Seeking recommendations for survival knife

J

JLKII

Joined
Jun 4, 2009
Messages
123
I am seeking recommendations for a knife to be used as a survival knife, meeting the following specifications

-- 4.5 to 5 inch blade;
-- drop point shape;
-- blade steel to be 154CM, D2, A2, S30V or equivalent;
-- micarta handle;
-- available with plain blade or serrations;
-- price not an object;

What is on the market that meets my specs?

Thanx.

JLK
 
More info needed. The specs you are quoting apply to dozens of knives. Where are you located? What is your skill level? What manufacturers have you looked at and like so far? Do a search for survival knife and you will get hundreds of threads. Personally, I would look at offerings from ESEE (check out the subforum here) because of their solid designs, practical steel choice, excellent customer service and outstanding warranty. If price is not an object, then you could even have a custom knife made. Check out the for sale area as well. Lots of great makers.
 
Yes, where you live, and your skill level would help.

The original settlers and mountain men got by with not much more than a butcher knife. It was their knowledge and not the knife that made the difference.
 
BenchmadeBoy said:
More info needed. The specs you are quoting apply to dozens of knives. Where are you located? What is your skill level? What manufacturers have you looked at and like so far? Do a search for survival knife and you will get hundreds of threads. Personally, I would look at offerings from ESEE (check out the subforum here) because of their solid designs, practical steel choice, excellent customer service and outstanding warranty. If price is not an object, then you could even have a custom knife made. Check out the for sale area as well. Lots of great makers.
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:thumbup: most definately! if price isn't an object, there's no reason to buy off the shelf. have it made to YOUR spec's :)

as for ESEE, i'm diggin mine, but i wasn't going to suggest it because you seem to be stuck on something more stain resistant than 1095 which i can understand.

btw - if i was going to have a bushcraft blade custom made, Justin Gingrich is the first person i'd check with.
 
Survival?
Well, that would depend on where you need to survive. On some places a knife won't be of great help compared with axes or machetes... on the other hand if you just want to go to the woods and play with it or enroll in bushcraft tasks then you might consider many options. For bushcraft there are many options available, other guys here will drop a ton of options :)
For me (and this is me and my skills and hands, ergonomics, etc) if I ever had to use a knife on a survival situation (on the woods) I'd like to have my Mission MPK with me. Why? Because it's the knife that is more comfortable for me, I can cut hundreds of logs for firewood and shelter and still use the serrations for shaving kindling for starting a fire. Survival isn't playing, you won't be carving spoons. For that I have other knives. To make a shelter fast, chop and baton wood, shave kindling and make some basic wooden utensils I like the MPK. But I sincerely I don't want to be on a survival situation, but I do play a lot with it :)
 
The well-proven Fallkniven F1, micarta edition, should please - it's largely inline with your checklist, except that the blade is a bit shorter.

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Fallkniven, Bark River, and ESEE all offer a variety of blades that would fit your specs. Take your pick :)
 
Thanx to all who replied. The Fallkniven F1 might well be what I am looking for.

To those who wanted to know my experience level and location, I am curious as to how those factors would influence a recommendation?
 
If you're buying off the shelf:
Fallkniven F1
Bark River Bravo 1
Fehrman Shadow Scout
Dozier Professional Guides Knife from AG Russell
Entrek Companion
 
JLKII said:
Thanx to all who replied. The Fallkniven F1 might well be what I am looking for.

To those who wanted to know my experience level and location, I am curious as to how those factors would influence a recommendation?
Click to expand...

I'm loving the Fallkniven F1 Micarta (as pictured above) it's beautiful and an excellent fixed blade knife. I wish I could stop choking on the price tags. The ESEE RC-4 is nice but a bit flat handled. If that doesn't bother you the price and warranty can't be beat. :thumbup:
 
JLKII said:
Thanx to all who replied. The Fallkniven F1 might well be what I am looking for.

To those who wanted to know my experience level and location, I am curious as to how those factors would influence a recommendation?
Click to expand...

These factors can influence greatly on a knife.For example, If you live in an area where it's wet and or salty then an un coated high carbon knife may not be for you.If you live in an area of extreme cold then that would be a deciding factor.A knife with a lower RC would be better to deal with the stresses of being worked in deep cold where metals can fracture.
Your skill level also denotes what factors you knife should cover.If your new to the whole bushcraft/survival thing then toughness and durability would be prized quality.A good forgiving knife would be great for when your making feather sticks and you cut to hard and your blade comes loose from the wood and cuts into the ground/ a rock.
Remember there's no perfect knife.Just the knife that's prefect for you.
 
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