What Can a Knife Do???

Blain

Blain

Gold Member
Joined
May 7, 2004
Messages
152
Now, by all means, don't take offense to this post. It is not intended to inflame, or excite anyone into anger. I am by no means a knife person (guns are my thing), which is partly why I've signed onto this board and asked this question.

Now, I am very much interested in survival, but the thought that gets me going is a statement I heard on one of the survival boards in regards to knives. Something along the lines of:

"Out in the wilderness, the one tool you need is a knife. You can survive and do all you need with just the use of that tool."
Click to expand...

Now obviously, he didn't mean that a knife will do all jobs as good as other tools, it obviously can't compare to an axe, etc. But that it CAN do the jobs of other tools well enough that you can make do with just a knife! Now I seriously want to know,

Just what can a knife do?

What can you do with just a knife in the wilderness that makes it such a treasured tool to you guys? Just what makes it a jack of all trades? Just how many jobs can you do with it?

Secondly, what makes a good survival knife that can do many of these tasks? I've been reading up on this board and have heard of a few knives that may possibly fit the bill: battle rat, green berret, busse, becker, ATTACK, etc.

Just how much more useful would one of those top dollar knives be for survival than say a $50 Ka bar?

And one last question, I have heard a lot of talk about serrations and how people don't like them. Why is that? Don't serrations cut things much easier since each serration is like an extra blade you're cutting with? That seems to have been my experience with them anyway, but they have a bad rap here, why?

Anyways, any information as to the usefulness of a knife would be much appreciated, I would really be interested to know,

What can a knife do?
 
This board's search engine should provide you with hundreds of threads that will give you a much better answer than a single thread with few opinions could offer you.

A good, stout, large survival knife (and a rather inexpensive Ka-Bar does match these criteria in my book) can truly accomplish almost any task you might want throw at it in a survival situation.

If you're willing to spend a little more than 50 bucks, my suggestion for wilderness survival would be the Swamp Rat Camp Tramp.
 
Ditto what Quiet Storm said about the search function. There is also a Wilderness and Survival Skills forum here that should provide more specific answers.

I'd personally prefer a bigger knife if that was gonna be my primary survival tool. Just more versatility.

Say, Blain, are you the fella that asked about a Vang Comp shotgun back on shooterstalk.com some time ago?
 
In short they are great for cutting things and making other tools. Although I love my Ka-Bars they would no be my first choice for a one knife only survival scenario and warding off reptoids.
 
A knife is the prototypical tool. In a survival situation you will need to fabricate and assemble things from raw materials (fire, shelter, water containers, bandages, splints, weapons, etc.). A knife is more useful than any other single tool across the wide range of possible requirements. Having a blade also makes it easier to create more specialized tools as the needs arise.

And unlike a lot of tools, say a shovel or a block-and-tackle, a knife is small enough to carry all the time and is often useful in everyday non-survival situations.

The flip-side is that if you don't start out with a knife, improvising something that will serve in that role is going to be difficult, time-consuming, and in most cases, far less effective.

I've tried to make sure that all my friends have some kind of knife with them at all times, even if it's just a Swiss-Tech Utili-Key on their key ring. Even a tiny blade can be tremendously useful.

--Bob Q
 
I agree with Bob Q. I would also suggest that a good stainless material be considered. Non stainless steels require maintenance, sometimes difficult in survival situations and keep in mind, the edge is the thinnest area and both sides of the edge are exposed, so the edge is the first part to rust.

A steel with better edge retention would also be an advantage, especially if there is no sharpening tool.

Some things that you can do with a knife that you cannot do with a gun;

skin animals, prepare food, make weapons like spears or bows/arrows. build shelters, remove spinters/thorns, snake-bite, etc.

sal
 
So is the green beret a combat knife design of a survival design?

Also, which steel will hold up best in a survival situation?

SR-101, CPM S30V, or INFI?
 
Wilderness survival schools/training as in US Rangers, Berets, Seals, Force recon
get a person on their own in a wilderness setting with a knife only for a tool.

They learn to survive and thrive quite nicely in the wilds using only the knife to make it through till they are picked up, sometimes days later.

They stress the knife for a reason, without it life is difficult at best, with it and the knowledge of how to use it to your advantage makes the ordeal much more pleasant.

Knowledge in survival skills is necessary and go hand in hand with having a knife, to survive on your own for a length of time with no support.

Brownie
 
You know any good books or websites that tell you how to use it to survive?
 
Why do I hate serrations on a survival knife? A couple reasons. First off, serrations get in the way while skinning or doing any fine work- at least for me. So my 7" Ka-Bar cuts like it's 5".

Second is the fact that serrations are near impossible to sharpen with improvised tools. I'm sure you could find a piece of sandstone small enough on edge to do it, but anything flat will do nicely with a plain edge.
 
As far as steel gos, the CPM S30V seems to be serving many people well. I love my Ka-Bar Impact D2 spear point. I have it on my web gear for airsoft and i has served well in pouring rain and 110% dry heat. California has just about any weather you want. And i have yet to see any rust on the D2 tool steel blade. And it takes a very hearty sharp edge, and holds it well. Now the largest thing i have cut into with it was a 3" sapling. But I have cut a ton of para cord and rope, tape, zip ties for hostage recue missions. Though I use my Endura on the HR. The blade is much easier to see in the dark so i have to worry less about cutting my friends.

