I was just told a skeletonized tang has more strength. Is that true?

When I was a teenager I broke several knives. I broke them in half or I broke the tip. The problem was not always the tang or construction of the knife, the problem was I was seriously abusing them instead of using the proper tool for the job. Sometimes an axe, a prybar, a hammer or a screwdriver is better suited, and will keep your knife in one piece.
 
danbot said:
It shouldn't be left up to you and I to do destructive testing for a knife manufacturer. They should do it themselves (or even better, sub-contract it to a reputable, independent third party) and then publish the results on their website and in their forum.
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Yes this! like the nhtsa for knives. That would be great =)

microbe said:
When I was a teenager I broke several knives. I broke them in half or I broke the tip. The problem was not always the tang or construction of the knife, the problem was I was seriously abusing them instead of using the proper tool for the job. Sometimes an axe, a prybar, a hammer or a screwdriver is better suited, and will keep your knife in one piece.
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Yes but those were probably $5 Taiwan knives that weren't really meant for survival. I'm more worried about knives that are relatively expensive and assumed to be a "survival" type knife that could potentially save someone's life if the situation arises. The whole purpose of a "survival" knives is to rise to the occasion if the need is ever there. If asked to choose from a variety of knives that have similar cost, size, purpose, weight, design I would like to choose the most durable one.
 
letsurf said:
Yes this! like the nhtsa for knives. That would be great =)



Yes but those were probably $5 Taiwan knives that weren't really meant for survival. I'm more worried about knives that are relatively expensive and assumed to be a "survival" type knife that could potentially save someone's life if the situation arises. The whole purpose of a "survival" knives is to rise to the occasion if the need is ever there. If asked to choose from a variety of knives that have similar cost, size, purpose, weight, design I would like to choose the most durable one.
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Then you definitely want a Busse. Those things take crazy amounts of abuse
 
unwisefool said:
Then you definitely want a Busse. Those things take crazy amounts of abuse
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I agree but seems like all their production knives are huge choppers or fancy collectible items. I would love to have a gso 4.1 or 4.7 in INFI or even the Survive! 4.1 or 4.7 in new spec 3v. I guess they are getting close or have equaled INFI? There just aren't any available anywhere. Maybe I should consider Busse custom shop do you just call them up and place an order and they have it to you in several weeks?
 
Custom shop is booked up, look on the exchange for one. Or grab the swamprat ratmandu for $160 on the website right now.
 
unwisefool said:
Custom shop is booked up, look on the exchange for one. Or grab the swamprat ratmandu for $160 on the website right now.
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I used to have a RMD and sold it. I liked the knife but the design was just OK to me and I'm not a big fan of the thick coating. Would prefer a new gso in 3v from survive! but that ain't gonna happen anytime soon. If buying used I'm not sure how to tell if it's their old 3v ht or the new one. I guess I'm just too picky.
 
letsurf said:
Yes this! like the nhtsa for knives. That would be great =)



Yes but those were probably $5 Taiwan knives that weren't really meant for survival. I'm more worried about knives that are relatively expensive and assumed to be a "survival" type knife that could potentially save someone's life if the situation arises. The whole purpose of a "survival" knives is to rise to the occasion if the need is ever there. If asked to choose from a variety of knives that have similar cost, size, purpose, weight, design I would like to choose the most durable one.
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The idea of a very expensive knife to be used for "survival" by way of various ludicrous to outrageous made up scenarios is a a fallacy.

People every day use knives of what we'd consider low quality to survive in less developed countries. The do it by treating their blades with the utmost of respect because besides their lives are depending on that tool and they also can't just get a new one from Blade HQ or the corner Walmart.

If the idea of a survival knife is something used stop a group of terrorists when they seize control of a U.S. battleship then Hollywood is calling.
 
Danke42 said:
The idea of a very expensive knife to be used for "survival" by way of various ludicrous to outrageous made up scenarios is a a fallacy.

People every day use knives of what we'd consider low quality to survive in less developed countries. The do it by treating their blades with the utmost of respect because besides their lives are depending on that tool and they also can't just get a new one from Blade HQ or the corner Walmart.

If the idea of a survival knife is something used stop a group of terrorists when they seize control of a U.S. battleship then Hollywood is calling.
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What makes a survival knife is a whole other debate on it's own. The point I'm trying to make is that if a knife is advertised as "Durable full tang construction" and "tank in the field of battle or in the great outdoors" but in reality has a severely skeletonized tang it's misleading. This is especially the case if dealers are telling consumers that it is more durable because of the skeletonization. Someone who tries to do something without knowing the knife's true capabilities might be SOL because of misinformation. As far as Hollywood, I love Walking Dead and think we all secretly hope for apocalyptic times so we can do bad a@# manly s#@$ but that discussion wasn't my intention with this thread.
 
Marketing talk is just that. "Extreme" here, "absolute" there, "better than everything ever" this and "never ever done before" that. BRK makes nice knives and I would just enjoy them as such. If I had to go "surviving" in the great wild outdoors I would schlepp along a cheap machete (Tramontina, Condor, Martindale, whatever) and a foldable pruning saw (Fiskars !). There's a quite interesting finnish outdoors blade, called the Skrama, made by Terävä, which seems to perform well as a "jack of all trades". I would consider that.
 
