In a survival situation what kind of knife?

[Todd21969]

I have never been much for popular wisdom.

More often than not I hike, camp, fish, play in the woods with whatever 3.5" to 4" folder I happen to have in my pocket.

As I have said before.... If living or dying depends on what brand or style knife you carry, you are going to die anyway.

 

[DeadboxHero]

I have never been much for popular wisdom.

More often than not I hike, camp, fish, play in the woods with whatever 3.5" to 4" folder I happen to have in my pocket.

As I have said before.... If living or dying depends on what brand or style knife you carry, you are going to die anyway.

Hahahaha, well put.

 

[Thomas Linton]

Any old folder will probably do - most of the time.

Then there was the guy who jammed his knife into a crack in the rock and used it as a step to escape from a ledge - and lived. Colin Fletcher.

A folding knife might have worked. Or not.

Man Kills Grizzly Bear With Knife
August 26th, 2007 NewsEngine Posted in Wild Animal News |
Chris McLellan, 32, said “I was just at the wrong place at the wrong time,” while speaking from a hospital bed in Edmonton.

McLellan, had recently moved from Nova Scotia to Alberta three days earlier and was scouting locations for the start of bow-hunting season south of Grande Prairie when the grizzly bear attacked.

Just after sunset, he ran into a mother grizzly with three cubs. At first, the bear was concealed by a small hill and McLellan didn’t see it until it stood up.

“She was attacking,” he said. “She just stared into my eyes the whole time and you could just hear her coming, huffing and puffing across that field.”

McLellan, armed with a digital camera and hunting knife, quickly grabbed the camera, hoping its flash would scare away the grizzly. When the flash wouldn’t go off, he dropped the camera and pulled out the hunting knife.

“I put my knife above my head and waited for her to hit me,” he said. “She just mowed into me like a football player doing the old shoulder check.”

The bear lunged into McLellan’s stomach and bit down on his left arm. As the two struggled, McLellan plunged his knife into the bear’s back.

“I sunk the knife right to the end and instantly I could still see the blood spraying,” he said. “I must have hit an artery because I was covered head to toe with warmth instantly.”

As the bear continued to bite McLellan he was able to stab the bear two more times in the neck area.

The grizzly turned around and left, giving McLellan time to get up and walk away. After an investigation of the scene it became evident that McLellan had indeed struck an artery in the bear which died of consequential wound.

Reading of the death of Dr. Jacqueline Perry, last September, in a bear attack, Waterloo, Ontario resident Tom Tilley resolved to arm himself with a six inch hunting knife. Perry’s husband had tried unsuccessfully to drive off the bear which was attacking his wife, futilely stabbing at it with a Swiss Army knife.

(Since this was Canada, nobody even thought of carrying a gun.)

Tilley’s decision to carry the knife proved providential. Last week, during a 12-day canoe trip, Tilley found himself being stalked by an aggressive black bear near Abbey Lake (in the vicinity of Wawa, Ontario)

When the bear blocked Tilley’s path, and began advancing menacingly, Sam, his Staffordshire terrier, came out from behind his master, and placed himself between Tilley and the bear.

The bear grabbed the dog in his jaws, but thinking to himself “’You’re not going to kill my dog,” the horrified Tilley drew his knife, and advanced to the attack. Tilley leaped onto the bear’s back, and began stabbing. Though bitten on the hand, Tom Tilley killed that bear.

The wounded man was able to drag his canoe over a short portage and crossed a nearby lake where he was able to find some American campers equipped with a satellite phone. They summoned a float plane for an emergency medical evacuation.

Kitchener-Waterloo Record

 

[Todd21969]

Any old folder will probably do - most of the time.

Then there was the guy who jammed his knife into a crack in the rock and used it as a step to escape from a ledge - and lived. Colin Fletcher.

A folding knife might have worked. Or not.

True. Anyone can find instances of people using a fixed or folder to survive. Like the man who used a folder (Spyderco) to save his son from a Mountain lion a couple years back.

That doesn't mean a Spyderco folder is "best" for Mountain lion defense.

It is the person's will, knowledge, skill that matters. Not brand or style of knife.

 

[zombieassassin]

Get yourself a Busse and a Strider folder...you'll be fine!

 

[strategy9]

Ideally; (if you don't have a sharpening stone, pick up a good flat stone you find and carry it with you.)

