Mora as main survival knife

The eternal question is to define 'survival'. TEOTWAWKI? Book Of Eli Postnuclear Armageddon? Making a log raft from scratch to escape Gilligan's Island? Or two weeks recreational wilderness bushwhacking, making fires & skinning small game?

I like my Mora Companion, haven't used it a lot so far, but it wouldn't be my choice for a main you-can-only-have-one-blade in any of the above. For rock solid durability probably a Becker BK 2/7/9, for general utility a KaBar 7" USMC, a Mora if the priorities are for what a Mora excels at.
 
Firestrike said:
This is a Mora breaking from abuse,

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EOBot1-lTtw

This should not happen to a knife classified as a "survival knife"

The following is what I feel a true "survival knife" should be capable of,

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fam7_apuOqQ

Cheers
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Respectfully, we are comparing apples and oranges here. One knife is designed for woodcraft and one is designed to replace a truck spring. I would like to see how the monster knife handles repeated, near 90° bends like the Mora was subjected to.
 
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A.P.F. said:
Respectfully, we are comparing apples and oranges here. One knife is designed for woodcraft and one is designed to replace a truck spring. I would like to see how the monster knife handles repeated, near 90° bends like the Mora was subjected to.
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We were talking knives as purely a main survival blade, so apples to apples is justified here.

Also here is a Swamp Rat flexing a whole bunch,

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4oJ7TCHHAFQ
 
My suggestion to the OP is to buy a Mora for $10-$20, and start saving for a higher quality primary blade and to use both in his sytem.
 
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I have a classic #1 and a robust md! I love them both although I usually do all of my cooking with the classic #1. The robust is very solid....
 
I think it's pretty well accepted that the "survival" fantasy should include a knife that will last through considerable punishment and have very little risk of ever failing. So full tang, thick, high quality metal, wide and therefore strong blade, i.e. not a Mora.

For me, if I ever find myself in a true survival situation I would be dead within minutes anyway, so I'd like to spend those last few minutes playing with a knife that feels and looks great, i.e. a Mora :D
 
BRL said:
I think it's pretty well accepted that the "survival" fantasy should include a knife that will last through considerable punishment and have very little risk of ever failing. So full tang, thick, high quality metal, wide and therefore strong blade, i.e. not a Mora.

For me, if I ever find myself in a true survival situation I would be dead within minutes anyway, so I'd like to spend those last few minutes playing with a knife that feels and looks great, i.e. a Mora :D
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LMAO - Good one!
 
Firestrike said:
This is a Mora breaking from abuse,

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EOBot1-lTtw

This should not happen to a knife classified as a "survival knife"

The following is what I feel a true "survival knife" should be capable of,

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fam7_apuOqQ

Cheers
Click to expand...

You know, I've camped quite a lot in my life, and have never needed to use a knife in the way that Mora was used. I admit that I don't understand people who do their best to destroy a knife, and then hold up that completely unrealistic, ridiculous test as some sort of comment on the knife's quality. "See? I jammed this knife into this giant stump and am trying to snap the blade sideways, and it of course snapped, so it's worthless as a survival knife!"

The logic here is poor. I just can't respect needless, pointless abuse. And let's be candid, there aren't any "survival" situations where a knife would need to be able to do that. Well hey, if anyone can refute that, please feel free. I'd love to know what sort of situation would have to arise to result in you needing to abuse a knife that badly.
 
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I'm thinking the knife you have with you will be the 'survival knife'. It will probably be a Victorinox SAK or, at best, a Leatherman for me. More than likely, should a survival situation arise, like a plane crash, no knife will be available and the greedy thief-gimp TSA worker has already stolen my big useful blade beasty from my checked luggage. Then my most effective survival tool will be the flawed grey sack of protein jelly inside my skull.
 
Yeah, I don't plan on doing that with my knife and I don't foresee needing to baton through a metal bar Besides, I'd rather buy a couple moras and have that extra $100+ for other supplies if I'm going to spend that much on survival shit anyway.
 
What we got here is a failure to communicate.
Firestrike, destruction tests are exactly that, destructive. Proving that a swamp rat can take more obscene abuse than a mora proves exactly what was tested, that it can take more abuse. I have no plans to ever own a safe queen, but I don't abuse my tools either.

If I was stupid enough to try to use a sledge hammer to drive a knife through steel box tubing lengthwise, well, I'd expect it to fail.
If I need a knife to cut materials softer than steel, well, I expect it to cut them.

If I need a knife to survive, I'm not going to see how long I can support the weight of my truck on it stuck end out in a telephone pole.

I think you're either trolling, or stupid, take yer pick.

C
 
In my breakout bag I have several knives, including Mora's "Swedish Fire Knife", which has a fire steel in the pommel.
 
Mora Classic one - used by the instructors at Boulder Outdoor Survival School, and they sell and recommend a Tri-Flex for their students. For the type of work,training and survival they do, the Mora is the most appropriate fit and covers all their needs. When I went on the 7 day course I took a Damon Lusky 01 bushrcraft which I found to be too thick of a blade.

I think the Mora Classic 1 is very suitable provided you have some training and skills and practice.
 
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Always get a kick out of people claiming a *survival* knife needs to be some thick destruction proof knife. Sort of discounts all the knives used by mountain men and voyageurs.
 
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BRL said:
I think it's pretty well accepted that the "survival" fantasy should include a knife that will last through considerable punishment and have very little risk of ever failing. So full tang, thick, high quality metal, wide and therefore strong blade, i.e. not a Mora.

For me, if I ever find myself in a true survival situation I would be dead within minutes anyway, so I'd like to spend those last few minutes playing with a knife that feels and looks great, i.e. a Mora :D
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I'd probably be dead in two weeks. But this survival thing is mostly a fantasy that we folks that like knives play. My survival knife is the one I have with me when the "event" happens. That most likely would be a Victorinox SAK and perhaps a second slip joint folder that I carry fairly often (GEC #42 Missouri Trapper 2 blade).

But if I were consciously heading into a survival situation because the sitution forced me to leave my home where I maintain at least a 30-day supply of food and all the tools one is likely to need to survive. I would take two knives, or if in a vehicle three plus an axe or dependable machete that I use a lot. A Mora would not be my choice in this situation unless it was some sort of backup and it would be a good choice for that as other people may just need a blade too.

So, for normal kinds of planning and hiking situations, the Mora should work just fine. But I would probably choose something a bit heavier duty. I'm eyeing up a Blackjack Companion real hard. New knives come out every year and then it's I want this one over that one... Today, I would probably grab my Blackjack 125, Kabar Becker BK-16, or Dozier Wilderness or Wilderness Guides knife for woods duty (because I can depend on these) and have a SAK along with me for the less riguorous cutting tasks which are most of them. I don't want a huge knife with me unless it's a machete. Choosing is always such a dilema.

The destruction tests are just that.... abuse a knife until it fails. Other than breaking the tip, I have never had a knife fail, even a Mora.
 
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The Moras are popular knives at many of the survival/bushcraft schools. I think that says a lot.

I can see where one person's definition of a survival knife might be different than another's and that is completely understandable. In a jungle environment I'd probably go for a machete and in a temperate forest, maybe an axe. It's just too hard to say only one knife is the best. I see the value in both the big heavy duty chopper knives (like Busse) AND the smallest Moras. No one is really wrong here.
 
Never know when there's going to be a nuke when your camping... Main reason why I carry a Busse, it's nuke proof :p
 
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