The problem with 'survival' knives

Thomas Linton said:
Nothing wrong with a sharp hatchet.

Not sure when you were a "kid" or what you mean by "survival knife." Opinions vary. (as they do about what a "Bowie" really looked like.)

Consider what Finns think of as a knife to keep you alive in the woods.


My uncle trades "smokes" for this brute in case he crashed in the jungle in WW II.


This was a pre-WWII favorite, and it's 3/16" thick.


These Randalls were called "survival knives" when they came out over fifty years ago. They are not thin by any means.


This beast is the UK military's idea of a survival knife, and it too is over fifty years old.


Hard to believe by First Blood and its iconic "survival knife" appeared thirty-three years ago.

Not to mention bolos, parangs, khukuris, and machetes, all of which get votes as survival knives.
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Pretty knives!

Cate
 
Really Stabman? I must have been living under a rock! I honestly didn't know where people were getting them, and I really wanted one badly (What teenager didn't)
 
cbrstar said:
Really Stabman? I must have been living under a rock! I honestly didn't know where people were getting them, and I really wanted one badly (What teenager didn't)
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Well, admittedly I was living in Calgary, which at the time had about 600000 people (way more there these days).
Thus, my perception of their availability in smaller centers may be skewed.
 
Wasn't just there, Stab... damned things were pervasive at your local inconvenience stores and hardware counters. You couldn't pick up a Bic lighter without shoving a display of the damned things out of the way. And I live in a very small rural town. Between 5 and 10 bucks was all they asked. Compass in the hollow handle, saw teeth on the back, faux stacked leather handle, pleather sheath.

Friend of mine was cutting a couple slabs off a brick of cheddar with one. I told her "Better get a real knife, that one's not gonna make it." She glared at me and kept "slicing". Didn't get 3 slices before the blade snapped clean off the hilt. I didn't have to say told-ya-so.... the look on her face was priceless.

POS couldn't even cut the cheese right.
 
Here are a couple of good survival knives for you guys,
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Wish I could get them at the gas station.
 
I had one of those cheap ass Rambo hollow handle knives when I was like 8 or so, mine must not have been as crappy as some because I actually used it camping for some chopping, fuzz sticks, marshmallow stick sharpening stuff and it didnt break until I Nolan Ryan'd it at a piece of plywood.
Glad I never needed it to survive though, nothing in the handle worked, ever. Matches wouldn't light, wire saw was so kinked the saw back worked better (and it didnt), the fishing line was weaker than thread picked off of my blue jeans. And the sharpening stone in the sheath had more curves than an inifinity symbol.
But 8 year old me loved that damn thing.
 
cricketdave said:
Here are a couple of good survival knives for you guys,
13163_10205713917113640_3667607458724349476_n.jpg


10403413_10205616077507711_7532957492237031992_n.jpg



Wish I could get them at the gas station.
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........aaand cue the usual comments about relatively large hollow handle saw back knives being good for nothing and certainly not able to slice, saw or chop etc:D

All nice knives.
 
Schrade carries a few hollow handle knives that are interisting. They're made from a solid piece of 1095, blade and handle are one piece. I've a hunch they would hold up, not into hollow handle blades myself but you could satisfy your 8 year old self with something that won't break, at least not easily break.
 
Velitrius said:
Wasn't just there, Stab... damned things were pervasive at your local inconvenience stores and hardware counters. You couldn't pick up a Bic lighter without shoving a display of the damned things out of the way. And I live in a very small rural town. Between 5 and 10 bucks was all they asked. Compass in the hollow handle, saw teeth on the back, faux stacked leather handle, pleather sheath.

Friend of mine was cutting a couple slabs off a brick of cheddar with one. I told her "Better get a real knife, that one's not gonna make it." She glared at me and kept "slicing". Didn't get 3 slices before the blade snapped clean off the hilt. I didn't have to say told-ya-so.... the look on her face was priceless.

POS couldn't even cut the cheese right.
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LMAO!!! They must have been the same ones I seen!... Maybe they just didn't have them in my small city of Wetaskiwin.
 
