly a 2.5 ounce weight increase... Not much difference IMHO. FWIW a BK2 weighs almost the same as the larger schrade knife. :foot:

How does a longer blade make a knife useless for any cutting task; especially the two you listed. Neither needs a short blade, just a sharp one with decent edge geometry.

 

[stabman]

Stabman just talks about reality and what gets us into trouble in the woods; mostly our own carelessness.

Well, half of answering the question "How long should a survival knife be?" is asking yourself "What situation am I likely to be in?"

That's the situation Stabman is likely to be in, just like myself. Relevant thought process for the OP, IMHO.

I think that honesty with oneself is the most important thing to come to a correct solution. :thumbup:

 

[JakeMakes]

The weight is just my opinion. I often go out with a machete on my belt as well, for light brush clearing down by our creek. Thorns, vines, grass, etc. A bushcraft knife IMHO should be a small-ish blade 4-6 inches long. Especially with one which as much weight behind it as the 36 does. Your right, I overstated a bit on the 'nearly useless'. Again, its just my opinion. I have always found a longer blade more difficult for bushcraft tasks. And because of the thickness of the 36, you really don't need anything more. If anything, it's to large. (in my opinion) Also, if you are looking for a nice, cheap, quality, small bushcraft knife, go for the Mora heavy duty. It is awesome. (minus the sheath)

 

[JakeMakes]

Oops, forgot to quote it. Answering member Czechmate

 

[RX-79G]

I have to say that so many of these posts appear to be based on very little actual experience. Gaston, in particular, uses his knives an awful lot, so maybe people should consider that before they post things like "hollow handle knives are weak".

Hollow handle knives can be incredibly strong, because the handles are generally made of metal, which doesn't allow the bending forces that cause tangs to break. They can be done wrong, but the concept is so old that the good ones are bulletproof. The old saw that full tang knives are the strongest is demonstrably false, since they have some pretty common failure modes.


For those who don't do any wood carving or food prep with tiny animals, there is a reason that short blades have been and will continue to be preferred for so many outdoor tasks.


I attended SERE and another land survival school in the Navy. The only things we used knives for was cleaning rabbits, magbar fire starting and our paracord macrame projects. A Case Peanut would have worked. We also made our snares out of safety wire, not sticks.

I've never been in a forest that didn't supply all the deadfall needed for fire and shelters without chopping anything. Why would a chopper be an essential American forest tool?



The real reason, I think, that a Mora sized knife keeps coming up is that everything else is simply less flexible. Can you do detail work better than large knife? Definitely. If you need to split some wood, can you? Sure, and worlds better than you could with a folder. If the point of a survival knife is doing the most things with the smallest load, a light fixed blade wears the most hats. It is the unbreakable pocketknife.


I think a lot of "survival knife" design has been driven by the fact that an additional function they had was as a combat knife. If you need to survive with a knife that can also take out sentries and open ammo crates, then maybe Rambo's knife or a Kabar starts making more sense. For us, the weight of a single large knife is probably better spent on a kit that includes a light fixed blade, snare wire, saw blade, space blanket, filter straw, etc, etc.

 

[stabman]

I have to say that so many of these posts appear to be based on very little actual experience. Gaston, in particular, uses his knives an awful lot,

I'd bet my most expensive knife that I've used mine at least as much, if not more.
Except for hollow handle ones; my only experience-based gripe with them is the ones with fully round handles.

 

[RX-79G]

I'd bet my most expensive knife that I've used mine at least as much, if not more.
Except for hollow handle ones; my only experience-based gripe with them is the ones with fully round handles.

I wasn't picking on you. You know your stuff and weren't talking about hollow handles breaking.

I would point out that an awful lot of hand tools also have round handles, and that really doesn't seem to be an issue when using them.

 

[stabman]

I would point out that an awful lot of hand tools also have round handles, and that really doesn't seem to be an issue when using them.

Depends on the tool.
My hammer handles tend to be roundish, but more oval than circular.
I wouldn't want screwdrivers that didn't have fully round handles, for the most part though.

But as with length, optimal handle shape will vary by user as well.
As long as it allows someone to use the knife (or other tool) for however long they need to with sufficient comfort, then they made the right choice for them. :thumbup:

 

[tknife]

I think a lot of "survival knife" design has been driven by the fact that an additional function they had was as a combat knife. If you need to survive with a knife that can also take out sentries and open ammo crates, then maybe Rambo's knife or a Kabar starts making more sense. For us, the weight of a single large knife is probably better spent on a kit that includes a light fixed blade, snare wire, saw blade, space blanket, filter straw, etc, etc.

Great point. I see all types of survival kits that have humongous knives, but no shelter item to speak of. A small knife and a tarp make much more sense to me than just a big knife in an emergency.

 

[RX-79G]

And shovels are round.

As long as the handle provides either the shape or texture to control the blade angle, you're a winner. And if you get a secondary benefit, like decreased shock or storage, even better.

I just get tired of reading the same unscientific "truisms" about knife construction all the time.