Well this is a pretty wide-open subject. When I hear "survival" I think wilderness survival in the wilderness I most often frequent (heavily-wooded conifer forests), and in a civilian rather than military context. Of course, survival could be anything from urban to desert to arctic environments. Also, survival strategy changes depending on how long you'll be doing it. For me, it's a "stay safe for at most 1 week until I'm found" thing, as opposed to going out into the woods and surviving there for months at a time.
For most wilderness survival, I'll go ahead and state what I've been claiming on another thread -- that the military-style mid-sized fixed blades (say, 6"-8") are NOT a particularly good choice for this type survival if you had the chance to plan ahead.
Once in a survival situation, you can make any knife work with the know-how. However, since we're "planning ahead for survival" in this string, I think it's worth calling out the kinds of things we might need to do for wilderness survival. Jobs tend to be either very big or small. From preparing kindling to cutting wood for a shelter for the big jobs. From food prep to making other tools to (unlikely but possible) dressing out game.
The mid-size fixed blades don't do particularly well at any of these jobs, though you can make do with them. Rather, big-job/small-job cutlery is what really works here. For the small jobs, a folder or small fixed-blade. For the big jobs, something that's big enough to do any chopping you might need: machete, Battle Mistress, kukhri. Or if you're economizing on space, a lightweight folding saw. I think folding saw + folding knife easily beats just having a mid-sized fixed blade; machete + small fixed blade blows it away.
Remember also, you have other tools. Provided you can build a fire, you can use that fire to section pieces of wood. If there's lots of wood lying on the ground, you can use it to build a fire, then use the fire to size other wood to meet your needs.
Anyway, just my thoughts. I think anyone considering those mid-sized fixed blades should consider a folding saw and small fixed blade (or folder) as well. Or replace the folding saw with a machete or something even bigger if possible. I see those mid-size fixed blades camping all the time, and at least while camping, those mid-sized fixed blades never get used because there's usually a more efficient tool around.
In a military context, where you're prying and busting open ammo crates and the like, the mid-sized fixed blades make much more sense to me.
Joe
jat@cup.hp.com
