Survival Knife

M

MrPoliwog

Joined
Jul 12, 2008
Messages
2
Hi All, I am new to this site and have so far found it very informative.
So now i am going to draw on all your expertise and practical experience in advising me on the best Survival Knife on the market.
I have a small collection of tactical folders but now i am looking to expand to the larger fixed blades and give them some proper outdoor usage.
The Problem is i dont know much about survival/outdoor knives.
I have no strict budget, but value for money is a factor ,i dont mind spending hundreds of $'s if the knife is a great performer on the other hand if there is one at 20$ witch is great then that will also be ok, what i am tryin to say is that the performance is the most important feature :D, Thx all in advance and i will consider all recommendations;).
 
Hi MrPoliwog welcome to the forums it is a great place to learn and share info on knives and survival. As to the best survival knife it will be the one you choose for your self. E-mail me at the E-mail address below and maybe I could make you up one that you would like. You can check out my work and what my knives look like at the Myspace site below too.

The Myspace pictures were done by are very own Bear the dog who is now going to Peru with the Jeff Randle and the Rat Team to do jungle survival.
Bear is taking several knives with him, on what bear thought would be
good for survival. One of the knives is called the Kat knife, it was designed
By my wife Kathy for a alround good knife which I made for her and bear thought he would like one, to take to the Amazon jungle in Peru.

There are a lot of talented makers here on the forums to. So look around
the forums and see what there is to offer for the best survival knife for you.


Bryan
 
MrPoliwog said:
The Problem is i dont know much about survival/outdoor knive.
Click to expand...

Welcome to the forums MrPoliwog!

Your statement there about not knowing much about survival/outdoor knives is an important one. First off, in my opinion, you've come to the right place. :thumbup:

Second, and more importantly, what you're going to find here is that people have very different opinions about what's the "best" survival knife. Unfortunately, knives are one of those things where at some point you reach a level of VERY well performing knives, but then you find out there are 100 different knives to choose from.

You have such a wide range of options to choose from, from simple, cheap Mora style knives, to $1000 Busse zombie slayer-sized knifes. It will ultimately come down to what you feel most comfortable carrying.

If you were able to say "I want a knife with this criteria" we would point you in the right direction, but just simply "I want a knife" is a little too broad.

I would HIGHLY, HIGHLY recommend getting some cheap knives in various shapes and sizes and seeing what you like. Nothing is more annoying than spending $200 a knife to find out it's just not for you. Now, most knives hold the majority of their value should you want to turn around and resale one, but that's still a hassle and some money loss.

So, here's some of my standard questions I ask people looking for a survival knife, but who don't have a ton of experience in the field:

1) How big a knife (blade length) are you looking to start with? 3"? 4"? 7"? 10"? There are pros and cons to each length of knife. Unfortunately you can really only decide by trying them. You may, however, be able to immediately say you would not want to carry a 10" blade (which would be 16ish" overall).

2) Do you lean towards tactical styled knives, or traditional styled knives? Are you Rambo, or John Wayne?

3) How do you like to carry a fixed blade knife? Strapped high on your belt? Dangling low from your belt? Sideways on your belt? On a pack strap? In the pack?

4) What kind of outdoorsy stuff do you intend this knife for? Car camping? Hiking? Backpacking? Weight becomes a concern here.

5) How accomplished are you with knife maintenance? Rust prevention, sharpening, etc...? We wouldn't want to set you up with a super hard steel that you couldn't sharpen, for example.

6) What else do you carry with you when you go out in the woods? Pocket knife? Swiss Army Knife? Axe? Saw? Nothing? Your fixed blade may become part of an overall kit. If you always carry a Swiss Army Knife, for example, then maybe you can carry a larger fixed blade because you have the Swiss Army Knife for small jobs. If you carry an Axe/Hatchet, maybe you can carry a smaller fixed blade because you won't need to chop with it.

7) What do you want this knife to do for you? Build shelters? Field dress animals? Prepare food? Split wood for a fire? Everything imaginable? :) If you're looking for a special purpose, then there's probably a knife that fits it.

That should get us started. Sorry to bombard you with questions :)
 
i have two suggestions that may fit your need, one is more military the other is more traditional.

first is the Gerber LMF II

31230Gerber_LMF_II.JPG


It is made from 12C27 stainless steel and is a very tough knife. it has a pommel that can break glass and has a hammer face. The handle is very comfortable, and is electrically isolated from the blade. the sheath is nearly indestrucable and has a built it sharpener. it retails from anywhere from $65 on sale, to $85.

The other is the Buck Special 119

Buck_Special.JPG


Its a good sturdy knife that will do most any task you have for a knife. it usually retails for around$50-$60.

I highly recommend either of these. best of luck --- Eric
 
Welcome to the forum. A well made knife such as the Gerber or Buck shown above would work fine. You might also consider a bushcraft knife made my one the many skilled knifemakers on the forum.
 
Welcome to the forum. Hang around and you will learn a lot ( I sure have).
You need to consider
  1. the planned use(s) for the knife
  2. the enviornment(s) in which you will use the knfe
  3. the trade-offs between stainless steel and the high carbon steels that most on this forum prefer
and don't forget your budget.
Be warned, buying one good knife often leads to the purchase of another. It takes a lot of discipline to keep to your budget around here.
 
My advise is to first get some skills and training, If nothing else get a book on survival and try some stuff in your back yard, knowing what to do with the knife is more important than the knife itself.

Next Remember that the best survival knife is the one you have on you when the survival situation begins. that being said, decide how you want to carry it and what you are willing to carry.

Big knives look really cool but present carrrying issues and for many spend more time in the car, camp, or at home than on you in the woods.

