Why is your knife the best "Survival" knive??

Cobalt,

A sheath is to make sure the knife doesn't cut anything it is not supposed to and for carrying purposes.

So, no if you loose your sheath your knife will still work.

If you lose your holster, does your pistol still work?

If you break part of this pistol grip, will effect the performance of the pistol, yes.

Will a broken handle effect the performance of the knife, yes.

Technically does the edge still work whether or not the knife has a handle, yes.

Question, given a choice heading out to the field. Would you take the knife with the intact handle or the one with the broken handle.

As for other survival knives. Of course there are other survival knives. Look at the thread title:

Why is your knife the best survival knife?

The title does not limit the discussion to the 4 or 5 knives talked about primarily in this disccusion.

So, Not 2 Sharp and Rfrost, why is your knife the best Survival knife.

Or any one else. Lets here from people who own something besides a Randall, Busse or Brend.

I carried a Jim Siska Strike Force II (long before it became that model). Loved it.

I also liked several of the Custom Timberline knives.

Peter Bauchop Recce Fighter, excellent field knife. You can get it in A-2 or D-2.

Robert Parrish Hollow Handle Survival Knife, excellent knife. Had a 440C blade, still took all the abuse I could give it.

One of my favorite factory knives was the Pacific Cutlery Fer De Lance. However, the integral guard was poorly designed and cut my hand first time in the field. That was the last time in the field. Great knife other than that.

I bought one of the original Al Mar SERE Folders. Awesome folder, only problem was I sharpened it so often the blade profile changed.

Al Mar Pathfinder Machette (I think it is called something else now). Great knife, however the handle wasn't very ergonomic.

I owned a lot of Al Mar knives in the mid-80's. I thought they were the best factory knives by far.

So there are some other knives to consider.

What are your favorites.



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Les Robertson
www.robertsoncustomcutlery.com
Custom Knife Entrepreneur
 
Let me add the old Gerber Magnum Hunter to the list. That was my main knife when I was a kid. I always had two knives on me and my second knives came and went, but that Gerber never quit. I beat the hell out of it, but it never broke, never rusted and was easy to sharpen.
Cold Steel Trailmaster in Carbon V. I never had a problem with that cheap kraton handle, although it did hurt after heavy chopping, and the blade rusted like hell. But a good chopper and very well balanced.
George Tichourne's big knives in 440C are very very tough and that's not just my opinion. KI did a test a few yearsago and he made the short list of outstanding knives, but quite heavy.
I already mentioned Busse, Hayes, Simonich and Lightfoot, because I think they're the best bigger knives I've owned and used.
 
I really like the Robert Parrish Combat-Survival I recently acquired...those saw teeth are incredible! Here is a pic:

fe8d36c5.jpg


I don't know if it's the BEST, but I sure like it...
(Edited to kill the dreaded W-I-D-E screen effect...sorry!)
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Usual Suspect

RFrost5746@excite.com -- My Collection

[This message has been edited by rfrost (edited 05-10-2001).]
 
<font face="Verdana, Arial" size="2">Originally posted by Les Robertson:
Cobalt,

Will a broken handle effect the performance of the knife, yes.

Question, given a choice heading out to the field. Would you take the knife with the intact handle or the one with the broken handle.
</font>
Click to expand...

To answer the first part of your statement. yes, a broken handle will affect performance, it may even improove it
smile.gif


I would not head out into the field with any broken part of any knife. Presumably, the knife would break in the field. But I would rather loose a slab of handle from a full tang knife than loose the edge on the knife. I can wrap the tang with rip chord or any kind of wrap. Gee, that sounds like a strider
smile.gif


 
Here is an interesting knife by Webster Woods

View





[This message has been edited by not2sharp (edited 05-09-2001).]
 
You know what phrase really bugs me?! "The best survival knife is the one you have on you." This is not directed at anyone here, but I've seen this comment over and over. Talk about the world's most OBVIOUS statement! We are on this forum because we like and use knives. As a person who likes and uses knives, and who enjoys the outdoors, I bring a knife which is suited for "survival". If you are a good little Boy Scout, and are prepared, you will ALWAYS have a good survival knife. I won't even begin to address what the best one is. But for me, it's the TOPS Anaconda. Have I been in a real "survival" situation? Nope. And don't plan on it by practicing skills which make me feel at home in the woods no matter what.
 
This thread has sorta gotten a life of its own beyond the original topic.

I was hoping to see comments about Striders and other custom and semi-custom knives. I also thought we would see a more varied group of posts describing what people had actually done and experienced themselves.

