Survival Knife Suggestions

B

bigfoot815

Joined
Jun 22, 2011
Messages
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I am looking for a good survival knife, but dont know where to look. I have looked at some options, like the Ka Bar Becker Companion and the Gerber LMF II,but im not sure if they are good for my "style".

Im looking for a knife that is good at chopping; able to chop down good sized branches for building shelter. Needs to be a fixed balde with a full tang. Also it needs to be able to hold an edge well. Another thing Im looking for is the sharpness and blade style to be able to skin animals if needed, ranging from a squirrel to maybe, a raccoon. Price range is about $100-$200.

I have a Ka-Bar full size tanto, and love it, but i dont feel like I would use it in a survival situation. Its a little big and might have trouble skinning smaller animals like squirrels.
 
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Bark River Bravo 1

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Finding a knife that is "good" at chopping, and one that will process squirrels is a bit tough, because that leaves you stuck in the middle, with a knife that is good at neither, and ok at both.

That said, I'd go with a BK9 for the big work, and get a BK13 "remora" and stick it in the spot in the BK9 sheath that is ALREADY there for it, and then have your cake and eat it too. It carries like just the BK9, and you have a small blade for everything else.

If that doesn't work, then the BK2 is the one "Do everything" knife that should do both jobs decently. I have one, and love it, but for chopping and fast shelter building, I'd take my 9 over it any day. The 2 will for sure do it though. It just takes about twice as much work (chopping anyway) as my BK9 for the larger stuff.

Other options are the ESEE 6, ESEE 4, Ritter MK II (Becker BK12), Becker BK7 (and grind a choil on it).

Also... Welcome to Bladeforums :).
 
I'd look at a BRKT Bravo-2 for the large knife and handle the small game with a slipjoint trapper.
 
So my question is what makes a knife a "Survival" knife. To me that seems like marketing hype more then anything. Any knife will cut limbs and skin animals. It's the skill of the user that's really important. IMHO
 
I think the BK7 would work pretty well for what you described,so would the 5 as mentioned.
 
Look at a custom.Bruce Culberson made me one exactly like you are talking about for just over what you want to spend.Also a little more look at daniel Fairly.he made me the .36 bigcountry survival knife.Other choices but a lot more expensive are scott Gossman knives or Bill Siegle knives!
 
ocnLogan said:
Finding a knife that is "good" at chopping, and one that will process squirrels is a bit tough, because that leaves you stuck in the middle, with a knife that is good at neither, and ok at both.
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That's a good point and it is even more complicated, since it is not only about blade size, but also about blade thickness. When chopping wood I prefer a much thicker blade than when processing game.

That said, I prefer to take just one blade with me into the woods.
 
Cold steel has some good offerings, but the knife(s) depend on weather you want a "super steel," spear point, bowie or other shape, then if you want to chop, I think it should be different than your smaller knife. Then there’s price too, do you want something to throw in a bag in the back of your car, or will you have it out making the edge all sweet or having it out just because you like it?
I recommend looking at knives on YouTube for a set amount of time before you buy, check out the reviews, you may find that you can’t live without one of these or some other custom:
http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/s...-Wheeler-Prototype-Fighter.-quot-Oh-YEA-quot-......
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(Picture originally posted by Nick Wheeler)
 
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Trail Edge said:
Cold steel has some good offerings, but the knife(s) depend on weather you want a "super steel," spear point, bowie or other shape, then if you want to chop, I think it should be different than your smaller knife. Then there’s price too, do you want something to throw in a bag in the back of your car, or will you have it out making the edge all sweet or having it out just because you like it?
I recommend looking at knives on YouTube for a set amount of time before you buy, check out the reviews, you may find that you can’t live without one of these or some other custom:
http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/s...-Wheeler-Prototype-Fighter.-quot-Oh-YEA-quot-......
standard.jpg

(Picture originally posted by Nick Wheeler)
Click to expand...

That is an exceptional fighter design. What part of a fighter blade makes them good for outdoors survival applications?

Did YouTube tell you that knives balanced as a fighter are good for chopping?
 
CWL said:
That is an exceptional fighter design. What part of a fighter blade makes them good for outdoors survival applications?

Did YouTube tell you that knives balanced as a fighter are good for chopping?
Click to expand...

If your trying to grease a monkey, you don't gotta' pump it so hard, Jk

I was trying to talk up customs, besides I own my own tools for a reason, one of which is so that I don’t get guys trying to tell me what to do.
 
If my survival depended on cutting branches for shelter and skinning squirrels, first thing I would want on me is a SAK Farmer. It does both very well. And its light enough to not interfere with mobility...allowing one to get the heck out of Didge and back to civilization.

Now...if one is deliberately going out to practice survival....it really doesn't matter which knife one brings, in my opinion. You want to test your skiils? Bring a Vic Classic. A box cutter. No knife at all! Now there's "practice."

Bottom line...I'm with panzertroop. I don't know what "survival" means anymore (other than sales). Possibly, bigfoot, is you tell us in more detail what it means to you, we can be more helpful.
 
Trail Edge said:
If your trying to grease a monkey, you don't gotta' pump it so hard, Jk

I was trying to talk up customs, besides I own my own tools for a reason, one of which is so that I don’t get guys trying to tell me what to do.
Click to expand...

Darn right! Wait....what?
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