Small knives are way easier to carry and will do most of what you want in the woods, but may be lacking for some heavier chores.

Some people also carry a combo, a large knife and a small one or in my case I carry a hatchett and a knife most of the time.



I definitley agree with the idea of picking up a couple of less expensive knives to try out styles

Try: Ka-Bar, Mora, Cold Steel, Ontario. All make inexpensive knives (under 50$) try one or five patterns and see what fits your needs.
 
Do yourself a favor and try to Honestly answer Nostero and Sharp Eye's questions.

What will the knife be doing the most?

There are a lot of knives that will handle most all survival situations just fine, but you want your knife to be very comfortable to use in every day chores.

For example: my knife's main job is cleaning fish and starting fires.

Sure a Busse battle maitress would be a great survival knife, but it would be very awkward to use on a day to day basis for me. So I prefer a knife with a blade length of 4" or less, and no thicker than 1/8", and I personally prefer carbon steel and wood/antler handles. Sure I can baton and split firewood if I needed to in a survival situation, or build a shelter, but that is not what I do on a day to day basis, so to buy something that does those things well, but is a pain to use for the things I do regularly would be stupid.

So, I use something that CAN do those things if needed, but is very well suited to my every day tasks as well.


I hope that helps you understand why people are asking so many questions. It's hard to recomend a knife, if you don't know the person, or what they regularly use a knife for.


P.S. On the other hand, I can generally recommend a Mora #510. If you don't like it you can always keep it at home in the kitchen. For only $10 you can't hardly go wrong. It is also a great knife to learn how to sharpen on, due to the wide scandi bevel, and you just might fall in love with the scandi grind, and look to buy a nice puukko blade. Or if you like the more traditional wood handle, try the #1. http://www.ragweedforge.com/SwedishKnifeCatalog.html
If anything, you can get one of these really cheap, and practice some of your skills, then you can better decide if you like that blade length or if you think you would prefer something smaller or larger, and get a general idea of what you like in a knife.
 
Go with a cheaper offering to start out, such as the Buck 119. Many outdoorsmen have gone with such a configuration of blade weight/style and loved it. Also, the Mora blades will do almost anything you can imagine within reason. The vast majority of the cutlery 'hype' is something to steer clear of...get some survival training, keep yourself in good physical shape and allow clarity to rule your mental choices.
 
Welcome mr poliwog. I have a question for you:

Do you mean survival knife, the type with the nifty kit in the handle that almost everyone associates with survival, a bushcraft knife (Mora, etc.) or a military-type knife (Ka-Bar) This, along with the considerations from other members regarding intended tasks, will make it much easier for us to help you out.

I personally have different blades, both FB and Folder, depending on what I am doing for the day...
 
There are many options open to you which would fit the description of ' Survival Knives ' some good some bad !
To me the definitive quality of a Survival knife is a knife that will not fail you regardless of the use and abuse you put it through !!!
For a mid-sized blade I will recommend the SwampRat Ratmandu and for a larger blade I recommend the SwampRat Chopweiler.....neither knife will fail you, they both hold a great edge and are very user friendly. And if one did break, ie Was run over several times by a tank or snapped by Superman, just contact Swamprat and they will provide a replacement as per their lifetime guarantee !!!!
 
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Yeah, I think the first thing you need to tell us is what style your looking for. My survival knife could be anything from a Becker BK7, to a Masterhunter in CV.
 
Already some good advice mounting. A few things to consider if you're looking for a fixed-blade knife for outdoors use...let's just say "general camping", as some more specific knives such as "bushcraft" knives are excellent for wood working but less ideal for other applications. Every knife should be able to cut, it just depends on what you want to do with it.

First, figure out what you would like your knife to do. Do you plan to skin/clean animals or fish? Chop or batton wood? Possibly do some light prying? What type of environment...around saltwater or high humidity?

So many things to consider, but here's a few that I generally consider and prefer in most outdoor knives...

- Blade length of 4-6"; large enough to chop, but still able to wear as a belt knife
- Higher carbon steel; it usually takes and holds an edge easier and longer
- I like thin and wide, but there are some thicker knives with good designs
- Comfortable and hand-filling handle
- Spear or drop point blade tip; convex, flat or scandi grinds
- Don't forget a good sheath!

If you go with a larger (over 7" blade) knife, consider packing the ubiquitous Mora as a smaller-task knife. If you go with a high-quality smaller knife (~4" blade), consider a cheap Ontario 12" machete for larger chopping chores. Just a few thoughts after a few Shiner Bocks:D

ROCK6
 
My suggestion on tool combo, not just the knife, is:
SAK or multitool. Here you have a 2" blade and some extra stuff in one package.
4" fixed (Mora, Fallkniven, Bark River or any other 4")
Folding saw (like Bahco laplander or such)
http:/hem.passagen.se/nodh/trio.jpg

The discussion about stainless or carbon can continue forever.
My experience is however that SS is usually "harder". It kkeps the edge longer but also takes longer time to get back in shape compared to a carbon knife.
Flat or convex is also a discussion that continues forever. There are different ways to gring them. The flat is usually sharpened edge first, like you sharpen an axe. The convex is usually sharpened egde last, like a razor knife.

Anyway. I feel that the perfect combination between size and usefulness is around a 4-5" blade. You do not need a big 8" blade to cut a tree. It is just a matter of technique.
With a smaller knife you are also less likely to get tempted to chop stuff right and left.
Instead of chopping you place the knife on the object to be cut and hit the knife with a piece of wood or something that is not steel or stone. This way is much safer than waving around a big knife.

Good luck with your knife choice.

A message to the MOD. How about making a sticky on what to look for in a "Survival knife" Split it up into combat survival and outdoor survival.
 
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