Touchy subject Folders & Survival

MIKE MACINTOSH

MIKE MACINTOSH

Joined
Mar 31, 2006
Messages
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Just watched the movie The Edge again, and thought i'ed ask the question. Would "YOU" feel at a disadvantage in a survival situation with just a folder (your choice any type) instead of a fixed blade sheath knife i've noticed since i started reading this forum that there are a bunch of guy's that have much more bush skill than I. and some that seem to go almost ballistac at the sugestion of a folder as opposed to a large chopper.now dont get me wrong I prefer a sheath knife my self but if I got dumped in the boonies like Anthony Hopkins barring injury i think i would do ok what say you all :D
 
i'm also for sheath knives.

Folders are not as strong, but apart from that dunno perhaps a sak or a multitool is just better survival wise.
 
there is a great deal of difference as to what would you like ot have vrus what will you have with you. i carry a knives of alaska brown bear combo in my pack, now would i always have my pack? in my pocket is a one handed treker and a military match on a chain. i will most certainly have my treker and match, on my belt is a leatherman supertool, and a lock back folder and a honesteel. these are the things i will have with me, can i replace the folder with a fixed blade yes, but i am happy with the three blade setup that i use for hunting.i have a minikit in a ziplok in my thigh pocket with lighter tinder mylar blanket, tea and coffee, bullion cubes, energy bars. i will have these unless i lose my pants. so it would be great to have a 9 inch knife or machete or axe, or a chain saw, but what will you actually have with you? that which is attached to your body. i dont like 9" blades hanging from my belt too much weight, get in the way not comfortable. on the short term not much i need to get done that the set of tools i have attached to me wont do.

alex
 
I really don't see all of the controversy. I think a lot of people that have extremely negative opinions on folding knives just like to beat the snot out of what they carry. Not everyone, but I mean...a lot of them. :)

When I leave the house, I don't feel as though I am properly equipped unless I have a folding knife on me. Where I live, I can't tote around a fixed blade and since that is a reality, I better know all of the things I CAN do with a folder instead of the things I WISHED I could do with a fixed blade that I cannot carry all the time.

I think a couple/few carefully chosen folding knives are intrinsic to every day life and various types of survival kits, just my opinion.
 
You will be forced to 'Survive' at a time and place not of your choosing. So if you carry that Becker 7 all the time good for you.

Myself, I can't carry a knife that size all the time. So I would be forced to survive with my EDC, usually a spyderco Manix if I'm in on duty, and a Busse Basic 3 if I'm not.

Now I have a larger knife in all my vehicles, but who knows if I'll have access to that when the chips are down.

Now if I have time to get home and pick and choose, that's a different story.

This is the heart of an issue that always bothers me. People always show me their Battle Mistress in their closet and tell me it's their survival knife. Or their bad ass 1911 in their safe, but carry a J frame every day. Train with what you carry EVERYDAY, because it will be that that you will be forced to survive with.

IMHO
 
I'd RATHER have a stoutish fixed blade (I mean stout compared to a folder, not a big thick knife necessarily) but I think I'd do pretty well with an opinel if that's what I had.
 
Because I travel a lot, I usually have folders with me, both for local laws and the fact that folders always draw less attention. If I have to, I can usually find a local machete, axe, or hatchet if need be. Sometimes I'll toss a hatchet in my gear - depends upon the situation. For international travel, I'll toss the two folders into my luggage and maybe a SAK as a spare.

The primary job of a knife is to cut, and a decent folder does that quite well. I usually have my Leatherman Charge on me, and when I can, I'll have my KaBar Mule on me as my 'survival' knife. I have found it to be a very rugged knife and one of the few folders I'd trust to baton with. It also has one of the best designed handles of any lockblade on the market. With the Leatherman and the Mule there isn't much that I can't get done, especially if I have an axe, hatchet, or a machete handy.

FieldKnives3.jpg

Rostov_Mora_9.jpg
 
I carry an Okapi , or an Opinel , the Okapi is my more regular carry tho . there is usually a marttiini or two in my pack , and a machete with me if Im going way bush intentionally .

If I was without my pack and stranded somewheres tho , my folder is adequate for most stuff Id be doing . I carry hi carbon steel folders tho , opinel and okapi , they seem to take a lot more abusing than do stainless ones in my experience .

I do not believe Id feel "under knifed" well , I havent yet anyway , its not unusual for me to go hunting and take along just a folder , or to go hiking with just a folder , we camp rough when we travel , and tho I have all the gear in the vehicle , the folder does the majority of the knife work ..

I dont see that it would change just because the situation goes from being cruisey to being a "survival" situation .
 
I guess that's the whole deal about "survival". Will you be ready with what you'd LIKE to have with you, or will you just be thrust into the situation with no preparation?

I'd sure rather have my Benchmade 710 D2 folder than nothing, or rather than my Spyderco Cricket, but will I get to choose? 'Cause if so, I'd have my fixed-blade Swamp Rat Camp Tramp, 710 D2, Wave multitool, Wetterlings axe and probably a few other knives from my knife drawer. But if one of my regular workdays turns into "survival," I'll have to make do with the little Cricket folder!

Stay sharp,
desmobob
 
MIKE MACINTOSH said:
Just watched the movie The Edge again, and thought i'ed ask the question. Would "YOU" feel at a disadvantage in a survival situation with just a folder (your choice any type) instead of a fixed blade sheath knife...
Click to expand...

