Which knife

Reorx said:
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...
Click to expand...

I assure you--the top knife is not a Machete--nor anything close to it.Too short-Too Thick-Too Heavy- to fall into that class.

and the bottom knife is too thick to be in the hands of a Butcher or Chef(They are both 1/4" thick)--that's twice as thick as what most butchers use.

It might look like a butcher knife--but you could CHOP a 4x4 with it--

What type of knife would you choose to assist your survival??

Remember--in this quaestion you already have a smaller folding or fixed blade knife

What knife would you choose????
 
WILLIAM.M said:
I assure you--the top knife is not a Machete--nor anything close to it.Too short-Too Thick-Too Heavy- to fall into that class.

and the bottom knife is too thick to be in the hands of a Butcher or Chef(They are both 1/4" thick)--that's twice as thick as what most butchers use.

It might look like a butcher knife--but you could CHOP a 4x4 with it--

What type of knife would you choose to assist your survival??

Remember--in this quaestion you already have a smaller folding or fixed blade knife

What knife would you choose????
Click to expand...
Thanx for the added info... OK, so it might not be a classic machete - it's a short, heavy machete!:D or maybe a short sword... IFF I had to choose one, I would take the first - better blade and grip shape for outdoors tasks.

But if what you say is true, that knife has to weigh 2 pounds or more! I also assume it ain't a cheap "knife" either... Given the fact that I already have smaller knives and given free choice - I think a good machete and folding saw combination would be more useful/versitile, lighter, and cheaper. Sorry, I'm outside the lines again!!! ;)

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about 25 ounces & $75 total cost (shipped)
Machete is 16.5" OAL with an 11" blade (0.168" thick at the spine) and weighs about 19 ounces (definitely not flimsy)
Saw is 9" folded and weighs about 6 ounces
 
Of the two knives I would take the top one,as the point looks a bit more useful.Neither really is what I look for in a chopper,I prefer khukuris which are optimized for that sort of thing. I think a saw would be less physically taxing to use for cutting wood. Had I to choose a big chopper to assist me in surviving I would choose an HI Imports 18" WWII or a sirupate. I find them to be more versatile.
 
Reorx said:
Thanx for the added info... OK, so it might not be a classic machete - it's a short, heavy machete!:D or maybe a short sword... IFF I had to choose one, I would take the first - better blade and grip shape for outdoors tasks.

But if what you say is true, that knife has to weigh 2 pounds or more! I also assume it ain't a cheap "knife" either... Given the fact that I already have smaller knives and given free choice - I think a good machete and folding saw combination would be more useful/versitile, lighter, and cheaper. Sorry, I'm outside the lines again!!! ;)

21fwLpSBHTL._SL500_AA300_.jpg
+
3158EM5T3JL._SL500_AA300_.jpg
=
about 25 ounces & $75 total cost (shipped)
Machete is 16.5" OAL with an 11" blade (0.168" thick at the spine) and weighs about 19 ounces (definitely not flimsy)
Saw is 9" folded and weighs about 6 ounces
Click to expand...

Great answer--:thumbup:

Just wanted to know what one knife you would take along with a smaller folding or fixed knife.

I like the KA-Bar chopper you listed-but I would not risk my life on it.

Thanks for taking the time to answer

Sincerely

Dr.Bill
 
Bottom one. [Modified]

Top one does look better for putting power down but that isn't a priority for me. I'm mindful of the difference between necessary and sufficient. For me the bottom one would be sufficient.

The bottom one looks more versatile to me in terms of; the handle, the lower delivery of the cutting edge, and the handle being closer to the blade.

I wouldn't have a great deal of use for all that up sweep. I recognize some advantages but I think they'd be wasted on me. Clipping the point would be one solution. Not too drastic, I've no use for a great big spey blade type thing. I saw an FB like that recently and I thought it was silly looking. For me I suspect it would be improved if it were clipped to bring it to a Hudson Bay looking thing. That said, my own preference would be to mod the tip rather like a big bullnose skinner. I think I'd find that more useful / versatile with the point closer to the center line and perhaps a bit stronger.
 
I like the bigger one, at least for chopping. I don't always use a lanyard hole, but won't buy a larger fixed blade without one. Like the handle, too. I'd want it to be a little smaller, but like to use a curvature at the butt like that to keep a light but secure grip just using two or three fingers to chop, which effectively makes the knife longer, and with a much more forward balance. I don't recommend that for everybody, just happen to do it with some knives if I've got a lot of stuff to chop, letting the knife's weight do the work instead of putting a lot of power into it, or cutting light stuff using it as a short machete where I want all the reach I can get from my 7 or 9" knives.
 
Going to start a "part 2" to this question in another post

give me about 10 minutes,,,,then check for it
 
Interesting debate & good points on a couple issues.
I like the top blade better but wouldn't consider it a survival knife. It may be more of a tool in camp but I'd not be found hiking the back country with this on my belt. I'd like to see a lanyard hole at the top front of the handle of these bigger blades so one could bring the lanyard back around the wrist rather than what we have come to consider "normal" coming from behind. I'd not buy either to be honest.

One very useful design I'd like to try for a while is a slightly enlarged version of the original Puma White Hunter. The cleaving edge on the top, wide area for battoning near the front, up-swept tip, but I'd like to see it about the size of a Ka-Bar at a minimum or closer to the Chopweiler.

To me a survival knife has to be small enough you'll always keep it with you. On your belt or around your neck, in a pocket.
 
Between these 2, I would prefer the bottom. I don't find much use for choils, and I think the handle looks friendlier for multiple grips on the bottom one (I guess I'd have to hold it to be sure, though). I also like the continuous elliptical sweep of the blade for slicing, and since I don't do much chopping, I'm not as concerned with the length. I also think that upswept point could be useful for digging or prying up bark/fatwood/etc.
 
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