Looking for a good survival knife

T

TheRiggins

Joined
Apr 26, 2017
Messages
4
Hello everyone,

A friend pointed me to this forum because I've been searching for the right knife and have not been able to find one yet.

I'm looking for a survival style knife. I'm not into the tactical thing I just want a very well built tool that I can take with me camping and backpacking. I had looked at an ESEE 6 but after reading some reviews I no longer believe it is the knife for me. I'm willing to spend some money but I'd like to keep the cost at $300 or less.

Anything suggestions are appreciated and all opinions welcome. Thank you.

***Update***

Thank you all for the great responses!

I'd like to answer a couple of questions that were asked.
I'm looking for a blade length between 4 and 6 inches ideally.
The steel can be anything but stainless. A good tool steel would be great.
The thing that killed the ESEE for me was the coating on the blade. I don't like how it affects cutting.

Thanks again!
 
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Let me be the first to say hello and get prepared for a plethora of answers. If 50 people answer, you'll prolly get at least 20 to 25 different types of knives to choose from. Do you want carbon steel? Do you want stainless? 4 inch blade? Or one that will do food prep as well as fire wood? Take everything with a grain of salt and take your time. You can also use the search function here.
 
Many people like the Fallkniven F1. It is a good and lightweight knife that gets a bunch of work done in the wild. You mentioned back packing so weight might be a consideration. If you can carry more then I would suggest a Fallkniven A1 as the big knife companion to the F1 for bigger jobs and chopping.
 
Welcome to the forum, I suggest you use the Search.... button up in the right-hand corner.

Have fun looking at the pictures that other members post of their "survival knives."

I suggest you start out with a $100 budget at first and try out a few knives BEFORE investing anymore money.

Good luck and enjoy the best knife forum on the internet.
 
If you are looking for a big chopper that can do a lot more for cheap get a Kabar heavy bowie....flat ground 9 in and cheap....like 50 to 75 bucks
It's discontinued but lots around....after you have used it you will know what you want

For smaller get a becker bk-16....just about perfect for a small fixed..70 bucks

As mentioned don't drop a lot of money right away and you can easily sell them used on the forums for 3/4 to 2/3 of what you paid later......but you won't as they are great users
 
What about the Esee 6 reviews led you to feel it isn't the knife for you? That information will help us tailor recommendations to your wants/needs (as opposed to a bunch of people just telling you what they like)
 
Kootaga13 said:
Let me be the first to say hello and get prepared for a plethora of answers. If 50 people answer, you'll prolly get at least 20 to 25 different types of knives to choose from. Do you want carbon steel? Do you want stainless? 4 inch blade? Or one that will do food prep as well as fire wood? Take everything with a grain of salt and take your time. You can also use the search function here.
Click to expand...
This.

The ONLY way to learn what you want is by using them. Buy cheaper versions and test out designs, as well as borrow when you can. You can research till you are blue in the face but nothing beats learning what you like and dislike from experience.

Good luck! Companies like Buck/Morakniv have great inexpensive knives in different styles that would help you learn what you like before dropping a ton of money.
 
If you want a real nice "surival" knife, check the knife manufacturers subforum here on blade forums.
Can find something truly special for sure in there for that under $300 sweet spot.
 
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A couple of other details that will help folks here point you in the right direction. What size are your hands? What climate/vegetation/geographical area are you in? What sort of "survival" are you doing? What activity are you going to be doing where you'll carry this knife? A survival knife to a thru-hiker is very different to that of an off-track private land adventure, or a full on jungle exploration. How are you with sharpening? do you prefer gear that is set and forget, or are you happy to maintain stuff?

I'd say spend 300$ on as many knives as you can, buy used ones off the exchange, and see what works for you, a knife is more than the sum of its parts, but its no good spending 300$ on a knife to find that the handle, sheath, or some other "minor" factor isn't what you like.
 
Then.....I'd say welcome to the journey. Some people, err, knife nuts, (I'm one of them) may spend a few years buying and selling knives here on the forums in search of that one knife. When you finally find it, you'll know.

