What knife would you use in a survival scenario?

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Nov 7, 2022
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If you were in a 72 hr+ off grid survival scenario what one knife would you trust to fill the role of a survival knife? To make kindling, to prepare food, make a spear, make a shelter or to battle a zombie (just kidding with that last part). I personally would trust the TOPS silent hero. Looking forward to hearing your feedback!
 
I'm working on a custom Swiss Army Knife design with the following features:

o Satellite phone and antenna
o 10 gal of water
o Blowtorch
o Two room tiny cabin
o 72 hours of emergency food
o A fully equipped and staffed trauma center
o Wifi
o A pair of exceptionally enthusiastic Dutch women who have a thing for half-Filipino, middle aged chubby guys
o Large spear point blade
o Large clip point blade
o Reamer/awl
o Can opener/small screwdriver
o Cap lifter/screwdriver
o Corkscrew
o Saw
o File
o Scissors

You forgot the keyring. It counts as a "feature."
 
I'm working on a custom Swiss Army Knife design with the following features:

o Satellite phone and antenna
o 10 gal of water
o Blowtorch
o Two room tiny cabin
o 72 hours of emergency food
o A fully equipped and staffed trauma center
o Wifi
o A pair of exceptionally enthusiastic Dutch women who have a thing for half-Filipino, middle aged chubby guys
o Large spear point blade
o Large clip point blade
o Reamer/awl
o Can opener/small screwdriver
o Cap lifter/screwdriver
o Corkscrew
o Saw
o File
o Scissors
HAHAHAHA I'll take one of yours ! Makes that wenger I posted look like a pos. I hope the wifi gets 5g and the Dutch women don't find me too pale..(I can try an accent but I doubt I'll be convincing I have any Pino in me)
 
HAHAHAHA I'll take one of yours ! Makes that wenger I posted look like a pos. I hope the wifi gets 5g and the Dutch women don't find me too pale..(I can try an accent but I doubt I'll be convincing I have any Pino in me)

The prototype is a little bulky so far, but I'll make sure to let everyone know when we go into production!
 
If you were in a 72 hr+ off grid survival scenario what one knife would you trust to fill the role of a survival knife? To make kindling, to prepare food, make a spear, make a shelter or to battle a zombie (just kidding with that last part). I personally would trust the TOPS silent hero. Looking forward to hearing your feedback!
The ones on me when I was thrown into this situation, sorta kidding, sorta not…

The knives I choose to carry must be able to perform these chores from the getgo. So I EDC a Benchmade Contego, a BK-11 Necker and a Victorinox Rangergrip 78.

When I go out hunting, camping, etc, I add a larger fixed blade such as a Mora Garberg, BK-1, 4, 9, 16 or 21.

ETA: I see it took me almost 24 years to hit 1,000 posts!
 
"Survival " challenge often boil down to being energy efficient to maintain life , so having the right tools for what you need to accomplish can make a critical difference .

Not the best time to have to "make do" .
It is hard for me to imagine a true survival situation where I would be required to travel significant distances. So I would suggest carrying full size tools with the intent of staying put and working wood to improvise shelter and keep warm until help arrives. Camp fires tend to keep you in place, provide light and warmth, and are easy for rescuers to spot. I have a couple of large camp knives (10”+ blades) by Bill Siegle that are perfect for this, although large knives by Becker, Esse, Busse and Randall would also work well.

n2s
 
If you were in a 72 hr+ off grid survival scenario what one knife would you trust to fill the role of a survival knife? To make kindling, to prepare food, make a spear, make a shelter or to battle a zombie (just kidding with that last part). I personally would trust the TOPS silent hero. Looking forward to hearing your feedback!
I have a 13” Raw 3 Chirra Old School Khukuri from KHHI. It can do it all.
 
I think it's almost harder these days to find a knife that wouldn't work. If you don't already have a ridiculous number of knives from several major manufacturers, I'd just recommend a Becker 9 for best bang for the buck.

Personally I don't go camping these days. Did most of that before I was 25. Typical Boy Scout back in the early 60's. What I do though is keep an Estwing hatchet under the driver's seat of my car and EDC a Cold Steel Recon1, which does a reasonably good imitation of a small fixed blade when necessary. The Estwing makes it work of course. You could probably get by with a Swiss Army Knife, but I prefer the handle and lock on the Recon1.
 
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I'm completely sure no one in their right mind puts themselves into true life or death survival situations.
And that’s why soldiers are a little crazy. ;)


How many people are in real honest to goodness survival situations these days through no fault of their own? A few a year? If you're going out there without a GPS/cell phone that's silly. Those are probably the most important survival tools you can carry. The
Lots - although it’s often at least partially the fault of the victim. Most are found fairly quickly however because they performed the MOST important survival technique and left an ITINERARY of where they would be and when they should be back.

Part of my job is Search and Rescue, and you might not be surprised to hear that almost EVERYONE lost in the woods has a cell phone with a gps.

You know what they almost never have?? A map, compass, fire, shelter, or the tools to make shelter and fire more easily.

I’m not saying that you should leave your phone at home, but it’s certainly not all you need in the woods.
 
I'm sure many people here like new fancy things.. I do too sometimes and could sure list a bunch of nice new knives for this purpose... But I probably wouldnt use them. Unless for some reason my Randall shows up a few years early.


Serious answer to this question, though, would be my old timer 165. All of the new knives in the world and nothing beats a thick old chunk of 1095. It chops, hacks, slices and dices.

Nice and pointy for the Zombie apocalypse, too.
 
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