What is the best survival knife? Would it be better to have a survival kit instead?

This oné,SURVIVE KNIVES GSO-10
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thx
Dutchtracker
 
A knife is simply part of your survival kit. You can't have a complete survival kit without one, and you, and everyone, NEEDS a survival kit for whatever situation they find themselves in. Office, yup. Hiking or camping, yup. Road trip, yup. What it contains will vary, but survival situations occur everywhere, and you should always be prepared.
 
jimh0220 said:
What the heck are you planning for???
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Bad shit tuesday... you never know what might happen. I've never found myself in trouble because i was over prepared

I have a 6 month supply of food for 4 people in my apartment, 1000 water purifier tablets, and lots of other stuff. It's not what you're planning for that kills you, it's what you didn't plan for.

So i assume the worst, and hope for the best
 
No zombie apocalypse kit, But we're in Earth quake country so I have an extended " Living off of the Grid " plan. 2 man tent, sleeping bags, ultra light camp stove in the shed. Have a
British Berkfeld with ceramic cartridges.Also have 2 { 500 gal tanks } tied to the down spouts to catch rain water. The wife has a Sog Tech II in her bug out bag, I have a Kabar 1272
in mine
 
I've got the knives (even a TGLB on the way), the hawks and all the supplies (water, food, medicine, etc) needed in case the big one hits (I'm in hurricane country <Florida> like Vietnam without the charm) but somehow I still think it'll be the invisible (to the naked eye) virus that does us in. :D Those that make it will be able to go through all our gear and keep what they like.

Seems like every year when school starts my youngest son just gets back into the swing of things and before ya know it, he brings home Ebola from another kid in class and passes it on to me. Each time I have to shake it off and it never seems to matter to the virus what I'm carrying as an EDC that day. I'm going to go lay down now, I feel feverish.


Always have a bag packed in your car/truck...does you no good to have it all at a home if your stranded somewhere in your car...plus if your wife kicks you out you'll have something to snack on in the car while she calms down. :thumbup:
 
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retzius said:
The best survival kit would be common sense, a cell phone, telling someone where you are going and when to expect you back, lots of water and a blanket.

You dont need arrowheads, spears, fishing line, or ninja throwing stars. Survival is not the same things as primitive wilderness living. In a survival situation, if you are expending energy spearing animals, fishing, making a bow and arrow, etc. then you will probably not make it. You can go three days without water and three weeks without food. If its cold and raining you can probably go three hours without shelter.

Set your priorities. Most survival situations are basically hopeless after 72 hours. If you have shelter and water you are likely to survive and be rescued. You don't need food to survive and you dont need arrows, spears, fishing poles etc. The goal of a survival situation is to be rescued, not to built a fort and live in the woods like Robinson Crusoe.
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Yep. I'll add a couple things.

First, the most important thing you take into the woods(gear-wise) is your clothing. Propper clothing will take you a lot farther in survival then the best tree chopper. Next to that is plastic. Next to that is a lighter. Next to that is a water bottle or pot...etc. So yes, a kit is a whole lot better then a survival knife. I get pretty far down on my list of survival gear before the idea of a knife pops up. When I was in SAR I didn't even carry a knife and if I hadn't turned into a knife knut I probably wouldn't carry one now. One of the arguments I hear from non-knife hikers is "Why chop down a bunch of trees when I can throw up a tarp and crawl into a sleeping bag?" Makes sense to me.

The other problem with survival knives like the big choppers posted here is they're too big to carry well. So people stick them in a backpack. Now how does sticking a 2 pound knife in your pack vs a tarp and down coat(which also probably costs less) make sense?

Don't get me wrong, a knife is a wonderful tool to have but it's not better then ready made gear like a tarp and there's a whole lot of knowledge that has to be applied to that knife to make it work. I don't recommend knives to non-knife backpackers because they simply have no idea how to use that knife to make their situation better. Nor do they want to learn how to use a knife. Same with a compass. If you don't spend any time to learn how to use it then it's just dead weight.
 
Any of you who say that a 'survival kit' is more important than a good knife. I suggest a challenge!

I'll take what I consider a good knife, one I carry every day, into the woods as my only item. You take your kit, sans knife. Let's see who's more comfortable.

I can make cordage, I can make shelter, I can make containers....with a good knife.
I've yet to see anyone make a decent knife from ziplock bags, a tarp, and paracord.
C
 
cpurcell said:
Any of you who say that a 'survival kit' is more important than a good knife. I suggest a challenge!

I'll take what I consider a good knife, one I carry every day, into the woods as my only item. You take your kit, sans knife. Let's see who's more comfortable.

I can make cordage, I can make shelter, I can make containers....with a good knife.
I've yet to see anyone make a decent knife from ziplock bags, a tarp, and paracord.
C
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Challenge accepted. As my survivalkit I choose a fully stocked RV. I have yet to see someone make a more comfortable shelter with a knife.
 
sideways said:
Challenge accepted. As my survivalkit I choose a fully stocked RV. I have yet to see someone make a more comfortable shelter with a knife.
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I can do better with a lock pick and a Glock .40... just need to find the right condo without a deadbolt
 
cpurcell said:
Any of you who say that a 'survival kit' is more important than a good knife. I suggest a challenge!

