What Survival Knife

[MelancholyMutt]

Sure, the blade is nice and thick, but the weakness is in the tiny tang and the bolt that holds it in the tube handle... trying to pry open the doors on a malfunctioning freight elevator.... SNAP... in the end, an $30 air force survival knife withstood more lateral force (with some bending), but saved the day...

 

[Ad]

Go try out some Busses at a gun/knife show. Their E handles fit me like a glove. It is a very robust blade in every sense of the word and the customer service can't be beat.

 

[gundy]

I read the field report for the buckmaster and seal use. I thought it got a complete knockback because of these things;

- sawteeth not affective at all
- anchors design use were confusing and a little gimicky
- too heavy

I never knew they were actually ever issued to the seals - interesting!

I use to own one whilst going through the Rambo craze (admit it, didn't we all ), and she was a tuff lil peice, but apart from cosmetic value and collectable interest, I wouldn't use one for trecking, survival or other.

Busse still has my vote. I have not found any better and that includes customs. I think you UK guys can look at the link below for Busse knives, I do not think they have an 'actual' UK supplier (???);

Give Dirk a buzz, very helpful and an alround nice bloke.

http://www.bussecombat.de/

Do let us know what you get, and more importantly, how it handles to your needs!

 

[drjones]

Uh, Gundy, You SURE the knife you had was a Buck 184? Mine is NIB, and it cuts ANYTHING like BUTTER. It is insanely sharp, especially the sawback!!!

I ALMOST bought one off a former seal through ebay, and it was engraved with the seal trident logo, and "SeAL-UDT." BAD-A$$!!! It was presented to him on his retirement, as a commemorative piece. I didn't get it because he wanted $300 for it, but looking back, I probably shoulda just done it. Oh well...

Yes, the two main drawbacks to it are the weakness where blade meets handle, and its excessive weight, but it is still THE coolest-looking knife out there!!! (AND a hell of a performer, IMO!)

Strati

 

[gundy]

Hey Strati, can you point me in the direction of a pic? I know alot of people who ask for them as collectable peices and am now VERY interested as they are readily available in Australia.

I may be talking about a different model / version. The one I had was very sharp!

 

[gundy]

Yep, 184, thats the one I had. Maybe I should have kept it!

Interesting to see the one with the seal logo on it, that would be neat....

 

[not2sharp]

the weakness is in the tiny tang and the bolt that holds it in the tube handle

MelancholyMutt,

Are you talking about a Buck 184? The Buckmaster has a very solid threaded and epoxied handle-tang joint. There is no bolt holding it together.

n2s

BTW, here is a picture from an ad Cold Steel ran when the BuckMaster first came out. Notice that the tang is still solidly in place.

 

[gundy]

Ouch! That add hurts......

I would have thought it be against some type of law to advertise 'tests' like that about another company.

 

[not2sharp]

As far as I can tell the ad only ran once, and it probably favored Buck more than Cold Steel.

n2s

 

[MelancholyMutt]

Not all knives fail in the same place. It depends where you place the pressure... mine failed at the handle/blade joint...

 

[MelancholyMutt]

Originally posted by gundy
Ouch! That add hurts......

I would have thought it be against some type of law to advertise 'tests' like that about another company.

Commercials where I think it was Burger King who trashed McDonalds....

Oh, and about the Bolt... I meant that the tang of the blade is threaded... hence bolt... held on by a nut in the Handle...

 

[Leanwolf]

There are so many good ones out there, but of those listed, I'd go non-hollow handle fixed blade, TOPS. Hollow handle, Chris Reeve. Can't beat 'em, in my opinion, and I use both

J.B.

 

[deputy tom]

My choice would be either a Cold Steel SRK or a Ka-Bar.Couple either with a good Multi-tool.tom.

 

[tique]

My vote would be for a Busse, Mission, Strider, Chris Reeve, or Becker. I have a friend who is an ex-Army Ranger... when we got to talking about knives I found out he broke one of the Buckmasters(sorry to burst your bubble, but I had one too, and it ain't that tough, just looks nifty) and numerous Ka-Bar USMC fighters in his time. He fell instantly in love with the Busse BM-E I brought in to him.

 

[L6steel]

I just sent one of these to a fellow countryman of your's. Might not be classified as a survival kife but I sure would like to have one if I was stuck out in the boonies.

 

[Bagheera]

Hi Richie,

How about a "survival" knife that is not so big (22 cm ~ 83/4") and that has a Scandinavian look/feel and was designed by one of your fellow countrymen, Ray Mears.

It's made by the English knfemaker Alan Wood and is made out of 4 mm (5/32") thick O1 steel with a Scandinavian type bevel grind.

I had a knife like that made up by a Texas knifemaker for half ($180) what the Ray Mears knife costs (195 Britisch Pounds) out of CPM-440V with a nice hollow ground. It's scarry sharp and stays it for a long time. However using it to get my Firesteel to spark doesn't really work.
It's almost to beautifull for daily carry with its Desert Ironwood grip and Mosaic pins so I'm now planning on having made one less 'fancy' in D2 steel with more plane gripplates and following exactly the 'flat'short bevel grind of the Ray Mears knife.
Blade length will be 43/8", grip 43/8".

That knife together with my GB small Forest axe, and SAK Hunter and my P-38 can opener, will do anything I'll ever encounter while at Scouting

Best Scouting wishes from Holland,

Bagheera

 

[lyon504]

Hi Bagheera


What was the name of that Ray Mears knife that you mentioned and is there a web link I could look at?

Cheers

Richie

 

[lyon504]

Cancal my last I have just found it on his web site.

Does anyone have experience of using this Ray Mears knife?