Let's see those strange survival knives !

Shotgun said:
Always thought this one was a little silly but what do I know.

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Damn you! I was just about to post that.. :grumpy:
Just looking at that makes me feel that there's no use for it.
 
moonwilson said:
I believe they were originally intended so that the knife could be used as an improvised belay of some sort. Which was warped to imply that the knife could be used as a grappling hook. :eek: With predictable hilarity ensuing. :D

Why you would want to use your expensive, important survival tool as a cleat never made much sense to me. Is it really that hard to tie a knot?
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best part is when said knife/anchor pulls out of the spot it was anchored, and you look up to see points of death hurtling down towards your head! :eek:
 
I think the ATAX would be useful as an expensive ulu. Which begs the question, why not buy an ulu instead.
 
Bushman5 said:
it might be different but the ATAX was designed by Ron Hood, of Hoodlum fame. It has been extensively used and tested by many people. The amount of things you can do with it are endless. Go over to the Hoodlums forum and just ask.
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Or perhaps Mr. Hood could discuss it, here. Is he still a moderator of this forum? He used to be.
 
Bushman5 said:
it might be different but the ATAX was designed by Ron Hood, of Hoodlum fame. It has been extensively used and tested by many people. The amount of things you can do with it are endless. Go over to the Hoodlums forum and just ask. :thumbup:


action photos: http://www.survival.com/atax.htm
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I respect Mr. Hood, but that tool still looks silly to me. Nothing in that list of functions of the ATAX on his website can't be handled better by more conventional knives and/ or tools. The ATAX looks to be a prime example of the axiom "jack of all trades, master of none". Not a very good knife, not a very good axe, or compass, or clock, or rangefinder etc. But can sorta do all of those things, if you have the patience to fiddle with it. FWIW, my watch can do several things on that list of functions, and then some.
 
i was having a tough day but after looking at some of these designs ivebeen LOL'ing on some of them...esp the RAZR thanks for the cheer up guys! :)
 
moonwilson said:
I believe they were originally intended so that the knife could be used as an improvised belay of some sort. Which was warped to imply that the knife could be used as a grappling hook. :eek: With predictable hilarity ensuing. :D

Why you would want to use your expensive, important survival tool as a cleat never made much sense to me. Is it really that hard to tie a knot?
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Unfortunately, buck actually intended this.

http://www.buck-184.com/library/us04622707.pdf

I would be amazed to hear of one person using that feature in an operational environment.
 
moonwilson said:
I gotta go with the Buckmaster. One of the all-time reigning champions of the "WTF" school of survival knife design.
Buckmaster-184-knife.jpg

Why do just one thing right, when you can do several things poorly?
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Believe it or not, according to the history of the M-9 bayonet, which evolved from the predecessor to the Buck Master, the Buck Master came from a knife that was originally purposely designed especially for the U.S. Navy SEALs. The screw in points were never intended to anchor a boat but as an improvised means for anchoring caches under water. If you read enough material on operations of the SEALs you'll run across old pics with some of the guys with these on their belts though I do think it was eventually seen as "wrong-thinking" for a knife design for their purposes. I know I'd much rather have the Mark 3.


tltt said:
Cuchillo%20Marto-Brewer%201983.jpg
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marto_(650_x_378).jpg
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The Marto-Brewer Survival Knife. Not too bad from a few accounts.
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I think this may be one of the least understood "survival" knives of all times, and likely suffered from the Explora name being confused with the Explorer Knife Company famous for making crappy knives. The Explora was in my opinion one of the most thought out knives ever made with an awesome manual full of great information and thicker than most people would bother to read. The saw actually functions well in soft wood and bamboo. It even has a scale on the side with which if you know the distance to a hill it will tell you the elevation and if you know the elevation it will tell you the distance. I carried one for a few years down in the south but sold when I came back here for fear of the hardwoods here being too hard on a hollow handled knife. I would love to have a full tang knife with this blade, or possibly a version that was a mating between this knife and a Chris Reeve...but definitely a full tang version.


No pictures because I hate to waste band width on them but I nominate all of the Explorer line of "survival" knives except for their small hollow handled knife which actually proved to be tough as h#ll.