I'll take what I consider a good knife, one I carry every day, into the woods as my only item. You take your kit, sans knife. Let's see who's more comfortable.

I can make cordage, I can make shelter, I can make containers....with a good knife.
I've yet to see anyone make a decent knife from ziplock bags, a tarp, and paracord.
C
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I agree with you. A knife is the most diverse tool in your kit. It can feed you, clothe you, keep you warm and dry. There is a reason they have been around for a couple thousand years. A knife should be on your person not in a pack.
I've been through a lot of survival training both in the Marines and after I got out, even helped teach at a few in my off time, and one thing that was common for all, a good blade, and me personally, a multi-tool. If you lost everything else you could still make it by.

Your tarp will tear, will need to have insulation added to keep you warm, it's loud and rots in the sun and extremely flammable.

Of course I have a lot more in my kit, but it is what I consider comfort or luxury items to make it all easier and keep up morale. It burns a lot of energy to make a now drill fire, try that without a knife. Making cordage sucks. Filtering water is a slow process.

I knew some crazy guys that would do nekked survival. Go out with just a knife and bare skin and see how far they got.
 
Moosez45 said:
Why wouldn't you keep a kit with the knife?

I've got a stout blade, good geometry, with lots of confidence in its abilities, in a sheath that has a good size pouch.

I keep a firesteel, emergency blanket, and an Altoids kit of my own making. It balances well with my skill level, to cover my needs in a tough spot.

The whole kit comes in at 2lbs, which weighs less than the 1911 I carry daily. It also attches to my pack and straps on my kayak.

Knife and kit is the best combo, IMO.

Moose
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Agreed.

It's hard to beat the vaue-to-quality ratio of Becker line of knives [BK 2/7/9/12]. If you're willing to spend a little more, the next step up is the Survive! line of knives in M390/CPM-3V.
 
Oakengroves said:
Agreed.

It's hard to beat the vaue-to-quality ratio of Becker line of knives [BK 2/7/9/12]. If you're willing to spend a little more, the next step up is the Survive! line of knives in M390/CPM-3V.
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do you think becker is better than esee?
 
blqin said:
I think the knife itself could be replaced with a small kit and several smaller knives, for spear heads and arrows? What do you think? Still, I acknowledge that a knife is handy, so which one would you choose?
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Lots of good advice here.
As BladeScout said, your skills that you bring to the situation are paramount. The ideal is to have two survival kits, one for your trips and one that you practice with to learn your your skills.

Most survival kits either include a small knife and water purification method or advise you to bring your own along too. In addition I suggest always bringing more than one method of starting a fire.

Check out the Pocket Survival Pak list of contents I am selling at http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/s...PAK-compasses-fire-starters-tinder-ferro-rods.
Every item has a purpose. Ask yourself why it might be needed and how you would use it.

For more information you might study the material at Equipped.com, short for Equipped To Survive. It was originally started to provide survival kits to downed pilots.
 
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cpurcell said:
Any of you who say that a 'survival kit' is more important than a good knife. I suggest a challenge!

I'll take what I consider a good knife, one I carry every day, into the woods as my only item. You take your kit, sans knife. Let's see who's more comfortable.

I can make cordage, I can make shelter, I can make containers....with a good knife.
I've yet to see anyone make a decent knife from ziplock bags, a tarp, and paracord.
C
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That's exactly my point. You have to MAKE everything with a knife. Expending calories, expending time under the elements and risking injury with the knife. With a survival kit you just pull it out and use it. A knife is great but it should be considered a backup to your kit. I think the "take a knife and nothing else" is a macho fantasy. Any survival instructor worth their salt goes out with a complete survival kit because they know it makes the most sense to do so. None of them would go out with just a knife unless they're practicing or trying to prove themselves. When it's the real deal they go out prepared.
 
retzius said:
Set your priorities. Most survival situations are basically hopeless after 72 hours. If you have shelter and water you are likely to survive and be rescued. You don't need food to survive and you dont need arrows, spears, fishing poles etc. The goal of a survival situation is to be rescued, not to built a fort and live in the woods like Robinson Crusoe.
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i agree. i guess i've been watching too much survivorman. :p surviving 2-3 days without my medication is one thing, but any long period of time, and i'm a goner. :D
 
blqin said:
I think the knife itself could be replaced with a small kit and several smaller knives, for spear heads and arrows? What do you think? Still, I acknowledge that a knife is handy, so which one would you choose?
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Just put some thought into your kit and you don't need fifty tons of gear. A tiny plastic bottle of Iodine for example can disinfect a cut AND purify dicey water. A Mora knife is near indestructable and a Bahco folding saw weighs nothing, toss in a couple of lighters etc. Surprisingly, many high function tools are actually light weight and inexpensive. As I've come to learn after spending many hundreds of dollars on semi redundant toys. My personal choice is a hatchet over a knife though. But whatever floats yer boat.
 
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