I have heard unending prase for the David Beck Wilderness Survival Knife. It does carry a $495 price tag I believe. The TOPS Tracker it built along very similar lines, and it half the price.

I appauligise for my poor typing. I took a shot to my left index finger tip today, and using it is rather uncomfortable. :D
 
Blain asked, "Just what makes it a jack of all trades? Just how many jobs can you do with it?...
These are very good questions. And, I must say, they are not questions I could have readily answered before taking the wilderness survival and land navigation courses that I have taken. However, having completed that training, I know first-hand the value of a good knife. What makes a knife a jack-of-all-trades is that it can do many tasks, including making other tools. The knife is a primary tool, used to make other tools, just as there are primary colors, used to make others. The knife is also used inspecific tasks. WHich brings us to another question...

Blain asked, "What can you do with just a knife in the wilderness that makes it such a treasured tool to you guys?"
Well, with just a knife, one can cut off tree branches to pile on the ground for bedding and emergency shelter construction. Then, the knife can be used to scrape or shave stringy bark from trees to make cordage, which will be used to tie the shelter's branches together and also used to make traps and snares. The knife will be used to skin, clean, and prepare any game for food. The knife can make improv-clothing out of animal skins by cutting the skins into appropriately sized pieces, poking holes for tieing, and slicing off other strips for binding clothes together. The knife can scrape a piece of pitchwood into powder to use as tinder. A knife scraped on a metal-match (flint, magnesium, other stuff made into a hard bar) can flick a spark onto the tinder, igniting the tinder and creating fire. A knife can whittle sticks into useful objects such as tent stakes, animal traps, signals, and weaponry. In an emergency, a knife can be used to dig or pry. The list could go on for a long time... I hope I have given you some insight into the many uses of a survival knife. Which leads to another question...

Blain asked, "what makes a good survival knife that can do many of these tasks?"
When it comes to survival knives, I have leaned that bigger is better. This is quite a hot topic in survival circles, but here is what my training taught me: A big knife is a general-purpose tool. It can be used to do any of the above-mentioned tasks. It may be more cumbersome for the delicate work, like skinning, but it can be done. A smaller knife, however, is a more specialized sort of tool. Depending on size and blade shape, a smaller knife can make a very efficient skinner/game cleaner/food preparer. etc. However, a smaller knife cannot shop branches (at least, not nearly as well), cannot dig (save in very small increments) would have a hard time shaving tinder, and would be more prone to snapping, due to decreased blade thickness. Which leads to the next question...

Blain asked, "Just how much more useful would one of those top dollar knives be for survival than say a $50 Ka bar?"
The major differences are usually blade thickness, blade material, and handle material. For survival, a thicker blade (minimum 3/16") is preferable, as this increased metal mass gives increased weight and heft for chopping and prying. As a brand, Kabar doesn't use bad steel, but there are some better, such as the proprietary steels of Swamp Rat, Busse, Cold Steel, etc. The handle material of a Kabar is fine, but not as durable as, say, Micarta, which is used by Busse and many other makers.
In my survival class, we were issued $20 Cold Steel Bushman knives. These knives were not wonderful (nor were they as thick as I have come to like) but they were a wonderful introduction into the usefulness and great benefit of a knife. Indeed, it is better to have any knife than to be without, but for survival, bigger is better. A Kabar is much better than nothing, but a Kabar is slim, which helps in combat/stabbing situations, but not in surviving.
Finally, serrations are difficult to sharpen in town, doubly so in the wilderness, where one may not have all of their sharpening equipment. Therefore, a plain edge is preferable.

I hope that this long post has answered some of your questions. :D Keep on askin', and we'll keep on answerin'. :)
 
I'm going to say that you want a knife with an easy to sharpen steel like 420HC or 440C becuase in the case you DO need to resharpen it you won't have much trouble.

Imagine trying to sharpen 440V or S30V with stones in the wild! :eek:
-Kevin
 
Here are two threads from the Wilderness Forum that might help shed some light.

http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=292682

http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=283287

Please don't take this the wrong way, but I think the reason this question is asked (by a lot of people) is a lack of skill. How many times have we heard or seen repeated on this forum,
"WHAT ARE YOU GOING TO DO WITH THAT?!?!"
I guess I don't blame them, why carry a knife if you don't have the knowledge or skill to make a bow or hand drill for fire by friction, carve traps, make cordage, clean game, make tools, etc.

Quote:
"Out in the wilderness, the one tool you need is a knife. You can survive and do all you need with just the use of that tool."

If you have the skill.
 
Skill must be LEARNED, everyone who has those skills you brag about had to be taught. Remember that before getting all cocky.
 
Blain said:
Skill must be LEARNED, everyone who has those skills you brag about had to be taught. Remember that before getting all cocky.
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I detected no cockyness :confused: You asked a question and got an answer. No harm no foul right? :)
 
He answered a question which was not addressed.


It takes skill to use something....really?

Wow....what a shocker. I always thought ability came from the magical pixie fairy, who flew by random houses at night and waved her ability pixie dust wands at people.

I mean, come on. Tell me something I don't know.
 
Not trying to be cocky. Look at the other threads I left links to and maybe that will help with the context.

Sorry if I offended.
 
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