Definitions:
Fighting knife: The knife you have in your hand when the fight starts.
For me personally, when I was in the Army I never thought of the Parrish or Brend I carried to be a "Fighting or Combat" knife. Other than one morning at FT. Benning where we did bayonet drills for an hour. We received no training with a knife....none.
As my Sergeant Major told me once "Sir if you have to use a knife in combat...you are in a world of shit."
Of course he was right. As that means you have run out of ammo, grenades, you can can't call for fire or fast movers.
The reality was I carried a big knife...because I liked knives. Most soldiers than and now can only carry a pocket knife (and their bayonet in the field). Today that small pocket knife, to a large extent, has been replaced by the multi-tool.
BTW, FBI statistics show that the large butchers knife found in the home are responsible for more deaths than any other type of knife in America. The murder/self defense is primarily committed by a smaller female. Her victim is almost always an abusive male.
Survival knife: The knife you have with you when you are put into a survival situation.
FWIW: Bear Grylls carries a smaller hunting type knife. (Man v. Wild)
Les Stroud carries a multi-tool. (Survivor Man).
Cody Lundin carries a small Pukko looking knife around his neck (Dual Survival)
Dave Canterbury prefers a USMC KaBar or a Tom Brown Tracker. He says in an interview:
What is a good knife? Well it needs to be heavy enough to cut and chop small saplings and kindling, (If you cannot afford the weight of an Axe) it should be versatile enough yet to use for skinning game and processing meat. It should also be something you can attach to a long cut pole as a spear if needed. For this reason a Folding style knife is out of the question. There are many articles on the Web about what knives you should buy for hunting and survival, I will only say that most of them are not practical in real situations. With that being said some Bush Crafters and Survival experts believe in the theory the bigger the knife the bigger the fool, I would agree with this if I were carrying an Axe as well but, if I only had one tool I would choose a large knife. There are only 2 knives I think are worth owning for this purpose and it depends on your personal budget and preferences. In some things you can spend a lot of money and not really improve you state, and in others you get what you pay for. With that said you can get a whole lot of Knife for around $60.00 or get a better one for $300.00. The $60.00 version I recommend is the US Military KaBar Fighting Knife, in all honesty you cannot go wrong here. KaBar Military knives are made in the US and Guaranteed against breakage for life, they hold a good edge and come with a quality leather sheath that will last for years. For the higher end budget I would have to recommend the Tom Brown Tracker1. The sheath is less than desirable for the Hunter or Woodsman in my opinion but the Knife itself more than makes up for that. Quality sheaths of leather can be purchased separately on the Web or made personally as mine is. The Tracker is 1095 High Carbon steel has a very thick heavy chopping blade and draw knife area as well as a thick tough saw on the back for notching etc. The Tracker is now available on our site in the Outfitters Store Knife Section. Tops will regrind and refinish for life even for other than original owners. Usually I will carry a 2nd smaller knife (or only this if I choose to carry an Axe) in my pack or as a neck knife for more delicate camp tasks, again only 2 grab my attention the Randall Adventure Training Knife about $90.00 or the Mini Army Kabar for about $60.00. They are both High quality and complete all small tasks like skinning game and carving with ease. The RAT knife has a kydex sheath that can also be worn neck knife style. Before we Move on to the next item lets look back and talk about the Axe. If you dont mind a small trade for weight a good high carbon steel hand forged axe can be the best overall tool for most heavy bush crafting needs. It doesnt need to be huge a 15 handle is more than adequate. The SA Wetterlings is the axe I would personally recommend they are hand forged Swedish blades of superior quality and durability and the price of about $60.00 is more than reasonable.
I'll have to look closer next time. I don't think I have seen him use either one of these knives in the Dual Survival show.
The good news is there are lots of choices out there. However until you actually take the knife out and use it. You won't know what you have. Lots of Chairborne types out their who have done nothing but cut air with their knives.
Nothing wrong with that...just that is probably not the person to get advice from on a knife for the field.
If I wanted to know about which hunting knive(s) to use on numerous types of animals around the world in differing climates...I would ask Joe Paranee. Joe knows knives.....
Joe uses his knives. As I suspect others do.
Perhaps they should be called "Field Knives"???
Of course that isn't near as macho as "Combat", "Fighting" or "Tactical"
Everyone missed the boat on the fancy "Tactical" knives. They should have called them "Strategic" knives. That is a level above Tactical. Someone has already coined the term "Theater" knives. No that does not refer to a knife you take to a movie or a play!
I apreciate the kind words
