It could be your interest is collecting rather than use... but for use:
We have always carried a hefty fixed blade, often by Camilus... until recently and now we carry a hefty Cold Steel Tanto. We also carry a stout hickory handle 3/4 axe like a small firemans axe with the piercing spike. The handle wrapped the entire length with tight paracord and we spray the handle with rubber cement first. The paracord is to give a better grip in case of wetness or oil, etc.
Dad was head of the local Civil Air Patroll for years and those few times that a plane went down, it was frequent that the plane had to be entered "the hard way" through the fuselage or windows which are heavy plexiglass. The Camilus Naval Pilot Survival Knife was made to cut through the aluminum skin of the plane, with it's short stout blade, but in practice, time may be of the essence and a small axe and spike are many times faster and more efficient.
I remember one time hearing about TWO fellows working as fast as they could with full size fire axes to get a pilot out of a smoke filled cabin.
Also, it is usual to be able to find a decent place to land in an emergency, but when there is no place to land, it may be a case of landing in trees or rocks, either of which may twist up the plane.
And in the woods it's hard to beat a 3/4 axe and the spike is good for digging out tinder from a rotted log. I hope that may help some.
By the way, if this is about actual aviation survival. We feel it's very important to carry about 100' of stout braided nylon line in case the plane lands in trees the feeling is that we could loop the rope over a limb or piece of the plane and let ourselves down to the ground and then pull the rope down after us to be used for other things.
