Suggestions for SHTF/BUG OUT knives - folder and fixed

Wow... thanks to you all for the suggestions... it will keep me busy for quite a while looking into those.

I should mention that when I said Bug Out, I was thinking of leaving my home in my vehicle, not on foot. I don't think I would last very long on foot. Though I am well armed and love to shoot, I'm not much of an outdoorsman, hunter, or fisherman... and I'm old. Doesn't bode too well for my long term prospects surviving with what I can carry on my back... not compared to some of you anyway.

I do have a decent multi-tool, I think it's a Gerber, don't remember though, as I rarely use it.

I do think having a good fixed blade along with my good quality medium duty folders might be a good thing anyway.

As for a heavy duty folder, the ZT200 sure seems popular and a good choice.
 
Although there are many folders and fixed blades out there that are more than capable of doing whatever you ask of them, I will only mention the knives that I own and have used...

Folder: Spyderco Military, the original, full sized Manix and of course my trusty Large Regular Sebenza. For backup, I also carry the Spyderco SS Cricket SE that, although a very small folder, cuts with the best of them.

Fixed: Swamp Rat Camp Tramp, Becker BK7(tough as nails:cool:), and a Cold Steel Mini-Bushman that rides in my toolbox.

Multitool: Leatherman SuperTool 200 and SuperTool 300....nothing beats a Leatherman on your belt, IMHO.
 
One could add a Scrapyard knife or a Swamprat knife to the fixed blade category. While the ESEE-5 would be great, you could get by with an ESEE-4 or even a -3 and still be fine. The -5 is thick and stout ... might not need that much mass.

On the custom side, take a look at Fletcher, Horton, or Fiddleback. They make excellent fixed-blade knives and they're not that expensive.
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I pretty much agree with Old Physics here. I'd like to add Koster's "Bushmaster" in 3V. It's my choice for your application. 3V is great stuff, sharpens well, holds an edge and is very tough. Of course Mr. Koster is very talented and makes great knives for excellent prices for what you are getting.

The folder would be something smaller that would be able to make the fine cuts as you won't need a tank when you have your fixed blade for those jobs. Pick whatever folder you like and can sharpen well that is good quality.

Joe
 
The 2 items that I would take in an emergency (since I have 'em with me anyhow) is a ZT 0200 and a Leatherman Wave. I also have one of my Leatherman Supertool 300 in my CERT bag.
 
ZDHart said:
I'm not interested in pretty, fancy, uber expensive knives, I'm only interested in knives that can do the job, keep a good edge, and stand up to tough, rough duty
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As an expat in Asia during multiple typhoons and a few major earthquakes, the traditional ($5) Filipino "bolo" made out of truck springs worked just fine and was/is truly indestructible. I've acquired some fairly inexpensive machete's at hardware stores here in the U.S. that have worked very well cleaning up after hurricanes that I've contended with in Florida.

There are so many good heavy-duty folders that it's more a matter of personal taste, lock preference, and such. To suggest one would merely upset fans of a competing brand. 20 minutes of surfing this site will turn up all the usual suspects in terms of brand/models.
 
It sounds like if I got a good, stout fixed blade, that I would probably be ok with just my medium duty knives (Griptillian, Persistence, Delica, Sage, UKPK, etc.) for lesser duties.

Or perhaps I should get a fixed blade and just add a JYD or Tenacious as a lower-cost, larger size folder that's larger and beefier than my nicer, smaller medium-duty folders?

Do you folks think the JYD might be a reasonably good alternative to the costlier ZT200?

Would it be advisable to get a combi-edge on that fixed blade to help with cutting rope and such materials?
 
BluesStringer said:
A heavy-duty folder is at least one of those things, namely, heavy.
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stabman said:
Not really. Not really at all.
Practically none of them weigh more than a half a pound.
Most weigh less.
Not heavy.
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I thought it might go without saying that I was talking about as folders go, a heavy duty one will be much heavier than a light duty folder. My point wasn't purely about weight, but about weight balanced against survival needs, reliability and usefulness. A half pound folder weighs no more than a half pound fixed blade, but the type of use you can get out of the fixed is much more conducive to survival types of duty than any of the heaviest-duty folders made. Why carry a half pound around that has a built-in weak point under heavy use when you can carry a half pound that has no built-in weaknesses when used for its intended purposes?

But hey, carry anything you want. And the OP says he's going to survive in his car if/when the time comes anyway. I'm fairly old too, had major back surgery in my day and have all the aches and pains common to surviving long enough to start feeling them. It just never occurred to me that I could predetermine what kinds of events might lead to me having to struggle to survive, and I don't limit my preparations for such events to only those that will allow me to continue using my car. But to each his own. Best of luck.

Blues
 
Blues... yeah, I definitely see the point of a half pound fixed offering more performance than a half pound folder.

As for bug out with the car vs. foot. I'll take the car first, if it seems to make sense and is possible. Certainly before heading out to the great unknown on foot. But the prospects of long term survival with just what you can carry on foot are fairly grim for most of us who aren't seriously trained and prepared, hard core survivalists.

Few of us in society have given much, if ANY thought to what we might have to deal with in a major breakdown of civil society, emergency, natural disaster, terrorist attack, societal break down, financial melt-down, etc. And none of us knows for sure what we might actually face. Nor are most of us adequately outfitted, trained, and skilled to survive potential scenarios that are truly difficult.