The Bark River Bravo Survivor, which is the big knife pictured here, is a fun big knife to use, plus it can do small tasks pretty easily. It chops like a demon, slices like a kitchen knife, and the balance is such that you can choke up to the blade Choil and do some pretty fine cutting.














 
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*My* all-around-survival-omg-we-are-all-gonna-die knife so far is the Benchmade Adamas.
Jack of all trades, Master at none, and nigh indestructible :D
 
A "survival knife" is just a knife, big or small, and nothing more. Survival is a matter of skill. A big knife in the hands of someone with insufficient skills is essentially worthless. A small knife in the hands of someone with extensive woodcraft skills is another story.
 
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woodsroamer said:
A "survival knife" is just a knife, big or small, and nothing more. Survival is a matter of skill. A big knife in the hands of someone with insufficient skills is essentially worthless. A small knife in the hands of someone with extensive woodcraft skills is another story.
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Survival is usually just a matter of will, an expression of the desire to live at all cost, which is usually desperate, selfish and anything but heroic. When we talk about "survival" we usually imagine ourselves in an entirely different frame of mind. We imagine ourselves as industrious, as creative tool using individuals with the ability to transform raw materials into the products and comforts of modern society. It's the idea of trekking off to the woods to hack out a home, a farm, a village, a town and ultimately the very city that we escaped from. When we talk about an ideal survival knife or kit, we usually thinking about that reduced minimal value of tools, from which we could fabricate those other tools, which would allow us to re-create all of the comforts that we are accustomed to. It is a false argument, since no individual can possess the needed skills, and ultimately we are talking about something that would require a community of significant size. The closest we come to a real world example of this would be a classic expedition, which comprises enough logistics to complete an extended task beyond the ready reach of civilization.

n2s
 
Every knife anyone here owns is a survival knife. If you have the skills and are ever put in that situation you will have a chance to find out. Even that pocket jewelry will do the job.

Where I think the confusion here is coming in is the same problem with huge 4x4 trucks that city slickers buy that never leave pavement and don't need mud flaps. Their yuppie neighbor across the street makes the same commutes with their half electric puddle jumper and consumes 1/4 the gas. That person never leaves the city and will tell anyone who can hear them about how these huge trucks serve no purpose, they should be banned, they just suck up gas and polute.

Well ya don't say now, I have a boat that's so big it needs to be towed with a 5th wheel trailer. A commute to suburb to suburb Prius will not suffice in the least. Yes I have had people tell me the pollution machine is a waste, but that's when I'm not towing anything and that's my only vehicle.

So I suppose the person in the OP has no use for what they think is a "survival" knife. That's great! We all need to know our limits but that does not mean others do not need them as well. I think others have clearly shown us this already.
 
Duane Sanders said:
So I suppose the person in the OP has no use for what they think is a "survival" knife. That's great! We all need to know our limits but that does not mean others do not need them as well. I think others have clearly shown us this already.
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I wouldn't be making that assumption
 
WuGod said:
I had one of those cheap ass Rambo hollow handle knives when I was like 8 or so, mine must not have been as crappy as some because I actually used it camping for some chopping, fuzz sticks, marshmallow stick sharpening stuff and it didnt break until I Nolan Ryan'd it at a piece of plywood.
Glad I never needed it to survive though, nothing in the handle worked, ever. Matches wouldn't light, wire saw was so kinked the saw back worked better (and it didnt), the fishing line was weaker than thread picked off of my blue jeans. And the sharpening stone in the sheath had more curves than an inifinity symbol.
But 8 year old me loved that damn thing.
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Hahaha, YES! "First Blood" came out and you couldn't go anyplace without seeing those cheap things, in your choice of original black or (gasp) camo! My wire saw broke, the compass was stuck, everything was just ..bad, but to a kid, the coolest thing ever. Mine got shoved on a stick, as a "spear". One throw of the spear, and you guess it, failure at the guard. Blade went one way, rest of "spear" the other. Good thing they were $5.
 
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