Ok, most of us would agree that a Bowie/clip design is the best all around survival blade correct? it can do it all, slice/chop/stab etc. So design laid aside then the knife with the best steel would then be the best would it not? Everyone has a differnt opinion on the best steel i know, its like anything else, i personally think the best steel for a survival blade has to be stainless, you are not always going to have oil around to oil the blade, and if you dont keep carbon steel oiled it will rust. Most of those cheap blades in this thread are cheap carbon steel, i have nothing against cheap carbon steel except it will rust, other than that it is tough steel easy to sharpen and has ok edge holding. In a survival blade i want stainless, i live on the westcoast and it is very possible it will see use around or in salt water, if you work around saltwater you NEED a stainless blade or it will rust probably within a few hours to a day, depending on the steel, and the rust will eat away the edge pretty quick, i know, i have seen it happen. If you are not around saltwater you may be able to get by with carbon steel, I however need stainless. And i dont think anyone will argue that right now S30V is probably the best all around stainless, either that or BG-42 or S90V. D2 would also be ok but i prefer something that wont chip as easy as BG42 or D2.
numberthree:
Try to sharpen ANY steel on a river rock, i have tried, with a L6 blade and with a BG42 blade as well as with a 1095 Ka-bar, its not going to happen, first off you would have to use a S30V blade for maybe 2 or 3 YEARS to get it dull enough that sharpening it on a river rock would help any, and unless you are able to find a much flatter rock than the one i was using you are not going to get a sharp edge. Besides it does not matter, if i have my knife i have the 6X2 DMT stone thats ATTACHED to the knife sheath so i wont need any rocks to sharpen the knife. If you are going to bring a knife you are probably going to bring a sharpener, dont you all have sharpeners in your BOB's?
Hoodoo:
The knife was $300, its a custom 11" Blade bowie in S30v, 3/16" Flat ground, Checkered G10 scales and SS guard. I dont need more than one, the one i have is always on my person or in my backpack, i dont have a car so i dont need a knife for one. And if im going hunting i will take it, it is always close so when i need it i have it.
And of course there's all those stories about jungle adventurers letting the natives borrow their fancy cutlery only to find that they've laid it aside to use their trusty parang--because it just works better.
This is due to the fact that they have been using there Parang's for years and are VERY used to using them and know how to use it to its most. You cant give someone a totaly unfamiler knife and expect them to instantly become just as good at using it as the knife they have grown up using, think about it. That would be like giveing someone trained to use a sniper rifle/Match rifle a M1-garand and expecting him to keep shooting 1 MOA at 400 yards. If you gave them the knife the same time they started using the parang then maybe they woundnt be using the parang any more. Training and experiance with the tool/knife are much more important than the tool/knife itself.
Like i stated in my first post, im sure the cheap blade would work and have worked in the past, there is no doubt about it, the US marine combat knife is cheap carbon steel and has served well, however given the choice i will still take the knife that best suits my needs, which is not cheap carbon steel. I mean 40 years ago everyone was using cheap carbon steel because thats all there was widly available, now we have more choices.