Medium to large knife for a member of Search and Rescue (under $75)

I have been involved in CAP Emergency Services for several years. I have a good deal of SAR experince, most of it urban, I also have a good bit a field training under my belt. I carried the USAF survival knife for a few years, it is not well suited to this type of work. Not only is quality on most of them fairly poor, but the design is not that great.
I also have an Ontario SP-3, it's not great for this stuff either, but I have used it to cut small trees down. They're useful for shelters and improvised stretchers
I now have a CS SRK, it seems to be a pretty functional knife.
It's probably because most of my experince is in urban SAR(mostly bug hunts) that I've never used my knives for much on missions. I use the hell out of them on training exercises, though

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Joshua, aka Feneris,'Destroyer of Whisky' of the Terrible Ironic Horde
But doom'd and devoted by vassal and lord.
MacGregor has still both his heart and his sword!
-MacGregor's Gathering, Sir Walter Scott

[This message has been edited by Feneris (edited 05-17-2000).]
 
For a general utility sheath knife I'd pick a Buck Vanguard or a Cold Steel Master Hunter. I'd supplement this with a multitool.
 
I was originally going to pass on this question because it was limited to a class I don't care for.

But now that it is opened up....

Victorix Swiss Tool, $60 through www.campor.com. This is the best of the multi-tools in my opinion, and my girlfriend loves hers, not because I like it, she is quick to disagree about things she likes. It is safe, convenient, if you like Greg I could give you links to threads that cover the advantages of this ulti-tool, one is in Reviews, the other in General.

Or a Victorinox Swiss Army knife, like has been suggested.

Another vote for the Frosts, I have two of the synthetic handled ones, and they really do the trick.

If I was going to buy this, say it was my sister, I would go with the Swis Tool or a SAK depending on what I figured she would be more comfortable with. I would stress all the capabilities of the Victorinox, accenting the help she could be to those she is searching for. It may not be as viscerally satisfying.

And like was mentioned, a good flint rod and some training with it. The Searcher can become the Lost.

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Thank you,
Marion David Poff aka Eye, Cd'A ID, USA mdpoff@hotmail.com

My Talonite Resource Page, nearly exhaustive!!
My Fire Page, artificial flint and index of information.

"Many are blinded by name and reputation, few see the truth" Lao Tzu
 
Just wanted to repeat my previous suggestion for the Scandinavian knife (Helle, Frost of Sweden, etc.) with the caveat that you get a model with a guard. I was just handling my Helle Viking and noticed that there was no guard, which I thought might be a safety factor that someone without experience with such things might find comforting.

Fallkniven is a great knife, and many kudos to Normark for his offer. My personal favorite Fallkniven is the S1... A1's too big, F1 is too small, S1 is just right
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A 17 yo female might find the F1 just right, though.

As for the SAK, I like the Wenger Mountaineer better than the Victorinox Rucksack, but they're basically the same knife with a different blade style from different companies.

Let us know what you decide. If nothing else, it's fun to talk about spending someone else's money for a change.
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-Kevin
"Oderint dum metuant"
Riddler, Hoodlum, Bon Vivant.
 
Because of the limited budget, go for the Frosts of Sweden knife with the guard (I'd choose the yellow one for visibility) approx $15 online and then I'd get a multi-tool of some sort....maybe a Leatherman PST II (approx $50 online)

This would set her up well....and if she lost the Frosts, big deal.....

My two cents.
 
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