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letsurf said:
Yes but those were probably $5 Taiwan knives that weren't really meant for survival. I'm more worried about knives that are relatively expensive and assumed to be a "survival" type knife that could potentially save someone's life if the situation arises. The whole purpose of a "survival" knives is to rise to the occasion if the need is ever there. If asked to choose from a variety of knives that have similar cost, size, purpose, weight, design I would like to choose the most durable one.
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The price and the country of manufacturing of knives was irrelevant for me at that time, as my dad was buying them for me. Even if he would have bought me the best steel and strongest and most expensive knife available, I did things like tie the knife to a stick to make a spear, and go trout spear fishing in a river that was 100% boulders, rocks and pebbles. I blunted and eventually bent and broke the tip after throwing the spear head on the rocks a dozen times trying to catch a fish. (which I did, I remember its flesh was juicy and it tasted great). No knife - not even a Busse - can ever take such abuse. Good survival practice is using a knife to sharpen a stick into a spear, instead of using the knife itself as a spearhead - because it is an extremely though knife that will rise to the occasion.
 
herisson said:
Marketing talk is just that. "Extreme" here, "absolute" there, "better than everything ever" this and "never ever done before" that. BRK makes nice knives and I would just enjoy them as such. If I had to go "surviving" in the great wild outdoors I would schlepp along a cheap machete (Tramontina, Condor, Martindale, whatever) and a foldable pruning saw (Fiskars !). There's a quite interesting finnish outdoors blade, called the Skrama, made by Terävä, which seems to perform well as a "jack of all trades". I would consider that.
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microbe said:
The price and the country of manufacturing of knives was irrelevant for me at that time, as my dad was buying them for me. Even if he would have bought me the best steel and strongest and most expensive knife available, I did things like tie the knife to a stick to make a spear, and go trout spear fishing in a river that was 100% boulders, rocks and pebbles. I blunted and eventually bent and broke the tip after throwing the spear head on the rocks a dozen times trying to catch a fish. (which I did, I remember its flesh was juicy and it tasted great). No knife - not even a Busse - can ever take such abuse. Good survival practice is using a knife to sharpen a stick into a spear, instead of using the knife itself as a spearhead - because it is an extremely though knife that will rise to the occasion.
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I get what you guys are saying and I agree for the most part. If given a choice I would have a multi tool system like a Chopper, medium size knife, SAK/Leatherman, small bushcrafter, etc. It may be Hollywood thinking to want a tougher knife "just in case" but if all else is relatively equal (size, cost, material, design) then who on earth would choose a weaker knife? I guess it's just a balancing act (pun intended) to decide what the best knife is for you.

There is an interesting thread where Survive knives talks about one of their knives failing under heavy use due to a pocket of material. It failed at the skeletonized tang and it appears they have opted for a full tang design on most of their mid sized knives since then.

https://www.bladeforums.com/threads/20cv-in-the-gso-5-5-1-and-6-models.1377024/
 
letsurf said:
I get what you guys are saying and I agree for the most part. If given a choice I would have a multi tool system like a Chopper, medium size knife, SAK/Leatherman, small bushcrafter, etc. It may be Hollywood thinking to want a tougher knife "just in case" but if all else is relatively equal (size, cost, material, design) then who on earth would choose a weaker knife? I guess it's just a balancing act (pun intended) to decide what the best knife is for you.

There is an interesting thread where Survive knives talks about one of their knives failing under heavy use due to a pocket of material. It failed at the skeletonized tang and it appears they have opted for a full tang design on most of their mid sized knives since then.

https://www.bladeforums.com/threads/20cv-in-the-gso-5-5-1-and-6-models.1377024/
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You seem set on supporting survive knives, despite the fact they've had their forum closed here for bad business practices and not delivering knives.

Fine, support them. But for crying out loud, just do it already.
 
letsurf said:
I get what you guys are saying and I agree for the most part. If given a choice I would have a multi tool system like a Chopper, medium size knife, SAK/Leatherman, small bushcrafter, etc. It may be Hollywood thinking to want a tougher knife "just in case" but if all else is relatively equal (size, cost, material, design) then who on earth would choose a weaker knife? I guess it's just a balancing act (pun intended) to decide what the best knife is for you.

There is an interesting thread where Survive knives talks about one of their knives failing under heavy use due to a pocket of material. It failed at the skeletonized tang and it appears they have opted for a full tang design on most of their mid sized knives since then.

https://www.bladeforums.com/threads/20cv-in-the-gso-5-5-1-and-6-models.1377024/
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If you order a knife from Survive I can almost guarantee it won't fail in the field. Of course that's because it will likely never arrive, but...;)
 
The "tough to the extreme, never fail, can do it all" knife is a marketing myth. It does not exist. It's cool to have one but that's about all of it.
 
shinyedges said:
You seem set on supporting survive knives, despite the fact they've had their forum closed here for bad business practices and not delivering knives.

Fine, support them. But for crying out loud, just do it already.
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I know nothing about their business practices and didn't know they were removed from the forum. I just like their designs and apparently they have some pretty good steel too.

Insipid Moniker said:
If you order a knife from Survive I can almost guarantee it won't fail in the field. Of course that's because it will likely never arrive, but...;)
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Thanks for the laugh :D
 
herisson said:
The "tough to the extreme, never fail, can do it all" knife is a marketing myth. It does not exist. It's cool to have one but that's about all of it.
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OK you take your Mora 511 and I'll take my Mora Garberg and we'll see who has more peace of mind then :rolleyes:
 
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