Chris Kavanaugh, I agree with what I think your saying.

I'm a member of the 'smaller knife' school of survival. I figure that our distant ancestors were skinning and butchering fairly large game with stone flakes less than two inches long. Often about an inch.

An observation from a man who went big game hunting in Africa was that the guides, the people who did all dressing of the game, were using knives that were much smaller than he had expected. Often the blade was only two to three inches long. You don't need a big blade to do a big job.

A smaller folding blade knife is usually lighter and more compact. Which translated into a lighter and more compact kit and an increased chance you will have your knife with you when you really need it.

Many years ago, before it dawned on me that 95% of the work was getting done with a SAK, I carried a fixed-blade knife. Out of insecurity and tradition mostly. Young bucks are always worried about the size of their blade measuring up.

Both the full-sized and then the short version of the KaBar were my favorites. I also have one that looks a lot like the Becker BK10. Might be one. I still have them around here somewhere.

If I felt the need to buy another fixed blade knife now I would go for a Field Pup:
http://www.ableammo.com/catalog/product_info.php?products_id=61527

Good but nothing earth shattering AUS 8 steel and SOG usually does a good job on the heat treatment that makes or breaks a knife. Nice grip on a solid design without frills, big enough to satisfy the desire for a slightly larger blade (4") but small enough so I wouldn't be a burden. MSRP is $60 but prices are less than $35 so I could afford to buy two or three and scatter them around.

Lots of good thoughts on knife choices. I can say for myself I have been the whole spectrum on knife carry. When I was an active soldier the choice was a rather large fixed blade. I started with the classic Ka-Bar and evolved to a Randall #1 with a 7 in. blade. Military knives have to be more of a weapon as well as a survival/field tool.
After leaving the military behind, I have taken to more practical field knives. A good outdoor knife to me is one that is strong, easy in the hand and easy to sharpen. The blade is always less than 5 inches and has less recurve at the tip. That makes it easier to sharpen and a more useful tool for doing camp chores such as notching stakes or cookpot hangers. That is my perspective based on my tastes and personal experience.
I almost always carry a SAK, Farmer model too, mainly for the tools it provides and the blade is twice the thickness of the standard SAK's.
I carried a multitool while in the Army and sometimes in everyday life. I stopped depending on them after breaking an original Leatherman, USA made. I was not abusing it! I gave the replacement away. I then went to the larger Supertool and had no problems. I later gave the Supertool to a friend in Iraq, he loved it and broke it in two weeks. I sent him a Victorinox Swisstool which he still has 4 years later. I myself own a Wave but I only carry it everyday, except days in the wilderness. I prefer not to carry it in the wild because I don't trust the metal it is made of and I consider it too heavy.
Anyway, that is my take on the knife question. The Ka-Bar is great if you may need a weapon/tool.

I carry at least one folder or multi tool every where I go (leagaly). When I go into the field and during Desert Storm, I carry/carried a fixed blade knife along with my folder/multitool. In the field for hunting I carry an Anza, during Desert Storm I carried an old Boker M-3 fighting knife. I carry a fixed blade besause it is stronger that ther strongest folder and has some uses the folder dosen't.

If I can read it right, the stamp on the pummel of that knife says Camillus.

Yup, USAF pilots "survival" knife. I broke the tip off of mine trying to husk a coconut (we wanted the milk to mix with rum. Bad idea)...

I have been roaming the out of doors for 60 years and have not found the perfict knife yet . So i carry many knives at alltimes at least 5 large and small.

Breaker

MTNLVR68, I was trying to recall which KaBar the 5058 was and became inspired. I actually used the search engine of my computer. This knife has some features generally considered less than desirable in a dedicated 'survival knife.' The american version of the tanto point is for penetration.Certainly other designs can also penetrate as well if not better, but the samurai mystique has popularised the style. The drawback is you lose the gentle sweep of curve. This section on most knives is the thinnest part in cross section and produces the shaved sticks used in the staged building of a fire. A serrated section is another popular feature. At least this one is to the back and leaves a goodly breath of simple cutting surface. Using the lower guard probably also helps controlling a cut into cordage. Upper guards are for fighting and hinder choking up for finer control. The positive points are KABARS superb finish and quality for cost. The sheath is very good . A tanto point is actually pretty good at hand drilling holes and the grip style facilitates this possible duty.For splitting wood you should use Doug's method of taking slices of the edge and not trying to crack a billet in half. The final thought belongs to you. Do you like it? Is it comfortable in hand and have you mastered the eventual resharpening duties? You could do better. You could do a great deal worse.

I tend to be a minimalist in my EDC. Even more so when backpacking. Around town I'll carry a locking folder, a keychain SAK, a 2 or 3 layer 84 or 93mm SAK, and a smallish multitool (Juice, Fuse, or even a Squirt). Backpacking I carry a SAK Small Tinker, and that's all. OK, maybe a scalpel blade in the FAK. I've never had much use for large fixed blade knives when I'm camping. If I'm car camping, I'll take a small ax, or, better yet, a bow saw. But if I'm humping it on my back I pretty much stick to the 10 Essentials, and I've never found a need for any knife bigger than a 4-bladed pocket knife.

Kevin B.

The "Air Force Survival Knife", smaller version of the venerable KaBar, isn't a bad choice. It is the original compact, rugged, simple and inexpensive field knife. All those traits was why it was adopted by the Air Force.

It was a compromise and it isn't optimized for a lot of situations but its weaknesses are minor and they are usually easily worked around. Your never going to get the interest and acclaim of your fellow travelers but it is a solid choice and one you can depend on to give solid service when you need it.

Chris, I understand what you're saying about the ka-bar 5055 and agree with you. I guess I have just fallen into all the hipe about having a fixed blade on you for survival situations. I have bee hunting,hiking and backpacking for years and have always done just fine with a top shelf folder and multitool. I should mention that I do always carry in my pack a sven saw or a griz saw.(have both and prefer the griz saw due to its weight) The saw does the task of cutting larger peices of wood be it for the fire or shelter where with a larger knife you would be chopping or driving it thru a peice of would with a rock.