How about comments about Busse BM vs. SH or a 9 inch CRK One piece vs. a 7inch model? Forged vs. stock removal custom knives? Exposed full tang vs. a covered tang in Micarta or wood? How about "I had a 1/4 inch thick blah blah blah but, had a 3/16 of an inch thick CPM 3V model made with a higher aspect ratio to keep the weight the same but improved performance significantly at the camp site"....etc.? How about I had a $600 model XX and tried a $200 model YY and found they performed similarly while in the backwoods?

Thanks,
Sid


[This message has been edited by Sid Post (edited 05-10-2001).]
 
Well, what would make a knife "the best survival knife?"

I have the following in mind...

1. Cuts well. Push cuts, draw cuts, slicing. It should be able to do it all and efficiently.

2. Chopping and splitting. It should be able to chop and be pounded through wood to split larger wood into smaller pieces. This includes surviving some lateral pressure when splitting wood.

3. Prying/digging. Maybe not jimmying steel doors or even wooden window frames, but it should be able to dig rocks out of the ground if necessary.

4. Never breaks when applied to any of the tasks listed above.

5. Field sharpenable, preferably on any flat rock.

6. Carry-ability. By that I mean that the knife can not be so long or so heavy as to be impractical to carry if one is forced to be on foot.

Notice that several of these tasks are partly incompatible with one another, especially #1 vs. #2-#4. We know the woodsmen of the last century preferred a thin blade just because they cut better than a thick blade, but then they sometimes broke in extreme circumstances (or even not so extreme) when the woodsman found himself without his primary chopping tool (usually a hatchet). I think this is why the thick bladed "survival knife" came into existence. It could be used in the absence of a hatchet and yet still cut like a knife albeit much less efficiently.

So granted that we want #2-#4 at least in our survival knife, how to we increase its utility with respect to #1? The approach I've seen most often is to make the blade wide to provide a better (more acute) primary bevel just before the edge. This not only increases cutting efficiency, but adds weight which improves chopping power too. Control of this now heavier knife in more delicate chores (like making trap triggers) is enhanced with a handle design and choil that allows for choking up on the blade enough to put the balance of the knife no further forward than the choil.

Each of these features starting with what one might consider the maximum desirable spine thickness to support indestructability (albeit in exchange for increased weight) is endlessly variable, and I haven't even mentioned over-all length which contributes much to chopping power, but inversely to prying strength and carry-ability, or the grind style (flat, high hollow, low hollow, etc).

Anything else?
 
The biggest problem I have in discussing the best survival knife is the word "survival". Its a fun topic, that gives us the opportunity to discuss fixed blades, at least for the most part. But, in any real sense it is very hard to concieve of a realistically likely survival scenario. At least not any that would be materially helped by the presence of a high quality knife.

After all what can possibly go wrong. I guess one could always end up trapped in a car wreck; but, if cutting a seat belt were my only concern, then virtually any edge would do. Perhaps we are worried about an airplane crash? But, with modern air transport, your family would be lucky if they found enough of you to conduct a DNA test. No survival concerns here.

There is always the possibility of going down in a small plane. But, if you do so in the US you would probably be rescued, debriefed, and fined, long before you could actually pull out your knife.

I suppose there are still a few cold war types that still think in terms of bunkers and the end of society. Yet any intelligent discussion on the subject would place knives as a very small, if significant, among the issues that must be addressed.

We can always choose to put ourselves in harms way. Or, we can be careless and clueless and accidently find ourselves in a bad situation. But, how do we plan for survival? If I planned at all I would have been spending the night in a comfy hotel.

N2S

 
Rfrost,
I am glad you finally got a Parrish. I don't know if they are the best either but I have owned quite a few over the years including sevral Reeves, Randall 18 stainless, and a Crain LSS 1 and I have found that the Parrish was built heavier than the later two knives. I believe it is twice the knife the Crain was (at 1/2 the price). IMHO the Reeve would be the strongest of the bunch. But I really can not see the Parrish to far behind. Very well built knife. It is a shame RP is no longer making knives.
Matt
 
I have all of the ones mentioned above - and I like the crain the best. The Randall is better than the Parrish except for the great teeth on the RP. THe smaller Crain is the best, I use it in conjunction with the LS1 which I have to keep strapped to my pack. It is really large. I like the reeve knives, I have several, but they don't seam to have the character of the others. Some knives just beg to be used. I also have never had one break at the junction. I think that is just bad press from the cheap survival knife craze.
Let's see if I can post a picture. I am not real good at this....
Oh yeah, the buck with the custom sheath is the one I carry daily. It has held up well. I rotate some of the others on outings.
View
 
Hollowhandle,

Nice collection - don't forget to drop me a note if you ever get tired of looking at those Crain models.
smile.gif
I don't have pictures right now but we should also mention the excellent survival knives made by Dawson, and the Randall like models made by Colin Cox. And, then there is that most classic of all survival knives, the Marbles Woodcraft.
 
