Lets Talk Survival Knife!!!

I’m with the other guys here who suggested the RC-4, got mine last month and have been using it in the field quite allot, great knife ..

Oudoor guy suggested Gerber LMF 2 I agree.. I have abused mine for well over a year and it keeps asking for more… One tough knife
 
No one answered Savageman. Does the Benchmade Rant 10502 have a full tang??? Anybody know for sure? For the price, this looks like a real winner.
 
The old taiwan rants were full tang, The new ones probably are too, up to that lanyard hole at least.
 
I have had a 119 for 7 or 8 years now and it has done well by me. No complaints, just a basic, entry level good user. Due to the price of it I never had to wince as I made it earn it's keep. I might have had trouble if I was using something I had invested more in. I have a friend who uses his Ka-bar for similar applications to what you are talking about....but he is and always will be a Ka-bar fanatic. I like his blades, have used them, there is just no other brand for him though.
 
savageman said:
Ok, I am looking for a fixed blade, full tang knife that will be carried on canoe/hiking/camping/hunting trips for years to come! I am at a loss though of what to pick for length, steel, handle, price.

Length: I have heard that somewhere in the 4"-6" area will work best for a general purpose belt knife. But this leaves me with a knife as big as a buck 119 at 6" or a BRKT Highland as small as 4". Theres a big diff in the size and weight of these two knives. Gotta be used for bushcraft, field dressing, light battoning. Do I need a big 6" knife for this or will a 4.25" blade do most of the chores well??

Steel: Should I be looking at a Stainless Steel with a satin finish or a Carbon Steel with a satin finish or maybe a Carbon Steel with a black coating. Then theres the thickness issue, I think something around .150"-.200" should be fine for precision work as well at rough work.

Handle: I see materials such as G10 and Micarta used alot aswell as all sorts of Exotic Woods and Stag Bone. What will be the most durable and provide the best non-slip surface?? Will Stag Bone hold up as well as Micarta??

Price: Given that I am a younger man with not alot of money to throw around, I would like to get this knife with a well made sheath for around $100 give or take. We can rule out all the custom high dollar $200-$500 blades right now as I dont have the funds or heart to carry those out in the field with me!!

Please give me your opinions and try and save the "its all personal preference" card as I have no preference which is why I am asking these questions. Thanks
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ontario knife co- spec plus ranger or a ka-bar warthog are good choices for little cash.
 
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Well looks like you are seeing the "Big Three" outdoors knives here on BF.com

I'll throw my lot in with RC-4 :D

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Of course, you could just get a MORA and save yourself $90, but honestly, if I had to rely on a blade, it would be my RC-4.
 
I can't really disagree with the initial recommendations and I'll avoid the "it's personal preference" statement, but it is.

I have none of the three but they are all on my "to-buy" list eventually. I get by with a SOG Seal Pup Elite (plain edge) for this purpose but I have a number to choose from. My suggestion is to think in terms of two knives, one fixed blade and one pocket knife. If you think in these terms, the longer blade option seems more appropriate as you will be using the pocket knife for detail tasks. I like thin basic SAKs like the Adventurer model and the mid-sized Trapper design from someone like Case or Queen. The basic Buck 110 is hard to beat but it is not a pocket knife. It's cheap enough to use and they are consistantly good and still made in the US.
 
I really like my Becker BK-10 Crewman, but I think they are still way overpriced on Ebay.

Not sure on the new Kabar Beckers, but the new Champion (used to be the Campanion) may be something worth a look.

And oh yeah, I really like my RC-4 with orange G-10 handle...harder to lose in the woods!
 
RC-4 would be a great knife. You may want to check out some of the customs seen around the forums, there are quite a few in the 100-dollar range that make very good knives the way you want them. JK Knives (Stomper), DP Knives, and Breeden Knives (sicily02) are a few to start with. You can see quite a bit of these guys work in the wilderness and survival forums, as well as plenty of others.
 
azranger said:
No one answered Savageman. Does the Benchmade Rant 10502 have a full tang??? Anybody know for sure? For the price, this looks like a real winner.
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It's not really a full tang. A very narrow portion of the blade extends into the handle and then it is screwed into the handle from the butt end of the handle. So long as your not batoning with it (it's only four inches anyway) it should serve you well. Very sharp.
 
+1 on the fallkniven, RC 4 is a good choice as well. Also queen cutlery makes some great fixed blades in D2 tool steel and they will run you around $70 with sheath.
 
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