Hunting vs. Survival

fredhoward75

fredhoward75

Joined
Sep 24, 2007
Messages
146
All, I’m relatively new to knives and couldn’t be more impressed with the collective knowledge on Bladeforums.

I have a rookie question: what’s the basic difference between a “hunting” knife and a “survival” knife? I recently purchased a F1 due to its extreme popularity on Bladeforums. Would I get boo’d out of the community if I took it on my next hunt?
 
Welcome to BF!

What makes a good survival knife is one of the most favorite topics around here and one of the most hotly debated. Suggestions always run to both ends of the extreme and only by defining your own particular expectations of survival can it be possible to winnow through it all to decide what is best for you.

That being said, the F1 has all the features of a great hunting knife: 3.8" blade, drop point, VG-10, comfy grip. Not too shabby IMO, don't let anyone tell you otherwise.
 
I think you would find that the highly touted Cold Steel Master Hunter is a pretty close copy of your F1.

It is a great knife capable of dressing out anything you can hunt in North America.

YMMV
 
A lot of dedicated Survival knives can pass as Hunting knives, however not many dedicated Hunting knives would pass as Survival knives.
Hunting knives are designed to do skinning and often have an upswept blade, this is not something you want on a Survival knife !
 
no difference! one needs to hunt in order eat, one needs to eat in order to survive.
 
Can't go wrong with fallkniven nice choice.Fallkniven make that best fixed blade for it's price hands down.
 
My most used hunting knife is a folder. I carry a SAK just about all the time. Chances are if I get stuck somewhere, I'd have the SAK with me and it would be my "survival knife". It is about the right size for skinning too. What can I say?

The F1 is a good choice. Many tend to buy large knives for survival knives to facilitate use for chopping or their impression of the kind of knife for protection from creatures of either the two and four-legged variety. You aren't going to do much chopping with a SAK. Still like them a bunch. I have never used it for skinning, but I would guess that the blade would dull rather quickly.

My survival knife if I have time to actually choose one is likely to the the SOG Seal Pup Elite with the straight non-serrated blade. Frankly, I would have a really hard time deciding which knife to carry and the decision would likely be to carry several.
 
Any knife can do both jobe in a pinch. IMO what one would call a survival knife would work well for hunting unless its to big to handle delicate skinning and or caping chores. I would carry the biggest knife that I could handle hunting chores with in case a hunt turns into a survival situation which can happen in the blink of an eye. Knives like the above mentioned CS Master Hunter will handle both jobs well as will any simular good quality knife of that size.

I was once hunting in the mountains when a fall messed up my knee and left me overnight in near zero weather before help could reach me. Without a fire I would perhaps not have made it through that night. That fire and one very unlucky rabbit really made my night.
 
Codger_64 said:
Why not? :confused:
Click to expand...
The tip of an upswept blade is inherently weak, something you don't want in a survival situation. The best design in a survival blade is a drop point, which is exactly what the Fallkniven F1 has. Tantos, spear points, clip points, warncliffs, all are weaker at the tip than a drop point.
Hope this helps.
 
You did very well. The most important thing is to have a quality knife that you are comfortable using.
 
bearcut said:
The tip of an upswept blade is inherently weak, something you don't want in a survival situation. The best design in a survival blade is a drop point, which is exactly what the Fallkniven F1 has. Tantos, spear points, clip points, warncliffs, all are weaker at the tip than a drop point.
Hope this helps.
Click to expand...

I suppose everyone has their favorite blade brands and designs. The Fallkniven F1 is a decent knife and evidently quite popular at the moment. It should make a decent hunting knife. However I'd disagree with the concept that all other blade shapes are unworthy of consideration as both hunting and survival knives because they aren't drop points.

My own personal choice is a trailing point. I am yet to break the tip in well over thirty years of hard field use. And if I did, it certainly would not render the knife useless. In fact I collect this particular pattern and have surveyed thousands of them over the past five years or so looking for variants. I've seen them in almost every condition imaginable, but only once have I seen one with a broken tip reshaped.

I personally would not suggest that my own choice was the only one suitable as a hunting and survival knife. People have used an amazing variety of blade shapes well before mine was first produced in 1965, and have done so many years after it was discontinued in 2004 (being copied in China now).

I am yet to see a convincing arguement which narrowly limits the design of a survival knife, particularly excluding those suitable for hunting. But I do understand popularity trends, fads and brand loyalty.

Codger
 
udtjim said:
I was once hunting in the mountains when a fall messed up my knee and left me overnight in near zero weather before help could reach me. Without a fire I would perhaps not have made it through that night. That fire and one very unlucky rabbit really made my night.
Click to expand...

I encourage you to start a new thread and fill in some details about this experience, if you are willing. It's not too often people have really experienced this kind of thing.
 
sounds like you picked a good knife for both hunting and survival. knives like many things in life boil down to personal preference. who cares what the community thinks??
 
There are some who would say that an F1 is too thick to be an optimal skinner/hunter as game is processed by slicing not batoning.
 
I bought my F1 for use as a hunting knife. My only complaint is the handle. I would like a bit more of a guard and/or a slightly thicker handle. When the knife is bloody I like a little better grip. My solution is to wrap the handle with a little cording.
 
The big differences between stereotypical survival knives and hunting knives is mostly size. A survival knife is usually longer and thicker than a hunting knife to allow for some chopping and added toughness. The F1 dimensions are small enough to work as a hunting knife and the blade profile is acute enough for game prep work. It is not a classic "macho" survival knife. It doesn't even have teeth for sawing through an airplane canopy.
 
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