Which knife

WILLIAM.M

WILLIAM.M

Joined
Apr 14, 2006
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What features do you want/require in a Winderness Survival Knife???

Want to start a post where people think about what they need a knife to do-first and then get the knife.

Most non knife people do it in reverse...

They get a knife and then hope it will do what they need done.

The Question...............


Which of the 2 Bill Sielgle knives below do you think would be better for Wilderness survival???

AND WHY???

(Going to assume you have a smaller either folding or fixed blade as well--and this would not be the only knife you had on you)

They are close to the same size--but WORLDS apart in regards to FEEL.

One has a Choil-one does not.

The one with the Choil is designed to be a better chopper-the other one would be better at Camp food duties.

How would you change them if they did not meet your requirements???



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I'd have to go with the top knife. The overall blade shape just seems better suited to the wide variety of tasks that I do. The other big clincher for me is that it has a lanyard hole, I cannot use a big knife for chopping without a lanyard, it just doesn't feel safe to me.
 
pitdog said:
I'd have to go with the top knife. The overall blade shape just seems better suited to the wide variety of tasks that I do. The other big clincher for me is that it has a lanyard hole, I cannot use a big knife for chopping without a lanyard, it just doesn't feel safe to me.
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Good Points(from you Bro--I would expect no less:thumbup:)
 
Top knive, love the blade shape and handle design. Looks like a much better chopper and looks like you can have a better grip with the handle than the lower knife. Overall the top knife just looks like its more heavy duty with the G10 slabs and bigger screws in the handle.
 
Top knife. Handle looks more secure in both directions. Also has a lanyard hole in case ya need one. Looks like the handle scales can be easily removed should you need to make a spear out of it. Nice straight edge good for scraping wood fuzz for fires. Choil for finer cutting tasks. The only thing I'd change is that I'd give it a spear point.
 
Great Answers--

Please keep them coming

I have not used either knife

Bottom one is more comfortable to hold..
 
I'll have to say the bottom knife. It looks more comfortable to the hand, the upsweep could give some extra flexibility and it is big enough to chop with. Lacking a lanyard hole is my only nit-pick.
Both Look like very good knives.
 
I'm with Conifer on this one - After drilling a lanyard hole, that is. I keep telling myself that more primitive knives lacked lanyards - maybe i could do without something i have come to see as a necessity... I think the curve actually lends itself to a wider range of tasks - like the "american tanto" or Wharncliff blades are somewhat limited in the tasks they can perform, though they excell in certain types of cutting, they are specialized - in a survival situation i would want the opposite of specialization - a blade that can skin, chop, whittle, dig -- perform unanticipateable (is that a word?) tasks - for the great unknown, i'd take the curved blade. If i ended up having to build a cabin i might regret it, but that would be my choice. I think both would work, ultimately, just because they would have to do, or be pressed into duties they might not be ideally suited for... Interesting, difficult puzzle, friend...
 
I like the top knife. Mainly because if I had a smaller fixed blade, I would like a knife better designed for chopping. The lanyard is also a big plus, as I prefer lanyards on any chopping knife that I have. I am not a big fan of the choil, but I can see why it was placed with it.
 
Top one.

More length for chopping.

Large choil to choke up for finer tasks.

Long handle allows you to hold onto just the end part for more leverage in chopping.

A large straight area of blade -- easy to sharpen in the field.

Large guard = less apt to cut myself = more safety = safer to use.

Large handle = easier to use with thick gloves on.

Out of all the knives I have held / used in my life my grail knife if the Swamprat Chopweiler. The steel is good yes but the design is perfect for me. Even if the Chopweiler was made out of O-1 or 1095 it would be the knife for me. The top knife has many of the features that I love about the Chopweiler.

-Stan
 
I would choose the top blade shape but with the handle of the bottom knife. I would require a lanyard hole near the butt of that handle though. If possible a hole near the front end of the handle to for another lanyard option. Basically if you look at the top handle replace the front torx screw (whatever the fastener is there) with a hollow tube or something similar.

The top blade shape looks more useful and generalized to me, I would reduce the front handguard and choil to match something like the lower blade. The bottom blade shape looks more useful for slashing and chopping but limited elsewhere.

So for me it's a mixture of the best elements of the two. Generalization is the best approach for me. I'm not specialized in my approach to survival or time in the woods so I need a knife like that.
 
I like them both. :thumbup: :rolleyes: :thumbup:



The bottom one would work well for me as an all around camp/wilderness tool,


...I love the curve of the cutting edge and the simple yet purposeful handle.




That said, I can see the appeal of the more secure handle and centalized point on the first one, especially if it is my only large knife.



It would be a hard call.




Big Mike
 
I tend to like more traditional looking knives, so I would go with the bottom one. Also, I would keep the handle the way it is, with no lanyard hole. The way I see it, if you can't hold onto your knife and keep it from falling or flying out of your hands when your swinging, chopping, or whatever, then get a pair of scissors. Just kidding.... Sometimes a lanyard is a good option, but it kinda takes away the traditional appeal for me. Lanyards look good on more tactical, modern knives I think.
 
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You gotta admit--

I can come up with questions that get people to think--

and all your answers are OUTSTANING!!!!!

Thanks for all that have taken the time to express their viewpoints
 
I'd feel more comfortable with the top knife. Looks like it could handle the inevitable chopping duty which most assuredly would be part of an overall survival situation:) The bottom knife would be the bomb if I was all comfy in camp:)
 
Just curious as I own Bill's Hoodlum II and love the handle...are both 1/4" thick?

You mentioned identifying tasks before choosing the blade. The bottom one has more of a machete profile...if it was 3/16" or so, it would probably be a better chopper on light vegetation. I also like the belly as mentioned it being a better "camp" knife; it would be more effective at processing game and working on food processing in general.

The top blade with the slightly dropped point would be much more effective at digging, drilling and piercing.

A good point about the lanyard hole by Pit...

ROCK6
 
The top knife belongs in the hand of a woodsman. The bottom knife belongs in the hand of a butcher or chef.

For me, the choil is meaningless - I never use them... if I need more control for fine cutting, my index finger is on the spine of the blade not anywhere near the cutting edge...

Having said that, I would choose neither as a survival knife. The top knife, while better than the bottom one, is essentially a machette and I don't think of machettes as knives - it's just a symantec thing for me... I think of knives as cutting tools not chopping tools so something that I consider to be a useful survival "knife" has a blade generally 3.75 to 6 inches or so... light chopping (and maybe some medium heavy batoning) is the most I would expect from them... FWIW...

Sorry for coloring outside the lines...
 
I would also take the top model :thumbup: The blade style is great for different task & looks to be a good chopper, pair this up with a 3~4" fixed blade & maybe even a folder (SAK) & you should be able to do whatever it takes ;) The Bottom knife looks nice but looks like it might be a little tough to sharpen in the field with the curved blade
 
Depends on your environment, your using techniques, how the ergonomics of the blade fit the user and your maintenance techniques. The top one is definately calling to me though...
 
ROCK6 said:
Just curious as I own Bill's Hoodlum II and love the handle...are both 1/4" thick?

You mentioned identifying tasks before choosing the blade. The bottom one has more of a machete profile...if it was 3/16" or so, it would probably be a better chopper on light vegetation. I also like the belly as mentioned it being a better "camp" knife; it would be more effective at processing game and working on food processing in general.

The top blade with the slightly dropped point would be much more effective at digging, drilling and piercing.

A good point about the lanyard hole by Pit...

ROCK6
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Yes Sir

Both are 1/4" thick
 
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