As stated, in most survival situations you make do with what you have available. A survival situation by definition is yourself placed at a disadvantage. The choice of what you have to work with is seldom there. You have this or that, or nothing at all. What you wish to have is a moot point.

I believe that I can (and have) survive most situations without a manufactured knife... fixed or folding. What I wished for at one time was a .30 cal SAW and a radio to request helo extraction. What I had was zip. I did feel at a disadvantage, but not solely because my favorite preferred knife was no longer mine. That was a minor irritation considering all of the factors that came into play in my surviving that situation. If I had been able to retain anything at all... even basic clothing it would have been a plus.

As it was I used what I found available and expedient. However... a knife is mankind's most basic tool and it is comforting to many (not all) to know you have one when you need one. Fixed or folding.

Codger
 
If I had a choice of which folder to get stuck with out in the bush and not feel underknifed...I'd want it to be a Buck 110. -Matt-
 
Of course what I want to have with me if I'm thrust into a survival situation is my Nessmuck trio, but then its not survival, more like an unexpected minimimalist camping trip. Most likely it will be what ever you have on you.

Remember how far our ancestors got with a sharp stone flake. If I have a nice sharp sak, or stout pocket knife, I'll get by if I have to. It does not take a big chopper to get by if you practice things like notching and breaking, and a debris hut can be made from small saplings that a pocket knife can cut it you do it right. When I was in the scouts, our scoutmaster made us build debris huts and fish traps with just our scout knives. Sure I want my Ontario machete or hatchet, but using that 3 pound lump between your ears goes a heck of a very long way. You can't have knowledge in your brain taken from you if it there and has been practiced. I've done light battoning with an Opinel number 8, so I know it can be done. I think the ability to make fire is more important that a couple pounds of high dollar knife. A fire steel or Doans mag block and a Victorinox farmer will get you by.
 
MIKE MACINTOSH said:
i've noticed since i started reading this forum that there are a bunch of guy's that have much more bush skill than I. and some that seem to go almost ballistac at the sugestion of a folder as opposed to a large chopper
Click to expand...

i think this association of skill with a preference for fixed blades is misleading. i've been served well by folding knives that get a lot of flaming on the forum and extremely disappointed by widely respected 6"+ fixed blades.

as long as it's sharp and not a complete piece of junk, it'll do what a knife should do. if you account for individual skills, the ones each of us practice the most, that might be what dictates the preference for the blade.

most of us, i think, like chopping.
 
I lot of my preference for fixed blades is because of how much more comfortable they are for extended use, and how much longer I can perform tasks accurately with one. Folders are just not as comfortable or secure for me.

The Opinel is a good example, in that I love them and love their edge, but for extended carving tasks the thin blade starts to wear out my thumb a bit.

They still have their place without a doubt and I'm rarely without one (in or out of the woods), but when in the woods I make sure that I have some kind of good fixed blade on my belt.
 
Would "YOU" feel at a disadvantage in a survival situation with just a folder (your choice any type) instead of a fixed blade........Yup !!!!!!!!

I'm afraid I have very little faith in folders for heavy duty use.....maybe a BM Rukus,Zero Tolerance or a Strider would get you through but give me a decent fixed blade everytime !!!
 
Hey guys i didn't post this thred to start a fight but to start a conversation we could all maybe learn somthing from. it has been my life experance that when trouble comes it usually comes when we are least prepared or least ready to deal with it. could be why the movie i was talking about strikes such a cord in me. The guy (Hopkins)is a very wealthy man and could buy any equiptment he wanted but he is stuck far from help with two inexperanced rookies and one pocket knife. Iwas in no way suggesting throwing away your sheath knives any more then i would suggest throwing away your matches because you have a ferro rod i was looking for what you would do if the sheath knife was some where other then on your person (lost) :D
 
I have more faith in folders than M. le Pitdog, but given a choice, I would pick the fixed blade. In the Edge, Hopkins was in the kind of country I definitely would be wearing a largish fixed blade.

But as so many before me have pointed out, in survival situations, you don't get to pick what you have, so if a folder was all I had, I'm sure it would do the job. Or even a sharp stone a la M. le Codger, if it came to that.

(thought I would throw a little francais in there to help maintain our cultural heritage :D)

Doc
 
DOC-CANADA said:
I have more faith in folders than M. le Pitdog, but given a choice, I would pick the fixed blade. In the Edge, Hopkins was in the kind of country I definitely would be wearing a largish fixed blade.

But as so many before me have pointed out, in survival situations, you don't get to pick what you have, so if a folder was all I had, I'm sure it would do the job. Or even a sharp stone a la M. le Codger, if it came to that.

(thought I would throw a little francais in there to help maintain our cultural heritage :D)

Doc
Click to expand...

Nice touch Doc !!!:D
 
MIKE MACINTOSH said:
Would "YOU" feel at a disadvantage in a survival situation with just a folder (your choice any type) instead of a fixed blade sheath knife
Click to expand...

If I had the choice I would take a fixed blade. In a survival situation with "just" a folder I would be very happy to have that folder... better than no knife at all!
 
I have no idea but I am more likely to have a folder in my pocket at any moment in time. We had a family Labor Day picnic at a State Park locally and I forgot my knife as I slipped on shorts at the last minute rather than long pants I already had on. I couldn't stand it and I had the need for using the knife no less than two times that afternoon.

If I could plan for a survival situation, I'd have a fixed blade, a folder, and probably an axe and machete as long as I didn't have to carry the stuff far. I pretty much assume that I would be working from a vehicle where I could carry a lot more stuff than a pack.
 
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