I own a few survival knives, more than a few hatchets and axes, and a over a half dozen machetes. And they all get used. I'm fortunate in that my job as a biologist occasionally takes me into the field, especially in the summer but also in the winter. I've used knives and machetes to collect insect eggs on tree branches, chop dead limbs from densely planted trees so I could poke my head through and count insect galls or photograph insects, bird's nests, lichens, etc., and when the tree is too tall to get at what I need (such as insect eggs in the very top branches), I just chop it (or saw it) down. Not to worry. It provides forage for deer in the winter and it's all perfectly legal and normal operating procedure, especially in the dead of winter.
I've cleared land for prairie restoration projects, removed timber from clogged streams, cleared many a trail to research sites in the middle of nowhere, built many a wildlife observation blind and cleared all kinds of vegetation from research plots, often with nothing more than a good machete. I always have some kind of blade handy. I find a good hatchet, axe, and a heavy machete very handy. Oh yeah, did I mention my saw?
I'm fond of those too. If you had to clear as much vegetation as I routinely do, you'd like a good saw too. They definitely can be useful.
As an avid hunter, I use my knives, machetes, saws, etc to make blinds, clear shooting lanes, and of course, clean game. I like my Wyoming saw for cutting through the pelvic girdle but I suppose I could chop through it if I had to show I'm a real knive knut.
My "survival" knives range from an old Kabar and WWII Bayonet to an Ontario Spec Plus Marine (this knife has really had a workout). My newer "survival" knives are a Fallkniven A1 and a Becker Companion. I have a metal handled "Arkansas Toothpick" with a double edged 7" blade with some serrations on both sides, made by Parker Brothers that I love it for digging up plant speciments and foraging for wild roots (truth is, a good screw driver will do almost as well).
I'm also an avid camper and backpacker and I like to hone my survival skills when I'm in the wild. But my survival "knife" is usually a lighweight puukko and a multitool with a sawblade. I like to travel as light as I can when I'm backpacking so I don't lug big honking knives around. I like a multipurpose tool. You get more functionality per gram. For digging roots, I just make a "digging stick." Lately I've abandoned my puukko's for a Grohmann Camper. Plenty light for hiking but a lot of blade for things like carving up cattails or whittling walking sticks.
I guess I'm lucky to be a knife knut and have a job and most of my hobbies that require a lot of work with knives.
Even when I'm not in the field I get to cut up a lot of things. In the past two weeks, my new small sebenza has carved up over a dozen fetal pigs, several starfish, and a couple of sea cucumbers. Student's eyes get big when I whip out a real knife.
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Hoodoo
The low, hoarse purr of the whirling stonethe light-pressd blade,
Diffusing, dropping, sideways-darting, in tiny showers of gold,
Sparkles from the wheel.
Walt Whitman