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tltt said:
Cuchillo%20Marto-Brewer%201983.jpg
.

marto_(650_x_378).jpg
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The Marto-Brewer Survival Knife. Not too bad from a few accounts.
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Brings back memories. Many, many years ago, I bought a cheap copy of this knife. It was dull as hell and wouldn't sharpen. I tried the wire cutter feature (blade clips to sheath) and took a chunk out of the blade.
 
mistwalker said:
I think this may be one of the least understood "survival" knives of all times, and likely suffered from the Explora name being confused with the Explorer Knife Company famous for making crappy knives. The Explora was in my opinion one of the most thought out knives ever made with an awesome manual full of great information and thicker than most people would bother to read. The saw actually functions well in soft wood and bamboo. It even has a scale on the side with which if you know the distance to a hill it will tell you the elevation and if you know the elevation it will tell you the distance. I carried one for a few years down in the south but sold when I came back here for fear of the hardwoods here being too hard on a hollow handled knife. I would love to have a full tang knife with this blade, or possibly a version that was a mating between this knife and a Chris Reeve...but definitely a full tang version.


No pictures because I hate to waste band width on them but I nominate all of the Explorer line of "survival" knives except for their small hollow handled knife which actually proved to be tough as h#ll.




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I wanted one of these soooo bad when I was a teenager.
 
vector001 said:
i designed a kind of funky one that wouldn't break the bank. TOPS makes them for me.

the ECO Hawk. - don't laugh too hard at me :D, ...besides a decent small knife and hand axe/adz/scraper thingy ...it works and its also a harpoon and a mini-hawk and a pick, and whatever else ya wanna do with such a small tool.

07.JPG


i was trying to make something that was completely practical with no gimmicks, but folks might not feel that way, which i can completely understand before they use it.

it's 7.1 Ounces bare, 1075 zone-hardened 3/16" steel stock, 7 inches long, 2 inches wide at the widest points, with a comfy 1" width at the narrowest part of the waist, which is sized to comfortably index small or large hands over the Center of Mass, for efficient handling

we are going to make a bunch of composite accessories for it, but i designed it so folks could personalize them with their own improvised hafts or custom scales.

after seeing this thread, i don't feel like it is so strange after all! :cool::thumbup:

some of these things red-line my geek meter. :eek:

geeky vec
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I can see many urban uses for this. Got a pic of one with a handle attached? :thumbup:
 
Foilist said:
I wanted one of these soooo bad when I was a teenager.
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I had the 5 inch version and I really liked mine. It, the Chris Reeve aviator my wife has, and the Schrade SCHF1 have been the only water tight hollow handled knives I've ever personaly got to work with.
 
Bushman5 said:
I can see many urban uses for this. Got a pic of one with a handle attached? :thumbup:
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i'm working on the User's Manual right now, but i am gradually going to have some instructives over on the Axe Forum here probably. i'll link to it here if that's alright, brother.

the whole idea is for folks not to be limited to our accessories - so that they can tuck this in their sock or into the bag it comes with and then quickly build their own handle. if nothing else, a self-made handle and/or scales could really put a personal touch on it. - i wanted folks to do some of the work on it themselves, so they would value it, and be able to take their sweethearts out for some din-din (score points) with the money that they saved...

....with a HAWK IN THEIR SAWK!!!


....har...! :D


at any rate - wouldn't it be nice to get a good piece of hickory, or a piece of a favorite walking stick and burn some designs into a handle for it, yourself? - i think that'd be a great calmer when you were waiting for some dirt time.

i think stuff like that is cool to have.

an instant heirloom.


and when you aren't hawking or digging with it, ya got a nice knife IMHO.

it'd really do a job on a bastard who challenged you, the way the edges are angled - just make a fist around it.

dang, i caught myself being a meanie again ...blasted hawks.

vec
 
I am heading out for deer camp in a few hours and already have the camera and stuff in the truck. However I have about six of those assorted Condors. Thats as strange as I own.
 
moonwilson said:
I respect Mr. Hood, but that tool still looks silly to me. Nothing in that list of functions of the ATAX on his website can't be handled better by more conventional knives and/ or tools. The ATAX looks to be a prime example of the axiom "jack of all trades, master of none". Not a very good knife, not a very good axe, or compass, or clock, or rangefinder etc. But can sorta do all of those things, if you have the patience to fiddle with it. FWIW, my watch can do several things on that list of functions, and then some.
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I kinda had a WTF? moment first time I saw the ATAX, couldn't for the life of me figure out what Ron was thinking on that one but I had the opportunity to hang with him in the woods for a few days and I gotta say, in the mans hands, it really works.

Not for everyone but he likes it.
 
yhst-83915422547673_2050_0



Okay - I TOTALLY had this knife when I was like 12. It was the first knife I ever bought myself:

surknife_big.JPG


I know I broke the saw on the first try. I know the matches never lit, and the stone, was like, someones driveway stone. But I loved that lump of shit.

TF
 
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