Opinions on Blade Widths for Survival Knifes?

[Tallahassee]

Since "survival" is an entirely meaningless term....you can call your knives whatever you want. Heck...you said your "survival" knife is your "EDC belt knife when I'm hunting, camping and on my exploring adventures." That doesn't sound like "survival" to me...it sounds like common outdoor recreation.

But if you want to call it (and the knife you use for it) "survival"....then call it that! It's your knife....it's your weekend! :thumbup: Call it "extreme survival" or "minimal bushcraft" or whatever makes you feel best. It's all fine. Have fun!

You can do whatever you want with words that don't mean anything.

+1. There's no one indispensable Grail knife, 'survival' or otherwise. There are very few outdoors situations that you can't manage with a good SAK (SwissChamp) plus a 7", 10 oz KaBar classic USMC (kraton handle preferably) or an Ontario SP1.

Or a Mora, or a BK7, or an Old Hickory, or, heresy, whatever used full tang kitchen knife you find at a thrift store. They will all work. Have fun.

 

[Tallahassee]

Tapatalk dupe post.

 

[stabman]

- Thick knives are a marketing ploy aimed at insecure men in their 20's, who are brainwashed into thinking this is the ultimate unbrekable knife!

Well, this is good and bad news:
-The good news is that I just got a decade younger (in my 20's instead of 37 )
-The bad news is that I am apparently insecure.

(the OP is a doctor, so he must be correct...)

 

[not2sharp]

I don't want to just survive, I want to thrive. When they finally find me I will be lounging in the five star resort that I just assembled from local materials. Survival is ultimately a sloppy mindset where you focus on that minimal effort which may get you through a short stay. It is fun to think about, but if you are that close to rescue you may be better off either just doing nothing and resting in place or hiking it out of there. Working with unfamiliar tools in an unfamiliar environment, when you are tired and have just been through some sort of traumatic experience, is a good way to get yourself injured. Generally skinning, fishing and hunting are not needed, your body's natural reserves are enough to get you by for a couple of weeks. Water and warmth are always needed, but if you are going to expend a huge amount of energy to obtain either, you may be better off to do without for a few hours, until a rescue party can get to you.

n2s

 

[Tallahassee]

OTOH, most of us are not Alaskan bush pilots with a plausible possibility of being suddenly on our own in unfamiliar forest, or smoke jumpers, or Lewis & Clark. Most modern First World emergencies nowadays are urban and not immediately improved by having a sharp piece of metal in your hand. Even if your commercial airliner crashes in the Andes and you survive, TSA won't have allowed your Dream Knife in your carryon bag. (Tastes just like chicken). Preparedness is great, although IMO many of the Bugout Bag Boys are training for the wrong Weekend Special Olympics.

If/when anything crashes our fragile civilized infrastructure -- grid collapse, solar disruption, Zimbabwean economic collapse , accidental or deliberate EMP, sudden arrival of Martian Tripods-- it will definitely postpone the inevitable if you have already acquired some good knives, good fire starters, outdoorsy skills, and some past recreational practice on how to use them.
So we've got THAT going for us, which is nice.