Hollowhandle- Nice collection! Makes me long for all the hollowhandle knives I used to have. Ended up needing the money, and sold them, wish I didn't. I had:
Lile Sly 2
Crain MCS
Reeve Proj. 2
Reeve Shadow 1
Randall 18
Bianchi Nighthawk
Al Mar
Buckmaster (1 black and 1 grey)
Hang on to 'em!
 
I've been following this thread with some amusement. Watching Les open mouth and insert foot and then extricate said foot has been something to see. But I've gotta say, after contemplating which knife I'd rather have to cut my balls free from the branch and the endless debates over Busse vs. Brend I've come to the conclusion that the whole discussion is way overblown.

The best survival knife is the one you have with you every moment of every day period and I really don't care if that statement bothers anyone. You can have all your giant nutcrushing headbusting tree chopping log sawing blades that you want, but reality is that daily life is a survival situation for each of us. Reality also is that almost no one has one of those monster blades with them every day. Most of those pieces lay in drawers and safes.

But the standard definition of survival knife seems to be one that has a fixed blade and can withstand extremes of use and abuse. So let's see some more of those comments about other makers, the ones who haven't been mentioned yet, and have some more intelligent discussion over their differences, strengths and weaknesses. Or is everyone too blown out after expelling all that hot air?

Personally, I think that many of the "survival" activities that have been described thus far could probably be performed with a SAK and a cheap machete.If you travel to the rural parts of the tropical third world you will see everyone carrying machetes. I doubt these folks need an indestructible Busse or a $1000 Brend. I'm kind of liking the argument about 3 pages back that says you could spend less than $100 and get a simple SAK and a machete. That's making a lot of sense right about now and I think my balls would be saved with either one.

Couldnt resist spouting off after all the ranting that has gone on so far...
biggrin.gif


------------------
Peter Atwood

email: fountainman@hotmail.com
 
Hollow Handle,nice collection. That Carbon Steel LSS 1 looks just like my old one. How thick are the blades on your Crains. What turned me of was the blade on mine was only 3/16 and the tip looked as if it would break rather easy. The saw did not work either, does yours?
What makes you like the Randall 18 better than the Parrish?

Thanks,
Matt
 
Matt,
I feel the Randall has better balance and I think that the Parrish blade gets wide really quickly. While the Parrish saw is awsome, I've never had the need to use it very much. A cable saw is better than any knife back. The thin saw profile of the Randall or Crain are much better served for food prep. You are going to make dinner a whole lot more often than you are going to do a chopping, digging, sawing, type of super knife action.
 
Well Gus, you can close the thread now. As it has turned into the thread that spawned this thread.

Several weeks ago before all this got started I wrote in the other survival knife thread that "the best survival knife is the one you have on you when you find yourself in a survival situation".

Now we are back to that. In reality, that is it.

My point was that if you are aware of the potential being there. Then you can take the knife that will perform the best in that environment.

For me it was the Walter Brend model 2. It never failed me.

Others have listed several other knives. If that is what you like, can afford, aren't afraid to lose, have ultimate confidence in, then that is what you should buy and carry.

Personally, like many of you I try and learn things from other knife people. I learned from this thread that the first Guild Show was in Texas in 1970 and that the two Busse knives that broke one was the handle (Cobalt, good point you could crack off the handle and wrap it with 550 cord (if you remembered to bring it. Since you were a Ranger, like me you probably brought several yards just like 100MPH tape as they are just good things to have.) The other was a D-2 not Infi steel.

To Jerry Busse my comments were not done with malice. I was repeating what I thought I understood to be fact. In fact it was not.
That situation I feel has been resolved by you, myself and the third party.

This information has now been set right. Please accept my apology.

Foutain, Im with you, sometimes I like to sit back and watch me pull my foot out of mouth as well.



------------------
Les Robertson
www.robertsoncustomcutlery.com
Custom Knife Entrepreneur
 
Hello HollowHandle,
Food prep with the saw back of your knife, sounds interesting. Could you share some of your techniques. I do agree with you about the cable saw. As far as food prep more than actual camp chores, when I am on outtings my knife does everything from firewood detail to making a $hitter. If it was all about food prep I guess I would carry a 10.00 Ginsu rather than a 400.00 Busse.

Take care,

Matt

[This message has been edited by Vermonster (edited 05-10-2001).]
 
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