What is a "survival" knife?

singularity35

singularity35

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Mar 1, 2010
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I hear that buzzword often and I don't know what "survival" means in the context of knife use. I have heard it used to describe the opposite of a bushcraft knife which is supposedly thin as it is optimized for fine work.
 
Fallkniven F1. That is a survival knife. In fact, it is THE survival knife.

-Freq
 
What are you surviving from? I spend a 100 days a year in the woods for almost 20 years and I havent needed to baton anything yet.
 
I don't really need to "survive" from a lot of things except boredom and a lack of money. ;)

That situation is what made me wonder about "survival" knives.
 
elkpro1 said:
What are you surviving from? I spend a 100 days a year in the woods for almost 20 years and I havent needed to baton anything yet.
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Yeah, and I know a guy who goes out and does his super tom brown thing and hasn't needed a KNIFE yet. Need is a slippery word. PLEASE don't turn this into yet another "batoning is stupid" versus "batoning is great" debate.

okay, on topic-

Survival knife has a lot of connotations depending on the subgenre.

It can often mean a sharpened prybar with a hollow handles and semi-useless widgets in the butt. :rolleyes::confused::grumpy:

It can mean a bushcraft knife, though elements of bushcraft have become sporting in some sense. But the basic of what bushcraft entails are ... survival.

For one subset, it means a KSA- a heavy chopper that chops because chopping is the kernel of chopping survival!

In some contexts, self defense and or combat are included.

If you work in a city, it might be that the cybertool from victorinox is a survival knife.
 
The knife that you have with you when the trouble hits. I try to tell others the mantra that 2 is 1 and 1 is none. In simple terms, carry at least 2, whether it be knives, flashlights, etc.
 
singularity35 said:
Yeh, I've seen them but what I'd really like to know is what makes them different from say, choppers or bushcraft knives.
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I'd say survival is just an advertising buzzword. Depending on how you plan to survive, a survival knife could be a lot of different things. I'd think both a chopper or a bushcraft knife could easily pass as a survival knife to the various kool aid cults. The Camillus Pilot's Survival Knife is something of a bushcraft sized knife although most bushcrafters would probably do without the finger guard and saw. The Team Gemini is 0.260 thick by 7&3/4" and can chop and baton well enough while still being able to hang off your belt easily. My idea of a nice knife to wander off with is a Busse Desert Storm Fighter, an 8" Satin Jack for all practical purposes. A very capable do it all design.
 
An excellent example of "survival" buzzword is what comes to your mind first when you think of a "survival knife". For me, it is a fixed blade with a hollow handle containing what-not-including-a-fire-striker. When I reason, I know that's not what survival means. :-)
 
Mannlicher said:
no, you mean an ESEE 5
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Ha, yeah. I have both the Fallkniven F1 and RAT RC-5 (pre ESEE). The F1 is so small I can carry it with the RC-5, as I see a use for both in a survival situation. If I had to pick just one? Tough call. Depends on the terrrain and day you ask me.
 
The military survival knives and machetes were/are issued to aircrews to help them to survive in the event of a crash or shoot down. In this particular context, survive mean to stay alive long enough to evade enemy forces and return to friendly lines or be rescued.

The problem with the typical usage of "survive" is that when most people use it, it's without a specified context, so it can mean anything and everything.
 
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