#1) One fixed chopper (5"+ all the way up to machete or axe):
-a chopping knife "can" still do smaller knife's tasks better then a small knife can chop, so for me it's #1, and if stuck in the wilderness for a length of time, while downed limbs and branches can be found, chopping can become a basic "need", clearing a trail while hiking your way out, or building a longer term shelter then just a lean-to, or processing wood to burn more efficiently, (and if you would have to defend yourself against a bear, a 3" knife just won't do very well ). I would prefer right around 6" give or take + and axe, or one good machete 14-18" that can double as both. If you have an axe it still behooves you to have a knife, (though you can get a thinner profiled blade as "heavy" chopping won't be necessary), if you have a heavy duty chopping knife, or even a machete, an axe isn't really needed. But I just prefer chopping with an axe over a machete, and a 6" blade can suffice for clearing brush while hiking. Extra weight, yes, so it comes down to what you can carry to suit your needs.
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#2) One fixed Carver/slicer around 3-4" - the larger blade "can" do finer tasks, but this just simplifies things for cutting up fish/small game, fuzz sticks, daily chores, whatever; and having two blades instead of one stretches the life of the edges on both, and/or God forbid one breaks or you drop it off a cliff... this where your Mora's and Neck knifes really shine. Shoot, bring two, keep one on the bottom of the pack "just in case": Not much extra weight, but an invaluable tool to have.
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One multiblade slip joint - not a need, just good to have. Takes up little space, use it for misc. tasks, or just to whittle wood to kill time while waiting for a rescue... I prefer congress styles and trappers, sak's, but stockman's, Barlows, whatever suits your fancy.
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#4) One solid locking folder (optional) - is the least important blade to survive with, because if the lock fails it becomes all but worthless unless you remove the blade to make a spear or small fixed shank, (or happen to have the tools and pieces to fix it), there is just too much that can go wrong, but, lets face it, we all love 'em, at least one, and we almost always have one on us, they're small and easy to carry with clips, so why not...

 

[22-rimfire]

More often than not I hike, camp, fish, play in the woods with whatever 3.5" to 4" folder I happen to have in my pocket.

As I have said before.... If living or dying depends on what brand or style knife you carry, you are going to die anyway.

I do the same and yes, if I have to depend on a knife to survive (not fight), I might as well be dead. I do like to have both a folder and fixed blade with me in the woods. That's about it really. Keep 'em sharp and don't bugger them up cutting rocks or wire fencing.

 

[djfralla]

I have never been much for popular wisdom.

More often than not I hike, camp, fish, play in the woods with whatever 3.5" to 4" folder I happen to have in my pocket.

As I have said before.... If living or dying depends on what brand or style knife you carry, you are going to die anyway.

Hahahah

 

[cricketdave]

I carry a fixed blade usually a Martin mce2 and a folder usually a zt561 between those I can pretty much do anything I need to. From building a shelter, making a trap, getting wood for a fire and fishing.

Its the knife of the once and future king

 

[R.c.s]

I carry a fixed blade usually a Martin mce2 and a folder usually a zt561 between those I can pretty much do anything I need to. From building a shelter, making a trap, getting wood for a fire and fishing.

Its the knife of the once and future king

If I pull it out of the rock dose that meen it's mine

 

[marcinek]

I have never been much for popular wisdom.

More often than not I hike, camp, fish, play in the woods with whatever 3.5" to 4" folder I happen to have in my pocket.

As I have said before.... If living or dying depends on what brand or style knife you carry, you are going to die anyway.

And if one doesn't know what style of knife would be best suited for their "survival," there is clearly a long list of knife based skills and techniques that person also doesn't know.

 

[cricketdave]

Lol no I already drew it from the stone, strange women lying in ponds distributing knives is no basis for a system of government. Supreme executive power derives from a mandate from the masses, not from some farcical aquatic ceremony.

You can't expect to wield supreme executive power just 'cause some watery tart threw a knife at you!

I mean, if I went around sayin' I was an emperor just because some moistened bint had lobbed a bowie at me they'd put me away!

 

[R.c.s]

Lol no I already drew it from the stone, strange women lying in ponds distributing knives is no basis for a system of government. Supreme executive power derives from a mandate from the masses, not from some farcical aquatic ceremony.

You can't expect to wield supreme executive power just 'cause some watery tart threw a knife at you!

I mean, if I went around sayin' I was an emperor just because some moistened bint had lobbed a bowie at me they'd put me away!

Lol you keep the one from the stone Dave . and I will take Excalibur and take my chances with the nut house

 

[awestib]

3v, 52100, L6, or an O1 machete. Knowing how to track, trap, and fish will be just as, or more important. And a big puffy coat if it's the mountains!

And what do you drink?