All good advice here since nobody said, well, I been using a blah, blah, blah, for years and......

As someone said, what are you going to be doing the most of?

Let the journey/search begin. :)
 
Another great deal, on Kabar's website last I checked, you could still get a limited "Moses" bowie + a bk5 Magnum Camp + a small Snody Snake charmer for $200 dollars.

I can say 1st hand the bk5 is a great all around knife. On the big side, it slices well and can chop as needed.
The Moses is a larger "true chopper", and the snody is a much smaller knife geared for those finer tasks. Between all 3 you will have all of your knife related "survival needs" covered.
*If I didn't already own 2 bk5's I'd be all over that.
 
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Two of my favorite woods knives are the LT Wright GNS Scandi and the Bark River Aurora. Becker (K Bar) also makes good knives.

I will agree with what most have said about trying a less expensive knife first. Moras are a good place to start, and the Condor Bushlore is an excellent knife.
 
There are tons of survival knives under 300. Check out the knife maker for sale area for fixed blades. Sometimes you can find a maker and have them make a custom for you, or buy what they have made. There are also tons of custom makers outside the forum too. I just got a Z-Finit survival knife that is amazing for 300, love it. Extremely stainless and very very tough!! CPM 3V is my favorite steel for survival knives, works great for all sizes and lots of makers use it. Another route you could go, if you want two knives of different sizes, say one 4-6 inch, then a chopper. You could buy two Esee knives, or Ontario, etc. for 300ish.
 
hhmoore said:
What about the Esee 6 reviews led you to feel it isn't the knife for you? That information will help us tailor recommendations to your wants/needs (as opposed to a bunch of people just telling you what they like)
Click to expand...

The profile if the scales was one issue but the big nail in the coffin was how the coating on the blade affects how it cuts. I had been concerned about that and several reviews backed up my fears.
 
Great big knifes made for chopping are often advertised as 'survival' knives, but an ax will do a better job. A Mora is probably all you need. Fallkniven F1 is designed for survival duties and is much more robust than a Mora. Anything in-between would do.
 
TheRiggins said:
The profile if the scales was one issue but the big nail in the coffin was how the coating on the blade affects how it cuts. I had been concerned about that and several reviews backed up my fears.
Click to expand...

I don't know that there is anything all that special about ESEE's coating that would make it any different from any other coated blade using a paint/epoxy/cerecote type finish. There might be a matter of degrees but any coated blade will act a little differently than a non-coated one ( anodizing or other very thin coatings like some of the teflon, or dlc type might not make as much a difference, or even be better than bare steel in some cases) But this is a data point, lots of coated carbon steel knives out there, so maybe you should look towards stainless, or try a few coated knives and see if it matters. You would be shocked at how many people get upset when their survival knife gets a mark or scratch, kinda like 4x4 owners who won't go down a trail because its narrow and muddy.
 
It really depends on what you're going to do with it.
Regarding the Esee (not trying to talk you into it) - the handles are easily shaped with a half round file, or replaced with more comfortably shaped scales (TKC). The coating minimizes maintenance; but can be smoothed or removed.
There are lots of options in that size/price range - both manufactured and custom.
Bark River 1.25 or 1.25 LT (I sold my 1.25 as soon as the LT came available)
Bradford Guardian (pick your size, I have the G4 in 3V)
I still love my "BK12" (Ritter Perseverance - a KW exclusive) - it's coated; but, again, that's easily changed)
They're tough to come by right now, but Carothers Performance Knives (CPK) Field Knife.... or, watch for the "not a survival knife" that will be coming available soon. (You just missed the pre-order - I didn't check the price, it might be a little over your range)
For conventional knife duties - one word - Malanika (one of our makers).
There are, of course, many more.

These days, I'm less a proponent of the one knife for everything approach. I prefer to carry 2; but I'm not doing serious distance where I an extra 1/2 -1 lb makes a difference to me
 
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