The events in Japan show us that what we might have viewed as unthinkable a little more than a week ago, actually is not necessarily unthinkable and can well happen when we least expect it.

I'm at least trying to prepare for mild to moderately difficult circumstances. Preparing for and being up to the challenges of the most difficult circumstances one might face is, frankly, beyond me and probably far beyond a huge majority of our society.

Most people aren't even adequately prepared for a week long loss of power and water while staying at home, much less bugging out via vehicle or on foot in the event of a catastrophic disastrous event.

If I find myself away from home in vehicle or on foot, I'd like to have access to a knife which offers a lot more strength and utility than my Delica or other medium to light duty knives that I have. That's my reason for starting the thread.
 
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I'd submit a ZT folder (pick your poison bud) or maybe a Pohl Force, as well as an ESEE of choice (I'd say the 6, but it's your kit). You could also get a Becker BK2 or BK7, or if you want to really up the price point (but also the quality) you could get a BK77 :cool:
 
A JYD II would be an excellent folder, but i ma not sure it has the same lever of raw toughness that the ZT does. I own both, and i must say that the 0200 just is much more impressive.
 
ZDHart said:
Blues... yeah, I definitely see the point of a half pound fixed offering more performance than a half pound folder.

As for bug out with the car vs. foot. I'll take the car first, if it seems to make sense and is possible. Certainly before heading out to the great unknown on foot. But the prospects of long term survival with just what you can carry on foot are fairly grim for most of us who aren't seriously trained and prepared, hard core survivalists.

Few of us in society have given much, if ANY thought to what we might have to deal with in a major breakdown of civil society, emergency, natural disaster, terrorist attack, societal break down, financial melt-down, etc. And none of us knows for sure what we might actually face. Nor are most of us adequately outfitted, trained, and skilled to survive potential scenarios that are truly difficult.

The events in Japan show us that what we might have viewed as unthinkable a little more than a week ago, actually is not necessarily unthinkable and can well happen when we least expect it.

I'm at least trying to prepare for mild to moderately difficult circumstances. Preparing for and being up to the challenges of the most difficult circumstances one might face is, frankly, beyond me and probably far beyond a huge majority of our society.

Most people aren't even adequately prepared for a week long loss of power and water while staying at home, much less bugging out via vehicle or on foot in the event of a catastrophic disastrous event.

If I find myself away from home in vehicle or on foot, I'd like to have access to a knife which offers a lot more strength and utility than my Delica or other medium to light duty knives that I have. That's my reason for starting the thread.
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I understand Mr. Hart. People prepare for what they can reasonably predict happening. Admittedly, my "reasonable" predictions are darker and more catastrophic than most. But then, my preps are better than most too, which increases my survivability in more situations, which seems to me to be the purpose of prepping at all in the first place. I guess the logic can get rather circular, but there it is.

Japan was not the eye-opener for me, Katrina was. I spent more than two weeks down there in the Biloxi area volunteering after the storm. I met every level of prepper imaginable, from the urban guerrilla, doomsday-militia-man types, to the totally unprepared, completely-dependent-on-the-largess-of-others types, and I swore that no matter what happens, I would never fall into the latter category again. Even the most prepared had forgotten something, or didn't foresee something important. I didn't meet a soul down there that wasn't presented with struggles that they thought they were well-prepared to deal with that it turned out they simply weren't. As hard as I try, after such a hard slap-in-the-face of reality as that was, I know that I, too, will not, and cannot, be prepared for every struggle. So I do over-prep, over-train, over-stockpile, over-think and over-analyze. But hey, like I said, I'm getting old too and it gives me something to do that doesn't make me feel like I'm just giving into Father Time. :thumbup:

Sorry if I came on too strong. I hope you never have to implement any preparations for disaster that you plan ahead for. But if you do, I also hope you planned well, and that's all I was trying to make you think about.

Blues
 
Blues... I know you're right that even those who give considerable time to prepping still fall short of some aspect of being prepared. Lately I've just been feeling that we're close to some dire times. I sure hope not. But I'm doing what things I feel I can do to at least be somewhat more prepared for the kind of thing I think may likely happen. And I know that I am far, far from prepared for the most difficult of times. I'm sure I will never be nearly as up to the challenge as many others are, but I am trying to be more than most are, if I can be.

Katrina was a stunning sign of many possible things we may face, and that's aside from hurricane damage. Glad to hear you're getting well squared away! More of us need to be that way.
 
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hands down the ka-bar for a straight knife in bugout. maybe not the absolute strongest but the all around utility is fantastic. i never saw a ka-bar broken in my 4 year service in marines.--dennis
 
Big sturdy knife at decent price, BK-9, one not so big, BK-7.

Moras are good handy knives at a great price.

Folders are handy to have, but need to know their limits.

Big inexpensive,beater, chopper, Cold Steel Khukri Machette, $20, give or take where you look, if you ding it, sharpen it back up and don't feel sad for any scratches or dirt on it, didn't cost to much.

Someone mentioned a crowbar, could be very handy, so could a hatchet or small axe, if you had some serious chopping or splitting to do.
 
OK... I'm considering two very popular fixed blades, the Ka-Bar Becker BK2 @ about $67 and the ESEE 5 @ about $140.

These knives are comparable in blade length and are made of the same steel... so I was surprised to see the ESSE at twice the price. What makes the ESEE priced at $140 vs. the Becker BK2? Do you feel the ESEE 5 offers significantly better performance than the BK2? Worth twice the price?
 
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