Survival knife

T

three_grams

Joined
Apr 17, 2002
Messages
9
What's a good one to use for typical survival tasks, fieldcraft. Not emphasizing self-defense but not excluding it.

Blade length?
Weight?

Also something to sharpen it with.

Thus far, my gear includes:
Gerber Axe, it is the one with 16" handle
E-tool
Benchmade, a folding knife with 3.5" blade.
 
I didn't recieve it yet, but I'm getting a busse steel heart E for excactly that reason. From what I've read it is an excellent choice.

I'm too lazy to make my own 5160 or 52100 bowie.. besides I'd like to give that infi a try.

Soo my vote goes to Busse steel hear E :D

Greetz and take care, Bart.
 
Thanks for sharing that. These are nice indeed.

I am interested in a 6" blade or slightly shorter, under 1 pound.
 
production knives: Cold Steel SRK, Becker Companion, Fallkniven S1, Benchmade Nimramvus, Busse 5 or 6 inch models.


Get a Eze-lap double sided diamond coated folding stone to sharpen stuff or buy a Meyerco SHARPEN-IT.
 
Bart,
Don't write off making your own. As frustrating as it is, it is also really rewarding to get the exact knife you want. 5160 is relatively easy to work and can be found for cheap (about $1 a pound) at your local automotive spring shop.
All you really need are files, a BarBQ grill, and a lot of patience.
If that's not your deal, check out the Fallkniven A1 for a bigger knife and the S1 or F1 for something more compact. Their knives are really hard to beat for serious outdoor work.
Doc
 
Ask me in a week or so. I have a 3/16” thick Busse LE Satin Jack on the way. It's not as much of a chopper as the standard Busse knives, but that shouldn't be an issue to you with your Gerber axe. You'll more likely want a medium sized, very efficient cutter; an all-around camp knife.

If the Busse price tag is too high for your wallet, I’d take a close looking at Marbles. I personally think that they provide the best “bang for the buck” in camp knives. The steel is TOUGH, the blades are sharp, and field sharpening is a breeze.
 
'Hi folks

recondoc, I am not writing off making my own.. in fact I plan to do it much more.
I got my stuff together, you could say I'm a hobbyist knifemaker.

khukri.jpg


I made that khukri.. and sold it too.. still regret that. that was an wasome chopper.. really great. I also made the sheath.

greetz and take care, Bart.
 
Thanks. Of the several ones I looked at, Cold Steel SRK seems like it fits my criteria. But I will look at others, too.
 
I think for pure survival, the machete is hard to beat.
If you go to nearly any third-world country with primitive people, still surviving in the wilds, you'll find that they use the machete (although it might be called a golok, bush-knife, bolo, ect.).

Good luck,
Allen.
 
Three grams,you should really take a look at Newt Livesays Air assault,its blade is just about 6 inches long.Its handle is just perfect.And I believe Newt has them on sale for a 100 bucks.
 
For me, one of the key criteria was what knives would I be likely to carry. Right now I have decided on a fixed blade KA-BAR Impact Series Spear Point and a Camillus EDC folder. When hiking I try to carry both in separate nylon sheaths. I have some cheaper backups that I am also using when I have to fly some place and will do hiking while away. Again, one fixed blade and one folder.
 
Yo, Three...my pick would be a Busse Battle Mistress...if it came down to actual survival, this is the blade I would want by my side.

Don Adelfson
Oceanside, CA
 
If you have equipped yourself with axe for chopping (probably prying and pounding) and with folding knife for cutting – excuse me please but I really do not know what do you need so-called survival knife - slightly sharpened prybar for...

Want fixed blade? You are right, in wild environment it will serve better than folder. But save your effort and get the lightest possible. Believe me – in wilderness you will have to carry a lot of much more useful things than sharpened prybars.

In my humble opinion SPYDERCO Bill Moran Featherweight would be just right to complete your equipment. Want a bit longer blade? Get their new Fred Perrin fixed blade. At least 3/4 (if not more) of your cutting tasks in wilderness will be food preparing and these light neat flat ground fixed blades will serve you much better than all previously mentioned “cool stuff”.

Support it with DMT Double Sided Diafold for sharpening (coarse side for axe and fine – for knife) and I’ll be heavily surprised if you will not be satisfied with such set’s real-life performance.

Just edited to add – a long, thick and heavy blade suitable for efficient chopping has quite limited capability to perform precise cutting tasks. More, it can be pretty cumbersome and tiring when doing somewhat asides chopping, pounding and demolishing.
If you doubt this – borrow 6-plus inch long and 1/4-inch thick blade from someone and try to peel some pounds of potatoes or converse to eatable form hunted hare or caught fish.

And welcome to the Forums! :)
 
In Mors Kochanski's Bushcraft book, he advocates the use of a bush axe (axe that with the handle end tucked in your armpit, you should be able to curl your fingers around the axe head) and a bush knife. The knife he uses is the plain old carbon steel Mora blade. I think they go for something like $12 Canadian. Maybe a bit more.

Big knives are cool, so are axes, so are machetes, etc. You have to pick what you feel comfortable with, and what will get the job done. I used to be a big knife guy, but the more I read the more I am convinced that an axe combined with a blade meant for slicing (over prying) is an unbeatable combo. Of course, field testing is in order. Too bad there aren't many trees around here!
 
I think that a lot of this has to do with geography. A machete might be a great thing in South America, but I’m not too sure how useful it would be in the forests of northern North America or Canada. I spend a lot of time in the Adirondacks, and I’ve never seen a local using a machete, or a very large knife for that matter. They pretty much use an axe or hatchet for chopping, coupled with a small to medium sized fixed blade for normal cutting chores. It’s a very versatile setup.

As you already have an axe and good-sized folder, you might be pretty well set. I personally prefer the axe, small to medium sized fixed blade, and small slipjoint. I sometimes carry a medium-sized folder for a convenient backup to the fixed blade. The fixed blade ends up doing 90% of the work, so a backup is important to me.

I don’t carry a whole lot for sharpening. I use one of those little folding DMTs for the folder and slipjoint, and usually just a strop for the Marbles fixed blade. I’ve always saved axe sharpening for when I get home, which I should probably rectify.

I should stress that my axe carry is only on weeklong trips. Shorter trips usually don’t merit the extra weight of an axe or hatchet, since my shelters are not nearly so permanent. I just upsize my fixed blade a hair on short trips, and add a folding saw. A folding saw can work miracles when you only have to cut down trees and branches that are a few inches thick.
 
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