ultimate survival knife?

B

bigcountry73

Joined
Feb 18, 2003
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133
I was wondering if you guys can give me some advice. I spend alot of time hunting, camping, and fishing in the Adirondacks in upstate New York. All this time a spend in the wilderness and I am not satisfied with my knives. I was wondering what you guys would consider the "perfect" wilderness survival knives. Your help is greatly appreciated.
 
You might want to ask your question here.

I'd recommend the Swamp Rat Camp Tramp. Not too expensive, great steel, sturdy coating, comfortable and secure handle, extremely strong - however, the sheath is mediocre, but acceptable (at least it comes with a small pocket to put a flashlight/SAK/mini survival kit/whatever into).
 
I'm not sure if this would be the 'perfect' knife for your requirements but one knife I like a lot for outdoor/camping/hiking activities is the SOG Navy Seals 2000.

It's got lots of blade length and grip is good in wet conditions. Only problem is that the stock sheath isn't that great.
 
The Camillus/Becker BK-7 and BK-9 are a couple of pretty good knives to take a look at.
 
HI has some smaller ones that would make good camp knives. And if you keep your eyes open you can pick up some good deals on the HI forum.

Frank
 
bigcountry73, what knives do you have that you are not comfortable and why? It's hard to analyze your situation till we see what you are using, for what, and where the problem is.

Bruce Woodbury
 
Bruce,
I'm searching for a knife that will aid in splitting kindling, prepare meals, be able to handle some delicate jobs (such as cleaning fish), and of course be able to hold an edge. I'm just tired of carrying 3 or 4 different knives into the back country (a folder, a fixed blade, a filet knife etc). Any help would be appreciated.
 
I would have to say the ultimate survival knife is probably a multi-tool like the Leatherman Supertool or Leatherman Wave.

I know alot of folks like a single big fixed-blade, but if I were trying to survive with one item, I would want that one item to have alot of blades and tools.

Good luck,
Allen.
 
Good point Allen, I've often though my good ol SAK camper would be more ideal to have in a pinch than any of my others. Although it could still be lost more easily than a larger FB and then you'd have none.
I'd probably still want a fixed knife at about 11"OAL for real life/death stuff, big enough to chop and pry, small enough to carry easily and to prep food...preferably made my Busse!
 
Originally posted by BOK
I'm not sure if this would be the 'perfect' knife for your requirements but one knife I like a lot for outdoor/camping/hiking activities is the SOG Navy Seals 2000.

It's got lots of blade length and grip is good in wet conditions. Only problem is that the stock sheath isn't that great.
Click to expand...

Im going to have to agree with that. My seal2000 is like an axe. I am in the testing phase of my knife trying to see what it can and cannot do. Its an overal beast of a knife and yes the grip is outstanding.
 
Bigcountry73,

I spend a lot of time doing the same sort of thing, and I prefer to carry one large fixed blade and a small folder for delicate work. For a large blade, I have been very pleased with my Ka-Bar next generation fighting/utility knife. I'm sure some here would disagree, but I find it is the perfect combination for my needs. The blade is thinner than most other "tactical" knives (0.168" vs. 0.25" for the SOG SEAL 2000) and thus it is not as heavy or as strong as those others. However I find the thinner edge geometry cuts and slices very well for such things as preparing meals, cutting cloth, rope, packages, etc. It is also easy to resharpen. The next-generation knife is 440A stainless, epoxy coated (and the coating is darn durable), so it is virtually maintainence free - also this "softer" steel (ROC 55-57) allows them to get away with having a thinner edge that is tough enough to withstand chopping without damage, distortion, chipping, etc.

You CANdo light prying, digging, etc. with the Ka-Bar, but don't expect it to be as strong as the SEAL, BK-7 or Busse. AS long as you respect its limitations, I've no problems with the blade what-so-ever. I also don't mind the lighter weight of the Ka-Bar when carrying a fully loaded pack! I do a lot of nature photography, thus I typically have a bunch of extra camera gear when I go.

Egonomically, the Ka-Bar is about the best knife I have. The handle fits my hand perfectly (personally, I don't like the grip on the SOG SEAL - feels "dead" in my hand - I don't know how else to describe it. Similary I'm not that fond of the Fallkniven A1 survival knife grip, especially when wet). I also like the balance of the Ka-Bar better than most other field knives. Others are typically balanced with heavier blades which makes them great for chopping, but gives less control for the delicate stuff.

Finally, the kydex sheath on the Ka-Bar is excellent. (My one complaint about the Buck Nighthawk, which is an otherwise great knife, is that their nylon sheath stinks!)

The smaller knife I typically carry in my pack varies. Right now I have a Gerber Air-Ranger II, partially serrated (I prefer the plain edge on my Ka-Bar).

I would reccomend finding a dealer somewhere that you can handle the different knives before you buy. Personal preferance can make a big difference!


Hope this helps!

Dan
 
I've gotta suggest a Victorinox SAK/saw blade. The Pioneer, Rucksack, Trailmaster, Hiker, and Camper are all good choices.

Paul
 
For the past month I have been carrying a Becker BK-7 with a SAK trailmaster and a fire starting kit in the sheath pocket. This combination has been able to handle everything so far. The more I use the BK-7 the more I like it and trust it. I also have 30' of para cord wrapped the sheath. I also have some tender and other things in the handle of the BK-7 (I also carry an allen wrench in the sheath pocket). This combo works great for me.


Dean
 
I have to agree that a SAK is a great choice for a small knife than can handle fairly big jobs, especially the Rucksack or Camper models. I always carry a Campe in my camera bag to deal with whatever may come up (including changing batteries in my camera), no matter where I'm going.

Forgot to mention that like 3nails, I've got a magnesium fire-starter, about 25' of light weight nylon rope (the kind you buy in Walmart in the camping section) and a Gerber Ridge Knife on my sheath as a sort of back-up mini-survival kit in addition to the stuff I carry in my pack.

I've heard lots of good things about the BK-7. Cliff Stamp did a nice review of it on his website:
http://www.physics.mun.ca/~sstamp/knives/becker_cu_7.html
I don't have one personally because I prefer the lower maintainance of stainless.
 
I like my cold steel SRK for camping and whatnot. It cuts well on detail stuff, and the pommels swells at the end which lets you get more power on a chopping swing by choking back. Plus it has a secure kraton grip so you can hang on to it and a lanyard hole so it’s harder to loose. The carbon-v blade holds an edge well and can be sharpened field expediently.
 
Question within question:

Who actually made the bigass knife that Sly Rambo used in the
movie(s)?

Was it a 'one of a kind', or a production piece that can still be found somewhere?

I've seen some 'lookalikes' that show up in sports catalogs in my snailmail box, but at the prices they go for (20-50bux), I seriously doubt they're the 'real thing'.

Thanks,

Philthy
 
Uncle -- Lile designed the knives for the first two movies, Hibben designed the third knife. United Cutlery makes crappy reproductions that still cost $100, but aren't worth it.


Bigcountry73 -- My suggestion would be to go with the BK-9, or a Cold Steel Trailmaster in Carbon V. Then get an Eagle Industries sheath for it and put a SAK/Multi-tool in the front pocket. Then buy a Spyderco Catcherman (folding fillet that works great on fish, and even breasting ducks). Just my .02.
 
Gotta vote for the Reeve Mountaineer II.
5.5" blade of easy to sharpen A2, useful clip point, heavy enough to do light chopping, small enough to allow precision cutting, and the one piece hollow handle design to put some survival stuff inside.
Lenny
 
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