Toughest fixed blade you know of

I picked up a couple of really nice machetes from Huntsman knives purchased here on the sales forums. 52100 blade steel that he runs at about 58c. They are quite a bit thicker than typical machetes and really take a beating. A 1311 Scrapyard that is a truly hard use knife. I haven't done a ton of work with it, but it chops like crazy. I have an 11" camp knife from Craig Camerer that is forged W2 in a bolo pattern that is awesome. The toughest one I own is probably my Carrothers 8" shiv. I can't bring myself to beat it up too much, but the video of the destruction test is something else.
 
dcycleman said:
Gossman knives must get a mention in a toughest fixed blade thread.
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My sentiments exactly. Tusker in 3/16” S7 is as bombproof as I’ll ever need.
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DangerZone98 said:
If you had to pick one SHTF knife that you’re absolutely sure won’t fail on you, what would it be? It can chip, roll, or take minor damage but it can’t suffer a catastrophic failure. I’m thinking along the lines of the BK2, ESEE 5, or maybe a Busse.

Gentlemen, choose your poison.
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Right now, from my own collection, it would be a Dawson.

Zieg
 
Here is a picture of the toughest fixed blade I have had. The Siegle Behemoth, was for better or worse my idea, as made by Bill Siegle back around 2002. It was 26" OAL with a 17" blade that is 4" wide at the sweat spot. The blade is ground from a massive bar of 3/8" 5160. I wanted to see what a knife would look like if it were actually made to mimic a 3/4 sized camp axe. Something the size of the Estwing axe.

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The end result was heavy (6 lb!), but worked well as a two handed tool (as did the axe). BTW, the large slot in the lower guard was to accommodate a sturdy mountaineering axe lanyard, to help keep the lower hand from slipping as the forward hand slipped back along the handle during a swing to build momentum.

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Those (little?) knives that accompany it in the picture below, are the original Gerber BMF (1986) and an issued Spanish Special Forces Bolo. (used by Spanish mountain troops, and later special forces, from the roughly the end of WWII through the 1970s).

Bill Siegle Behemoth.jpg


n2s
 
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Update:
Toughest fixed blade I know of was recently listed for sale in the Himalayan Imports forum.
Spine at the thickest point is “almost 1/2 inch” and the knife weighs in at 6 pounds. This is a ceremonial knife, and not something I would pick for SHTF, but I’m going by the title of the thread, and I imagine this puppy could lift up 3 Volvos without breaking a sweat. ;)
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I remember that Uncle Bill would sometimes have issues communicating with the production team in Nepal. He had asked that a custom knife be made for a customer that wanted a 2” wide model. Someone at the factory got back to him to ask if he really wanted a version that was 2” thick, which would make the thing about 15’ in OAL. :eek::)

If it would have been for me, I might have said yes. The knife would have weighed as much as that Volvo.:thumbsup::thumbsup::confused:

n2s
 
Btw, here is a 40” HI khukuries:

https://gramho.com/media/2248618762173367162

The spine thickness on these was about 1”

Khukuri and Predator machete.jpg

BTW, these knives were intended for slaughtering ceremonial animals. They do not hold up to wood chopping, and are otherwise impractical. As for the slaughter of these animals; Uncle Bill asked us to refrain from posting videos and I'll still respect that, but you have to realize that these ceremonies attract many (tens) thousands of people from all over. So you sacrifice, these animals in order to feed the massive crowds. In the west we often like to forget about where our hamburgers come from.

n2s
 
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DangerZone98 said:
If you had to pick one SHTF knife that you’re absolutely sure won’t fail on you, what would it be? It can chip, roll, or take minor damage but it can’t suffer a catastrophic failure. I’m thinking along the lines of the BK2, ESEE 5, or maybe a Busse.

Gentlemen, choose your poison.
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An SHTF is an essential EDC tool that you can use for any given situation when it comes to survival.
 
ZhangHua said:
An SHTF is an essential EDC tool that you can use for any given situation when it comes to survival.
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I agree. However, we are imagining a situation where the rules, social norms, and requirements are vastly different from our current environment. The most correct answer is that we would have a wide variety of tools at use within a group. Your pocket folder is not going to cut it by itself and you will likely want to add some kind of fixed blade. I would most likely go with something the size of the knives shown in post 185. But, that would not preclude having bigger knives in camp to serve specific purposes.

n2s
 
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