Survival Knife: Saw or no Saw?

marcinek said:
To say nothing of the ones designed to cut through plexiglas.

As you and eveled eveled pointed out, a folding saw is lightweight, compact, reasonably priced, and will far outperform a sawback on a knife.
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Heck, for the price of a Jungle King, you cold get a Vic Super Tinker, a Tram 14 inch machete, a Silky PocketBoy folding saw, and Cold Steel SRK AND have about 50 bucks left for survival beer and tactical pizza.
 
IIRC the original saw back on the First Blood knife was added for cinematic effect. They thought that the knife looked more interesting on film that way. It was never really designed as a functional feature.

n2s
 
not2sharp said:
IIRC the original saw back on the First Blood knife was added for cinematic effect. They thought that the knife looked more interesting on film that way. It was never really designed as a functional feature.

n2s
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Mauser pioneer bayonet had one in 1898 before it was cool.
 
marcinek said:
....AND have about 50 bucks left for survival beer and tactical pizza.
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I am always down for a tactical pizza.

n2s
Wurger190 said:
Mauser pioneer bayonet had one in 1898 before it was cool.
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The saw back go back to at least the 1823 Russian pioneer short sword and were common on bayonet and artillery sidearms. But, they were intended as specialized tools to help with battlefield obstacles. They were also much longer.

n2s
 
Apparently a lot of folks can't or don't bother to read.
The double serrations on that Aitor is an excellent saw.
I would rather use the saw than attempt to hack at something and risk separating the blade from the handle.
As some have said, most saws, like the Rambo knife are mostly aesthetic and worthless.
I say saw, if like the double row of serrations Aitor one.
 
eveled said:
No saw on the knife. No matter how good it is, it’s a poor saw. Plus it’s just an accident waiting to happen. I do try to keep an opinel folding saw in my kit.
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But isnt a mediocre saw better than no saw? The one in my Junlge King II is surprisingly good for its size, id rather have it than not have it. Sure, a dedicated folding saw is better, but what if I dont have it and all I have is my survival knife? The company (Aitor) has saws in most of their survival models such as JK and Oso wihte and Black. Im still undecided regarding going with a saw spine or not. They do a good job with thier saws in their knives.
 
FerFAL said:
But isnt a mediocre saw better than no saw? The one in my Junlge King II is surprisingly good for its size, id rather have it than not have it. Sure, a dedicated folding saw is better, but what if I dont have it and all I have is my survival knife? The company (Aitor) has saws in most of their survival models such as JK and Oso wihte and Black. Im still undecided regarding going with a saw spine or not. They do a good job with thier saws in their knives.
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Yes, but you would be happier with the Saw blade on your SAK.

n2s
 
It’s not better if it causes even a minor wound that gets infected. I think the saws are dangerous.
 
No saws for me. I haven't found one that worked well. When I'm in my car I have pioneer tools in the trunk as well as gear for emergencies for the area I'm traveling to. I don't like to compromise with items that I may have to rely on.
 
in our time (ok, close to 40 years ago),
the saw back gained sudden popularity because of the movies.
even though not everyone
would have had a use for a saw;
and yet, fad decided that everyone just
had to have one because it was
the "in" thing or design feature to have.
it reasons that having a saw back
would give the user an additional tool
for use in a survival situation.
it seemed like a great two-in-one (sometimes more) for a "just in case" idea.
that was until, when it turned out that most
saws (or at least the sawteeth design put
on most sawbacks) didn't quite cut it...
as mentioned in a couple of post above,
a saw is most useful in wooded terrain
and little else. and it has to be of a certain
width and length to effectively saw anything.
an axe would be better not that building
log cabins are going to be an everyday
survival priority.
my vote goes to pocket saws rather than
sawback knives. and the multitool sawblade tool for "emergency" survival pocket carry.
one the otherhand, if you're dying on
social media, i have a stange feeling
that the "likes" count could jump or
turn out better if one post pictures of sawback knives :)
alas the true mystical power of the
sawback knife is its uncanny abilitity
to sway and mesmerize public opinion.
 
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Busse has released a Battle Saw that looks fantastic. Also a Swamp Rat with a saw back id like to try.

Im not a huge fan of hollow handle knives these days.

I prefer a chopper and leave the sawing to my Silky Saw Zubat. Light and cuts with aggressive speed.

I also typically have a Leatherman with a small saw.
 
The only knife I've seen with a decent saw on a fixed blade was the SOG Team Leader, but the handle wasn't particularly well shaped for using the knife backwards. I had one, the saw worked fine but yes not being able to apply pressure to the spine is a limitation, its also nasty on sheaths.

You'd be better off looking at saws on folding knives like Schrades 97OT, Mercury and FOX of Italy makes a few and the variety of SAK's
 
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